Killing Your Brand With Silence
Feb 16th, 2010 by David Svet
I know of a small college that was just bumping along. It wasn’t getting bigger or smaller. It just existed — the poor stepchild of the big school down the road. Then the small school hired a new leader. The new leader was a dynamic fundraiser and high profile public figure. The school grew and flourished. Fundraising skyrocketed. New buildings were built. The school became a darling of the local media. But at the same time, expenses soared. So did executive salaries and the board offered minimal oversight. Then it came to an end. There were firings, recriminations, and bad press. The dirty laundry was out and the press was on it like a bulldog on a stinky gym sock.
So, what did the school do? They tried to hide. Rather than tear off the bandage quickly and get on with life, they became silent. But the bulldog could smell the stinky sock and tugged and tugged. Publicly available information appeared in the press day after day with everyone left on their own to draw conclusions. What did everyone conclude? Why the very worst, of course. In the vacuum of any real information, we assumed the worst. As the drama continues to play out in the press and the courts with all parties trying their best to smother the fiasco, there is one damning fact that has emerged. The school’s brand equity has evaporated.
What was once a shining star is now a black sheep. The odds of repairing the damage are incalculable. The students, faculty, alumni, donors, and community are all paying the price while the board and former executives battle for cover. They tried to hide behind the walls only to have the walls disappear. They were hiding behind their brand. Now it’s gone.
We live in an age of transparency. It is no longer possible to continue operating as was done in the past. Information literally moves at the speed of light. Covering up is no longer an option. Covering up will kill your brand with silence. Character, transparency and responsibility are no longer laudable goals they are absolute requirements.
Photo: (English Bulldog w:en:User:WolvenRose says “is a picture of my bulldog. Taken by me on the 26th of June 2005″) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.
So if something bad happens, don’t keep silent because this will ruin your brand name. Got it, thanks for the post.
Pretty much. Accepting responsibility and demonstrating a clear plan of action to mitigate future problems will yield better results than trying to hope a problem will just go away. Particularly when a situation is obviously rapidly deteriorating.