Greg Hardy had a domestic violence incident in 2014 and was suspended from the NFL. His reputation suffered and it took time for him to sign with a new team. This reputation management plan aims to build trust in Hardy again by motivating the public to understand he was not charged with assault. The objectives are to raise domestic violence awareness, increase trust in Hardy from 50% of his new team's fans, and raise public knowledge of what actually occurred from 40% to 75%. The key message is that Hardy's issue was dismissed and there are two sides to every story. Tactics include an interview with Hardy and a domestic violence awareness campaign with his support.

1. Taylor Cox
REPUTATION MANAGEMENT PLAN
FOR GREG HARDY

2. RESEARCH
• Greg Hardy had an altercation with Nicole Holder on May 13, 2014.
• June 15, 2014 – Nicole Holder filed for a Domestic Violence Order against Hardy.
• During the 2014 season, Hardy was made ineligible to play for the Panthers or even
attend practices after just the first week.
• Hardy’s appeal was cleared on February 9, 2015 due to Mrs. Holder not being in
attendance.
• Panther teammates describe Hardy as sometimes being “unmanageable” with his attitude.
• Hardy is currently facing a 10 game suspension this upcoming season.

3. PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Due to Hardy’s domestic violence issue in 2014, he is still facing backlash on
and off the field, and even finding a new team to play for took more time than
it should have.
• Even to this day, many fans and officials are having a hard time trusting
Hardy to get his act together so they do not waste their money on someone
who may not even be able to play.

4. CAMPAIGN GOAL
• Motivate the public in a favorable direction in order to build trust back in
Hardy; get them to understand that he wasn’t actually charged with assault
and he isn’t as bad as the media makes him out to be.

5. OBJECTIVES
• Raise awareness about the actual domestic violence problem that isn’t just
an issue this one man is having, in order to possibly prevent future possible
instances.
• Get the number of his current team’s (Cowboys) fans, to be trusting of him
on their team by 50% before the new season begins.
• Have the publics’ knowledge of actually what happened that night increase
from 40 to 75 percent in 3 months.

6. KEY MESSAGE
• Greg Hardy’s domestic violence issue last year was ultimately dismissed,
and there are always two sides to a story. It is always important to have
some level of trust in people, and rumors can oftentimes be just that, rumors.

7. TACTICS
• Get a face-to-face interview with Greg Hardy about his current situation with
the Cowboys and his plans to win his appeal.
• Start possible campaign raising awareness about the seriousness of
domestic violence issues, and get his aid on the matter.
• Release news regarding how he has put the matter behind him and his plans
to move forward with his life and new team.