Brand risk higher than ever: Where to focus to protect your brand

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As enterprises become more global and virtual, many leaders recognize that they must vigorously defend their brand against the threat of saboteurs. But are disgruntled customers and aggressive competitors the biggest threats to brands? Or are intentional or accidental disruptions from within even more dangerous?

Brand reputation is more precarious than ever. Online news and social media can immediately turn a small blunder into a public relations catastrophe, making even the most venerable brands vulnerable to attack. Should your brand defense strategies first target potential saboteurs on the outside? Or those within? 

Here’s the debate:

Defend the brand against external saboteurs. It’s the top priority.
More than ever, disgruntled customers, activists and competitors are using the Internet and other improvised weapons to attack brands.Protect the brand from internal attacks first.
Where do you think external saboteurs get their ammunition? It’s important that leadership, employees and suppliers understand how they contribute to maintaining a strong brand and how easily they can undermine it.Our people are loyal. Focus on the external people who are out to hurt you.
Why would senior management or employees do anything to hurt the brand – and risk their livelihood? Better to focus on countering the deliberate attacks that external saboteurs may launch.Employees can be loyal – and still hurt you.
Many internal attacks result from people who don’t fully consider the consequences of their words and actions. It’s important to make sure all employees, including senior leaders, are well informed and well trained when it comes to brand risks.Competitors are quick to capitalize on a misstep.
You need to know what angry customers and other outside saboteurs say before your competitors use that information against you. A good defensive strategy must anticipate, pre-empt and mitigate the damage they can inflict.That’s why it’s important to pay attention to what’s happening inside your organization.
You’re right – monitoring is important. But don’t limit surveillance to external sources; find ways to engage employees in monitoring external and internal threats.Let HR handle the internal problems. External ones are a bigger deal.
Hire and train right and your internal threats will disappear. Dealing with customers and competitors is more difficult – you don’t handpick them.This is much bigger than HR.
Practically every corporate decision can help strengthen or weaken the brand – from safety standards to pricing decisions to supplier selection. A broad strategy to reduce brand threats should encompass the entire enterprise.

Jonathan R. Copulsky, Strategy & Operations, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Many leaders react to outside threats to their brand, while ignoring internal risks that could be even more damaging.

When I talk with executives about brand sabotage, many are concerned about brand risks that emanate from outside sources – dissatisfied customers, cantankerous critics and unruly competitors. Attacks from outside sources are often purposeful and menacing.

However, individuals within the company who may not intend to do harm, may inflict as much – or more – damage to your brand. Consider the manager who forwards a confidential email to the wrong person, or the CEO’s snide remark that’s secretly recorded, or employees who upload at-work pranks to YouTube. These internal saboteurs may not set out to destroy brand equity, but the impact can be just as devastating as the acts of a willful saboteur.

Because it’s impossible to know who will attack or what weapons they will use, some risk intelligent companies are adapting the strategies and tactics of counterinsurgencies to reduce brand threats, both internal and external:

Plan for the worst. Evaluate brand risk as you would a financial or strategic risk. While it’s impossible to anticipate every outcome, plan for the consequences of brand threats that could be most damaging, even if the chances of them happening seem relatively unlikely. When your planning is done, rehearse, just like you would with any emergency response scenario.Be proactive. Enroll everyone in your organization in brand risk management, including employees, senior executives and value-chain partners. Engage employees in monitoring and reporting internal and external threats. Build your organization’s ability to anticipate, track, report, manage and respond to internal and external brand threats.Learn and adapt. Pay attention to how other organizations respond to brand threats to learn what works and what doesn’t work. Sabotage tactics are constantly evolving; your brand defense must change as well. When an attack takes place, take the time to analyze your response, assess what worked (and what didn’t) and embed these learnings in your go forward plan.

Brand defense doesn’t get a lot of attention until something bad happens and then everyone wants to know why you didn’t do something to prevent it. By then it’s too late.

Library: Deloitte Debates
Services: Consulting
Overview: Strategy & Operations

As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

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Andy Reid: My focus is only on the game

Posted by Josh Alper on September 17, 2013, 3:47 PM EDT

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Thursday night’s Chiefs-Eagles game is an interesting matchup between a Chiefs team that’s already matched their win total from last year and an Eagles team running an offense that moves at a breakneck pace.

Compelling as that may be, one of the biggest storylines heading into the game has nothing to do with what will happen on the field. It has to do with Chiefs coach Andy Reid returning to Philadelphia for the first time since leaving the Eagles after 14 years as the team’s head coach. Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles has already said that he wants to win the game for his coach, but Reid said on a Tuesday conference call with Philly reporters that football is the only thing on his mind.

“Once you’re in this thing and you’re grinding and you’re getting ready for a football team, a good football team, you put all of that aside,” Reid said. “I know all of the questions and all of that. … It’s not very fluffy, but that’s what’s real.”

Reid had nothing but positive things to say about Eagles management, quarterback Michael Vick and coach Chip Kelly and said he “loved every minute” of his time in Philadelphia. Reid also said he thought his move from Philly to Kansas City would wind up being a good thing for both teams. Thursday will wind up being a good night for only one of them, however.

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Telecom Italia chairman says focus is on strategy

By Paola Arosio and Giancarlo Navach

CERNOBBIO, Italy | Fri Sep 6, 2013 9:04am EDT

CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) - Telecom Italia needs to set out a new strategy before deciding on a possible new partner, Chairman Franco Bernabe said on Friday.

Bernabe said Italy's biggest fixed-line telecoms group, which is the subject of takeover speculation, was not in immediate need of a new investor and ruled out a purely financial partner.

Several sources have told Reuters that both the Telecom Italia's management and the Italian core shareholders are considering alternatives to its current ownership structure.

Telecom Italia is 22.4 percent owned by holding Telco, which is in turn owned by Italian financial services groups - Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca, Generali - and Spanish competitor Telefonica.

"What is required is an industrial plan which could include an industrial partner with Telecom on an equal footing," he said on the sidelines of a business gathering in Cernobbio.

"There is no need for financial investors. We have already been there".

Telco shareholders, which have lost hundreds of millions of euros on their Telecom Italia investment, have the option to decide by September 28 whether to leave their shareholder pact, potentially paving the way for new investors.

Telecom Italia, whose core market Italy is still in recession, is saddled with debt of nearly 29 billion euros ($38 billion) which it needs to reduce rapidly to avoid seeing its credit rating cut to "junk".

($1 = 0.7623 euros)

(Writing and additional reporting by Lisa Jucca; Editing by Erica Billingham)

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Goldman Trader Can't Focus on Lawyers in SEC Case

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Apple set to focus on "power users" with 10.9, but whither the regular folks?

Apple set to focus on "power users" with 10.9, but whither the regular folks? | iMore.com Skip to main content Android BlackBerry iPhone / iPad Windows Phone webOS SIGN UP|LOG IN iMore Forums Apps Games Accessories Reviews How-To Podcasts Contests iPhone iPad mini iPad iPod touch Apple TV iOS iCloud iTunes Mac Hot: iPhone 5S Guides: iPhone buyers | iPad buyers | iOS users Free: Wallpaper | iPhone apps, games | iPad apps, games Shop Online Cases Chargers Screen protectors Headsets & More Free shipping on orders over $50 Apple set to focus on "power users" with 10.9, but whither the regular folks? By Peter Cohen, Monday, Apr 29, 2013 a 6:29 pm 13

WWDC will bring with it the first developer's looks at new versions of OS X and iOS; Apple VP Phil Schiller said so when the company announced WWDC's dates. According to Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, OS X 10.9 will tout features geared toward "power users," among them better Spaces management for multi-monitor systems, tabbed browsing and more.

As a power user, I'm encouraged by the idea that Apple is dedicating time and resources to helping me get more out of the OS X user experience. That's a good start, but I hope Apple doesn't lose the forest through the trees. As intuitive as it is for many of us to use, OS X can still be daunting for new users, especially the new users assimilated by the "halo effect" of iOS devices they're already using.

Macs are supposed to "just work," but as the operating system has evolved so has the complexity of the Mac's interactions with the world around it. iCloud is still subject to random outages and problems - I spent hours last week trying to figure out why my wife's calendar and e-mail weren't synching, only to find after all that that my calendar had fallen out of sync as well. I've worked with users new to the platform that have absolutely no idea how to get their iPad to synchronize with their Mac.

iTunes is a horrible, bloated beast, and while its upgrade cycle isn't implictly tied to the operating system update schedule, that seems like a good time to deconstruct things a bit. iTunes has become this massive digital cloaca through which all information flows to iOS devices, and, oh yeah, it plays music and videos too. Maybe it's time for Apple to start breaking apart these features into separate applications, or just figuring out a less unwieldy way to let iTunes manage it all. And don't even get me started on iPhoto.

Jony Ive is responsible for the direction of Apple's Human Interface teams, and is apparently putting his stamp on iOS 7. I hope he's doing the same with OS X, because his minimalist sensibility is definitely needed in areas where OS X has become anything but minimal.

Source: 9to5Mac

Peter Cohen

Senior Editor of iMore, Mac and gaming specialist, co-founder of The Loop, co-host of Angry Mac Bastards, and all-around technologist. Follow him on Twitter @flargh

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2 10 79 0 More of: News
More of: Mac Os X, Os X, Macintosh, Apple, 10.9, os x 10.9, Mac ? PreviouslyTodoMovies for iPhone review: Get notified of release dates, track watched movies, and more Next up ?Microsoft makes Windows Phone commercial, sells iPhone instead There are 13 comments. Add yours. nolhayes says: Apr 29, 2013 at 8:04 pm - 1 day ago

iPhoto is so complicated. I've only used it on the iPhone and iPad and i've stopped immediately. I'd love a Mac but my Vaio with 4gb ram and 320gb hard drive is still strong and kicking. What I'd really really love is if they could make iMessage work on desktops but that's a big wish.
In regards to the story, catering to power users has the recipe for making things more complicated with adding features/shortcuts etc that normal users will never learn/use.
However if its available people may use it, so might as well make enhancements available.

SN: the new iTunes column browser was a downgrade!

Reply Galley says: Apr 30, 2013 at 7:09 am - 23 hours ago

iMessage runs on the Mac, and iPhoto on the Mac is totally different (and easy to use).

Reply vianar says: Apr 29, 2013 at 9:01 pm - 1 day ago

What constitutes a power user?
I use my computer for document creation, photo storage and editing, video storage and editing, image creation (photoshop), presentation creation, spreadsheet/statistical analysis, as well as the day to day surfing, email, reading, streaming,...
Do I qualify? I don't think I am a power user visa vie programming or blogging, are these people power users you are referring to? I think making a classification like "power user" has to be defined so that people following know if the changes coming down the pike are applicable to them or the user may feel abandoned by the change in focus/development. I am just being picky. Good post, I am liking your contributions to the site, keep it up!

Reply nolhayes says: Apr 29, 2013 at 9:24 pm - 1 day ago

your a power user.

Reply Irelandjnr says: Apr 30, 2013 at 12:50 pm - 18 hours ago

*you're

Reply SockRolid says: Apr 29, 2013 at 9:03 pm - 1 day ago

Re: "Jony Ive is responsible for the direction of Apple's Human Interface teams, and is apparently putting his stamp on iOS 7. I hope he's doing the same with OS X, because his minimalist sensibility is definitely needed in areas where OS X has become anything but minimal."

Agree. But I think from here on out, iOS will lead the way and OS X will follow. At least in terms of OS "family resemblance." Not necessarily in terms of unification of features or functions.

And yes, I fully expect Apple to continue to patent their work in UI design.
And to continue to defend their patented work against all the copycats.

Reply RicharDeanAreMe says: Apr 29, 2013 at 9:40 pm - 1 day ago

Glad that Apple is adding more "Power user" features to OSx. Better multi monitor support is at the top of my list. However Jony Ive seems to want to minimalize the OS I love. I just hope he's not going down the path of Windows 8. Colored tiles are in my nightmares. OSx is after all a Desktop environment right know. Sckeumorphism is still cool, within reason. Its what sets OSx apart from everything else. Look at an Apple computer screen and you would instantly know it's Apple. Apple should just be....Apple. By the way, I say put the optical drive back in and make it Blu-ray. My 3 monitor 27" iMac system would love it. (Just Saying)

Reply SockRolid says: Apr 29, 2013 at 10:31 pm - 1 day ago

Re: "OSx is after all a Desktop environment right know. "

Except when you use apps in full-screen mode.

Re: "By the way, I say put the optical drive back in and make it Blu-ray."

Don't hold your breath.
Never. Going. To. Happen.

Reply RicharDeanAreMe says: Apr 29, 2013 at 10:56 pm - 1 day ago

I realize there will probably never be blu-ray in any mac...ever. But I do use an external, on my iMAC. With some third party software it works pretty awesome. I'm a realist, but, also an optimist. There are new people running Apple now. It can change. Regardless of what industry experts say, Blu-ray still has a long shelf life. Just look around at peoples libraries. DVD's and Blu-rays. PS3 is Blu-ray. The next Xbox will be Blu-ray. Blu-ray may not be in Apples plans, but, it isn't over yet. Not by a long shot. Sales may be down, but they are not going away. Bandwidth in the country is insanely expensive, and capped. Until that changes, optical media is here to stay for a while. Even Windows 8 still Plays Blu-ray natively with Windows Media Player. So maybe if I hold my breath long enough, Apple, will change its mind. I know Apple's iTunes is a big part of no Blu-ray. But, in my opinion Blu-ray would make an iMac much more attractive. Especially with a 27" iMac screen. Bet ya iMac sales would go up....

Reply richard451 says: Apr 30, 2013 at 10:52 am - 20 hours ago

OSX is a dead man walking. Hopefully Apple is devoting little to no resources on it

Reply Irelandjnr says: Apr 30, 2013 at 12:52 pm - 18 hours ago

It's not dead yet by any means.

Reply MacBook Pro says: Apr 30, 2013 at 1:35 pm - 17 hours ago

"Better Spaces management for multi-monitor systems" and "tabbed browsing" are not power user features.

There are numerous unsupported statements without any analysis in the article. The author is simply regurgitating common themes (that have been demonstrated as ridiculous when context is added).

"iCloud is still subject to random outages and problems;" while true, even the most advanced and expensive enterprise solutions have outages. We only need look to Google Apps Status Dashboard for a comparison. Google Apps appears to have as many issues as Apple iCloud despite Google Apps being an enterprise solution with the expectations associated with such a solution.

"iTunes is a horrible, bloated beast;" why and how does Apple solve the issue practically and reasonably? Should Apple split iTunes into nearly one dozen applications as on iOS devices? Do consumers want that? Do consumers really have major issues with iTunes and where is the survey to support such a claim?

"... don't even get me started on iPhoto;" don't even get me started on this statement.

Reply asuperstarr says: Apr 30, 2013 at 6:47 pm - 12 hours ago

Any improvement is always a good thing.

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