BOC Super faced mounting criticism about a decision the Fund had made.
The Fund had made the right decision, the right way, and for the right reasons.
The facts, and their reputation, however, were at risk in a looming and increasingly emotional public debate.
The Fund needed to protect their members’ confidence and their reputation: online, in news media and with stakeholders.
BlueChip broadened social listening and media monitoring, analysed the facts, then advised the CEO and Board.
Our advice included an analysis of how media and social media audiences saw the issue, immediate actions to stop a public escalation, and recommendations to be proactive online, publishing fact-based educational content about the topic area and issues.
BOC Super is a not-for-profit superannuation fund established in 1937 which provides retirement and insurance benefits for BOC employees, ex-employees and their spouses. BOC supports employees in BOC Super with valuable benefits including free death insurance and disability insurance and free administration.
Negative social and news media discussion was spreading about a decision that BOC Super had made. While the matter was straightforward in terms of members’ interests and legal implications, this presented the risk of significant damage to BOC’s reputation and a wider understanding of the facts.
BOC Super needed to act quickly to protect its reputation with all of its stakeholders.
BOC Super CEO Allan Murphy, says: “We were concerned about members’ confidence in us and our reputation online, in media and with stakeholders.
We briefed BlueChip because they understood the technical issues, the grounds for the decision and because they were recommended by others who had worked with them to manage reputation risks. With their help we developed a management and PR approach that aligned to our values and governance requirements, and that protected our reputation. The reasons for our decision were understood and respected by those who mattered.“
“BlueChip’s advice gave us clarity to communicate, confidence in our ability to have our position understood and on call help. They helped us protect the fund in a potentially difficult situation. I’d call on their help again if we needed it and recommend them to others facing similar issues. ”
BlueChip expanded monitoring and comprehensively analysed keywords and SEO options. We drew on social media and search expertise to provide informed editorial advice on how BOC Super could ensure its content would appear in search results on the matter ahead of incorrect content and damaging online discussions.
We advised changes to BOC Super’s website content, and to create rich content favoured by search engines at the time.
BlueChip recommended content that was useful to members, but also allowed searchers to hear our client's voice rather than activist or commentator perspectives.
To enhance BOC Super’s crisis management capacity, BlueChip developed an issues management plan and content strategy that was presented to the board.
This included advice on reputation risk assessment and how the specific issue would be managed, but also building the Fund’s early warning capability, training and proactive management in the medium to long term.
With BlueChip’s help, emotive social media discussion was minimised, neutral and positive content from BOC Super was widely circulated. Media coverage was both contained and also fair.
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