This document discusses strategies for building and maintaining brand trust in today's transformed media environment. It recommends delivering an authentic brand narrative and being transparent in actions. It also stresses the importance of preparing for potential brand challenges by conducting vulnerability assessments, creating a crisis team and protocols, and monitoring vigilantly. When issues do arise, it advises responding quickly and honestly by admitting mistakes, explaining what happened, and how the brand will make it right and prevent recurrences.

1. JOE COHEN, APR
SVP of Communications | KIND Healthy Snacks
@jcohenPR

5. TRUST… BACK ON THE RISE?

6. TIMES HAVE
CHANGED…
NAVIGATING A
TRANSFORMED
MEDIA
ENVIRONMENT
Increased Segmentation and
Competition
News in Real Time, All the Time
Clickbait Headlines
Decline of Print Media
Unconventional News Sources
Citizen Journalism
The Rise of the Influencers

7. RISE OF THE
INFLUENCER
Consumers look to peers for trusted information
Democratization of media
Everyone can be an expert
Blending of news and entertainment
Emergence of social media “armies”
Embrace of influencers by brands and traditional media

8. NEW
FUNDAMENTALS
OF BUILDING
BRAND TRUST
Deliver a Value-Driven Brand
Narrative
Be Authentic to Who You Are –
Don’t Try to Be Something You
Aren’t
Be Transparent in Your Actions
Provide Access to Your
Stakeholders
Communicate Often – Be
Modest, Show Substance

9. PREPARING
FOR BRAND
CHALLENGES:
EMBRACE
YOUR INNER
CHICKEN LITTLE
Conduct vulnerability
assessment
Identify and prioritize areas
of risk
Create a crisis team
Establish protocol and
implement across the enterprise
Create stand-by messaging
and platforms
Monitor vigilantly

10. CRISIS
MANAGEMENT
Respond fast with the
information that you have
Communicate to all key
stakeholders swiftly – internal
and external
Admit to mistakes
Explain how it happened
Be authentic in your response
Say how you are going to make
it right
Tell what you’ve learned and
why it won’t happen again

11. Clear brand values
Authentic voice
Walks the talk on
transparency
Deep influencer
relationships
When brand challenges
arise – responds fast,
responds honestly
BRAND REPUTATION CASE STUDY

12. Ten Tenets
Grassroots Launch
Influencer Seeding
National Tour
(Media & Thought
Leadership)
BRAND CAMPAIGN:
DO THE KIND THING
BOOK LAUNCH

13. Initial Response
Citizen Petition
May
Announcement
BRAND CAMPAIGN:
DEFINING HEALTHY

14. LOOKING IN
THE MIRROR
Do you still communicate
the way you did five
years ago? Three years
ago?
Is your brand narrative
authentic and
consistent?
Do your external and
internal stakeholders
know what your brand
stands for?
Can you be more
transparent in your
actions?
Do you have a crisis
plan?

15. Q&A