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Public Relations Reputation Management Crisis Management

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Time to take the social stage – before someone does it for you
We’ve just seen Tony Abbott ban his frontbenchers from appearing on ABC TV’s Q&A program. It’s a decision that – among other issues – starkly underscores a lesson that today’s leaders, be they CEOs or Prime Ministers, desperately need to learn. Like nature, media – and especially social media – abhors a vacuum. Which means it will spare no time, energy or powers of invention to fill it.

Increasingly, today’s successful CEOs and other leaders are those who understand social media and the role it can play in making – or breaking – their reputations.

The advent of social media means stakeholders are demanding more transparency and accountability from brands and their leadership. While some leaders have embraced and harnessed the opportunity, many – especially in financial services – are slow to accept the inevitable.

Can these CEOs afford to continue ignoring this powerful medium?

Our answer is a resounding “no”. Communicating effectively with employees, clients, potential clients, industry peers and media has always been part of any leaders’ remit. Social media is just a new communication channel.

CEOs who communicate effectively via digital and social media channels (a.k.a “social CEOs”) have a positive effect on consumer perception, brand sentiment and bottom line.

Consider this:

  • Social CEOs may make better leaders: between 2012 and 2013, the perception that C-Suite and executive participation in social media leads to better leadership increased from 45% to 75%[1]
  • Social CEO engagement leads to brand trust: roughly two-thirds of UK respondents and nearly three-quarters of US respondents believe that a company whose C-Suite executives and leadership team use social media to communicate about core mission, brand values and purpose is more trustworthy[2] than one that doesn’t

Some might even argue that a CEO who turns a blind eye to social is negligent, especially from a risk management perspective. Regardless of whether a CEO (or a Prime Minister) wants to be on social (or other) media, conversations about their brand (or their Government) will continue. Failing to either engage or at least take a position leaves others to fill the void howsoever they choose.

The lesson here for CEOs and other leaders? They may not like it, but the reality of social media must be acknowledged. It’s time to look it squarely in the face and incorporate a social component into the way they approach brand and reputation management. The days when they could argue that it’s not “relevant” to their role have now passed.

To all the CEOs out there: it’s time to get social. We’ll be blogging about it more in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for tips, case studies and examples that will help get your company over the social line.

 

You can also download our new guide, Social Media for the Financial Services CEO, which gives you the step-by-steps for getting social right for the c-suite – and why you need to start today.
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[1] The Global Social CEO Survey (2014), BrandFog

[2] The Global Social CEO Survey (2014), BrandFog

 

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