The idea of finding your business in a difficult situation, one where all eyes are on you and how you’re going to respond to try and get yourself out of it, might be strong enough of a fear for you to apply caution to everything that you do.
They say that there’s no such thing as bad press, but you might find that this is far from the truth if your competitors are running with much stronger brand reputations than you. Being aware of the kind of situations can lead to this outcome can help you to put your best foot forward.
While greenwashing in itself— a situation where your dedication to combating climate change is much less robust or true than you made it appear to be—is something that can be terrible for perception of your brand; it’s part of a broader issue of trust. In an age where consumers might feel as though they have fewer and fewer reasons to trust businesses, creating a situation where you’re caught in the act of a lie is damaging for obvious reasons.
Committing to doing the opposite, making a stance in regard to your environmental values and then sticking to them, can show that you’re willing to make good on your word and it can also show you in a positive light for taking action on something that’s bigger than just your profits.
The cause of this bad press won’t always be your fault. If your business is unlucky enough to be the victim of a cyberattack, you might feel as though there isn’t much that you could have done, and it’s true that there will always be this element of uncertainty, with no such thing as guaranteed safety. Still, taking every measure possible might not be something that’s always easy to proclaim to your customers, but they’ll take note if you gain a reputation as being a safe and reliable brand who they can trust their data with. To this end, investigating managed detection and response solutions might help you to build up a robust and comprehensive defense.
The kind of negative press that you might look to specifically avoid could depend on the industry that you find yourself in. After all, customers are going to be coming to your brand for different reasons in that case, which is why something like hygiene becomes so much more important when you’re in hospitality than in some other fields.
Customers aren’t going to want to stay in your hotel or eat at your restaurant if you’ve garnered a reputation for not keeping your premises as clean as they should be. They might just plainly find it unpleasant or they might begin to fear for their health. This doesn’t have to be based off their own experience either—viral social media videos can wreak havoc on your professional image, meaning that you’ve got to consistently meet hygiene standards set and showcase that fact.
