Remember our popular twins, P-Square, and that “we bring you back again” line? Well, yes, I am back again. This time, let’s talk about why you should always bring your best to EVERYTHING you do. Your reputation is taking notes.
When a brand gets into trouble, one of the first things you hear is, “We need PR.”
Oh, really? You need PR? What have you done over the years that will give your PR team something credible to work with?
Hot pepper scatter scatter! Suddenly, everybody wants a statement, a media intervention, a reassuring message or something to calm the public. The urgency is understandable, but we are not fire extinguishers ooo. Especially me.
The first thing I want to ask is: what relationship did you build with these people that makes you think their understanding is your birthright?
You cannot ignore people when business is good and expect their trust to appear when things go wrong. Reputation building is a strategic and deliberate management function. For a brand to become respected, trusted and, as we often say, the toast of the public, somebody must have put in the work. Consistently.
That work begins long before a crisis. You cannot suddenly turn me into a pressure cooker because you neglected it.
What do people actually believe about you?
Tell me, what do people believe about your brand? Do you even know?
In simple English, reputation is the overall impression people have of an individual, organisation, product or brand. It develops from what they have experienced, observed and heard over time.
You may describe your organisation as responsible, transparent and customer-focused. Well done o. But do your customers recognise that description? Would your employees agree? Does your conduct support the image you are presenting?
Ọ̀rọ̀ di “hmmm” — now, this calls for serious thought.
These questions are valid because a brand does not have the final say on its own reputation. The public forms an opinion from the evidence available to it.
Your advertising may attract attention. Your PR campaign may communicate your strengths. But the experience people have with you will determine whether those messages are believable.
You better get to work so you can make my work easier.
If you promise excellent service and consistently deliver frustration, people will eventually remember the frustration more than the promise. And you know how quickly a bad experience can travel.
Your ordinary days are building your defence
Do not sit on the fence waiting for trouble. The days you showed up responsibly may speak for you when your reputation comes under pressure.
People often associate reputation management with negative headlines, public apologies and crisis statements. Yet much of the work happens when nothing dramatic is happening.
Those quiet periods give you time to strengthen your positioning, understand your weaknesses and address potential threats before they become public problems.
When a customer complains and receives a useful response, you are building reputation. When an employee is treated fairly, you are building reputation. When a journalist asks a difficult question and gets an honest answer, you are building reputation. When leadership honours a commitment that would have been easier to abandon, the same work is happening.
If you consistently do these things, you already have a foundation worth protecting.
Every interaction contributes to the public’s understanding of your organisation.
One good deed will not automatically establish a strong reputation. One negative incident may not erase years of responsible conduct, either. But if you want to understand the meaning of wildfire, add a teaspoon of nonchalance to an unresolved complaint and watch how quickly the matter grows.
This is why consistency matters. People need enough experience of your organisation to know what they can reasonably expect from it.
Goodwill gives you something to draw on
No organisation can guarantee that it will never face a crisis.
Products can fail. Systems can be breached. Leaders can make poor decisions. Employees can act improperly. An accusation can spread online before the facts are clear.
Preparation includes building trust while there is still time to earn it.
Consider a company that has spent years responding responsibly to complaints, prioritising customer safety and communicating honestly. If a problem occurs, stakeholders may be willing to listen while it investigates and takes corrective action.
Now consider a company known for ignoring complaints, making excuses and withholding information. Even a smaller incident may provoke a stronger reaction because people already have reasons to distrust it.
When people have experienced enough of your bad behaviour, dem go take night bus go wait for you for front. By the time you arrive with your explanation, their patience may have finished.
The immediate problem matters, but so does the history people bring to it.
A strong reputation gives an organisation goodwill to draw on when confidence is threatened. It does not excuse wrongdoing or remove the consequences of failure. It can, however, make people more willing to hear your explanation and assess your response fairly.
Trust cannot suddenly become compulsory because your situation has become uncomfortable.
Let your conduct support your communication
An organisation that says it values its employees should demonstrate that commitment in how it treats them.
A company that promotes customer care must make it possible for customers to get help. A brand that speaks about environmental responsibility must examine whether its operations support that position.
Otherwise, your communication is creating expectations your organisation cannot meet.
As PR professionals, we can explain decisions, communicate progress and help organisations build meaningful relationships. But there must be substance behind the message.
Give us something solid to work with.
This is why reputation cannot be left entirely to the PR department. Leadership contributes through its decisions. Human resources contributes through workplace practices. Customer service contributes through its responses. Operations contributes through delivery. Marketing contributes through the promises it makes. Everybody is contributing to the reputation. Everybody must take responsibility for protecting it.
Build relationships before you need a favour
Feed the relationship before asking it to carry weight for you. There is something uncomfortable and disappointing about hearing from an organisation only when it wants publicity or needs help managing trouble.
Relationships require attention during stable periods, too.
Organisations should understand their stakeholders, listen to their concerns and maintain useful channels of communication. Customers, employees, journalists, regulators, investors and host communities have different interests. Those interests deserve attention before they become sources of conflict.
A journalist who consistently receives accurate information and timely responses may be more willing to seek clarification when controversy develops. A customer who has repeatedly experienced good service may be willing to hear the brand’s response before deciding what to do.
Neither relationship guarantees support. People must remain free to question and criticise. But an established relationship creates room for a more informed conversation and decision.
You should not have to introduce your values to the public for the first time in a crisis statement.
One “chakam” can change the conversation
Remember my article on managing crisis communication in the digital age, where I described social media as the heart of the world?
Today, one chakam — the click of a camera capturing something unpleasant — can send your brand travelling across the internet within minutes. By the time your organisation begins preparing a response, people may already be drawing conclusions from that single image or video.
Now, answer these questions.
Have you been responsive? Do you answer reasonable questions? What happens when somebody complains? Does your public conduct reflect the values you promote?
Because when that chakam happens, people may start bringing out their previous experiences with you. Suddenly, the conversation becomes bigger than the original incident.
Your social media platforms should help people understand and engage with your brand. They should also give you an opportunity to listen.
We cannot be consuming product displays and instructions every day. Talk to your customers. Show interest in their experiences. Let them see the people and principles behind the business.
An audience that knows your work and has experienced your responsiveness may be more willing to consider your explanation during a difficult moment. But that goodwill is never permission to dismiss legitimate concerns.
Deleting valid criticism, attacking complainants or manufacturing support can deepen distrust. Sometimes, what turns a manageable issue into a bigger crisis is an organisation’s determination to silence the conversation.
Listen early. There may still be time to resolve the problem before it becomes everybody’s business.
Prepare the response before the pressure arrives
Reputation building must be supported by practical crisis preparation.
Who speaks for the organisation? Who verifies the facts? Who approves public communication? Which stakeholders need to hear from you directly? What should employees do if journalists or customers contact them?
These decisions should be made before an emergency.
A crisis communication plan should identify likely risks, responsibilities, spokespersons, communication channels and response procedures. Employees need to understand their roles, and leadership must be ready to act.
Speed matters, but accuracy matters just as much. A rushed statement built on incorrect information can give you another problem to explain.
Sometimes, the responsible first response is to acknowledge the situation, explain what is being verified and commit to an update.
Then give the update. Do not make another promise and disappear.
Accountability must already be part of your culture
No organisation is perfect. Mistakes will happen.
What people watch closely is how you respond. Do you acknowledge the problem? Do you take responsibility where appropriate? Do you apologise when an apology is required? Can people see what you are doing to correct the situation?
An apology may be necessary, but people also need evidence of action. If an organisation has a history of addressing mistakes and learning from them, its commitment to corrective action may carry more weight. If it routinely denies responsibility or blames everybody else, another promise may be difficult to believe.
Accountability becomes credible through practice. People need to have seen it in your behaviour before they can place confidence in your statement.
The work starts now
Effective crisis communication begins with how an organisation behaves before the crisis.
Honest communication, responsible leadership, reliable service, strong relationships and fulfilled promises all contribute to the trust a brand may need when difficult questions arise.
And these things matter every day. They attract customers, strengthen relationships, encourage loyalty and support long-term success.
My position is simple: give people consistent reasons to believe you.
Resolve the complaint. Honour the promise. Treat people fairly. Explain the decision. Correct the mistake. Keep doing the work when there is no applause and no headline.
Then engage my services and let me bring my expertise to a foundation we can actually build on. That is where the magic has substance.
When a crisis arrives, people will assess your statement against the organisation they already know. Your history will enter the conversation whether you invite it or not.
Build one you can stand on.
And please, do not use your own hands to create a crisis and then hand me the microphone to explain it. Yes, crisis management is part of my business, but I would rather help you build a reputation that opens doors than spend our time explaining why you set the building on fire.
And that is the essence of building a strong reputation before a crisis begins. Give people reasons to trust you today, so your explanation carries weight tomorrow.
See you in my next article. Until then, behave like your reputation is watching. Because it is.
Bodex Hungbo
Founder, Bodex Media
PR & Digital Media Strategist | Reputation & Media Crisis Manager
Convener, Bodex Social Media Hangout
