A major global financial services firm, confronted with ongoing unwarranted challenges to their reputation, turned to Bryghtpath to develop a strategic reputation monitoring and rapid response crisis communications process to proactively address the rising threats to their firm’s reputation.
The Opportunity
The firm had recently been challenged by a number of events that had adversely impacted their reputation in the eyes of their customers, stakeholders, and investors. We were retained by the General Counsel to catalog the firm’s current and future reputational risks, develop a 24×7 capability to monitor their reputation, and establish a robust rapid response communications process to quickly react to potential reputational threats to the firm.
Approach and Results
We launched this effort with a review of the firm’s current communication processes for media monitoring and issue management. As the discovery phase continued, we conducted interviews with key stakeholders and leaders, met with institutional investors, and launched a sentiment survey with the firm’s largest customers to gauge their perceptions of the company.
During this phase, we also reviewed mainstream media and social media sources in order to gauge sentiment towards the firm and catalog current and future reputational risks that could pose a later threat.
As we shifted into the ideation phase, we worked with the client’s executive team and communications leaders to generate ideas and concepts for reputational themes that would resonate with the firm’s customers, stakeholders, and investors. These themes were used to later generate messaging that could be used as threats emerged.
We then developed a two-fold rapid response strategy for the firm to implement. First, we created a 24×7 monitoring capability to detect an increase in negative sentiment in social media and mainstream media stores. On a daily basis, a recap of major stories, social media posts, and sentiment scoring was shared with the firm’s senior leaders and communications team.
Finally, we developed a rapid response escalation process that enabled the firm to move quickly when a reputational threat was discovered. This allowed the communications team to rapidly gain approval from senior leaders to push messaging through traditional outlets, social media channels and trusted third-party influencers.
We continue to support this client through quarterly reviews of their reputational themes, messaging, and communication strategies.
Key Activities
- Discovery
- 26 interviews
- Sentiment surveys of customers and stakeholders
- 6 focus group meetings
- Review of current communications processes
- Ideation
- 3 multi-day ideation sessions
- 90+ ideas and concepts
- 20 reputational themes
Outcomes
- Key messages and reputational themes
- 24×7 reputation monitoring process
- Rapid response communications process
- Improved sentiment results
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