You ultimately get the reputation you deserve
They say a person or organisation ultimately gets the reputation they deserve. I’d like to think so in the case of Santander UK, whose former chief executive is António Horta-Osório. He’s the one whose enforced absence through ‘overwork’ surprised the City in 2011. At Santander he once presided over the now defunct Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, two formerly staid organisations turned racy retail banks that Santander gobbled ... read the full post »
21 February 2013 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : banks, customer service, marketing, public relations, reputation, trust.
Possibly the best piece of PR advice your company will get this year
A corporate brand doesn’t have to huge to become ubiquitous although a colossal marketing budget is clearly a factor. It also helps if you have an outspoken, maverick chief executive as Ryanair or Pimlico Plumbers do. At a personal level, another tactic is to present yourself (and by extension your company) as the counterpoint to what most others are saying on a trending topic – journalists usually welcome contrarian views ... read the full post »
23 January 2013 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : communications strategy, diversity, marketing, media coverage, reputation.
3 Minute Management Briefing: using social media to demonstrate expertise
Social media sites can be a great way of showcasing your personal knowledge and expertise on the subjects you wish to be associated with. The two main social sites for business people are LinkedIn and relative newcomer Quora, but I’ll also cover discussion forums. Starting with LinkedIn, from your personal home page open the drop down menu under the ‘More’ tab. Click on ‘Answers’ to open up the main answers page, ... read the full post »
10 October 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : expertise, expertise marketing, marketing, reputation, social media, third party endorsement.
Why is mystery shopping such a secret for B2B companies?
Every organisation needs the insight that comes from walking in their customers’ shoes. Only when you see what they experience as they try to buy from you can you really organise your business properly around customers’ needs. This is hardly new, but for B2B companies, take-up of such basic insight management has been surprisingly slow, as an article in this month’s issue of Professional Services Marketing magazine explains. The ... read the full post »
01 October 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | 2 Comments »
Tagged : law firms, marketing, mystery shopping, new business, reputation.
Why Public Relations and Human Resources should get to know one another better
Public relations, in a business context, is mostly about creating goodwill, understanding and support for the company from people who matter (stakeholders, if you must). These people typically include customers (obviously) and prospects, suppliers, local communities, business partners, industry groups, legislators and so on. Most important of all, arguably, are the company’s own employees: you won’t keep customers if employees don’t care about them. No matter how much time and effort ... read the full post »
12 September 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : HR, human resources, Intersport, marketing, public relations, reputation.
A tale about the cynical abuse of trust to chase extra profits
Door-to-door salesmen don’t enjoy the best of reputations but they all know how much easier it is to sell once they have crossed the customer’s threshold. How they must envy British Gas service engineers, who are never refused entry and enjoy high trust levels with the customers they visit. This is a point not lost on British Gas apparently, which a reliable source tells me is ramping up its drive ... read the full post »
09 August 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : British Gas, reputation, trust.
Using blogging and Twitter to defend yourself from media attack
Not so long ago it used to be the case that when you were contacted by a powerful journalist and asked to respond to potentially damaging allegations at short notice, all you could do was to try and make the best of a bad situation. Usually caught on the back foot, it was a race against time as you scrambled to piece together your best defence from whatever facts you ... read the full post »
02 April 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : blogging, communications strategy, Edward Staite, media relations, reputation, social media, The Sunday Times, Twitter.
Chief executives and reputations: two contrasting stories
When I was interviewed for this article in The Sunday Times recently, it reminded me of two very different customer experiences I’ve had with chief executives; one very good and one very bad. Both are highly unusual and memorable. The good one was the totally disarming personal call I received from Sir Moir Lockhead one day as I navigated my way around a supermarket. At the time, Lockhead was ... read the full post »
21 February 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : chief executive and reputations, customer service, First Group plc, public relations, reputation, Southern Cross Care Homes, The Sunday Times, trust.
Fred Goodwin, ex-RBS boss: is continued silence the best approach?
Ever since his downfall and the resulting political firestorm cast him as ‘arch villain’ in the world’s biggest banking failure (so far), the erstwhile ‘Sir’ and now just plain old Fred Goodwin has never given a media interview. It could initially have been for legal reasons, but I wonder if maintaining a dignified silence was ever the right approach and if he should now review that? Was it a deliberate, ... read the full post »
01 February 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : banks, communications strategy, Fred Goodwin, gerald ronson, media interviews, RBS, reputation, Sir Fred Goodwin.
Customer advocacy: what’s stopping you?
In my first article on customer advocacy I outlined what I hope was a strong case for talking about your successes through the clients’ voice. In this second piece, I want to explore what’s preventing more firms from doing so. Some of the common reasons I’ve encountered are: 1. The firm has a long-standing (and unchallenged) policy not to talk about clients 2. Clients would never agree to it, for various reasons 3. There is no ... read the full post »
02 September 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : advocacy, communications strategy, customers, reputation.