New Media and Social networking present new set of risks, challenges, and opportunities to Corporations in the management of the reputations. This presentation briefly covers the areas of risk, their source, and the steps required to combat them. --

1. CORPORATE ETHICS & SOCIAL MEDIA NEW CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

2. ETHICS Business, like society, consists of those who break, and those who keep, the law. Lawbreakers are dealt with by the existing legal institutions with varying degrees of success. Individuals and Companies who operate without ethics, are dealt with by society, and lose their reputations.

3. ETHICS Beyond the law lies the realm of ethics. Ethics has to do with doing “The right thing”. The Corporate ethic determines the quality and tone of the behaviour that the corporation is delivering. This in turn determines the quality of the interaction that those outside the business, like customers, suppliers, and competition, and for that matter also those inside, like employees, can expect to receive. The corporate ethic determines the corporate reputation.

4. WHAT WAS.. We can determine three broad chronological platforms of reputation creation: 1) Word of Mouth 2) Traditional Media 3) New Media

5. WHAT WAS.. 1) Word of Mouth – Historically the ethics of a business were experienced and shared, via word of mouth, by its clients, suppliers, competitors and the staff of a company. These experiences were shared amongst peers and local society, and through this process a company's reputation was determined. In general, the degree of accuracy of the reputation was high, and was based primarily on first & second-hand information which could be verified with relative ease.

6. WHAT WAS & IS.. 2) Traditional Media : With the development and expansion of traditional media came advertising & focused marketing. Word of mouth was super-ceded by the reach and effect of marketing. This was, and still is, an important creator and developer of reputation. It is however its own counterpoint, in that negative media (valid or not) has the power to destroy the reputation of a company. It became possible, and in most instances is still true, that the public have a positive or negative opinion of a company without having any first or second hand contact with them. In addition, verification of the validity of this reputation is much more difficult.

7. WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW.. 3) New Media - The “New Wave” which is seeing growth as traditional media is seeing decline. Initially, with the advent of New Media we have seen the same strategies of traditional media being imposed onto the new mediums of websites, email, and social networking tools. Through natural maturation we've seen the development of a new set of characteristics that are collectively referred to as the New Media Culture. Overall this is a positive development and in some ways enables an overdue re-alignment. These characteristics include:

8. New Media Culture Characteristics.. Immediacy – Both the information producer and viewer can quickly and easily upload & access the information, whenever they want.- and that is what they have come to expect Entrance Barriers – Everyone can publish, read, and comment, at minimal cost. - and the growth is phenomenal (blogging, YouTube, Twitter) Multi-way communication – As opposed to a one-way direction of communication, this is multi-way, You speak directly to your audience and they speak directly to you, and then they speak to each other. Choice – Firstly in what the viewer reads, and secondly in the wide variety of opinions, not just the original authors. - so the content we read is the content we choose to read, it must be relevant & engaging. Context – Data relating to the history and development of any issue is now readily available, enabling a clearer context and access to those authors. - Viewers are better informed, and less likely to have a purely one sided or manipulated perception

9. The New Corporate Challenge By effectively using traditional media, corporations create their desired reputation by using effective advertising, marketing, and branding campaigns, irrespective of whether their statements are true or false. With the advent of New Media this paradigm is set to be challenged and changed.

10. The New Corporate Challenge New media allows for the companies ethics to be challenged in public, the records of these challenges, and the subsequent response, if any, remains available. Thereby creating a body of information which has a cumulative effect on the corporation in question

11. The New Corporate Challenge Negative Publicity In the era of traditional media, unethical behaviour by a corporation could be dealt with privately, and the negative word of mouth aspect was over-powered by the use of traditional media in creating a positive image. With New Media, these occurrences become public knowledge, which directly affects reputations in the short term, and, as mentioned, has a cumulative effect, This type of public engagement will increase, because it is effective. Your potential client just needs to “Google” your company, to get the data.

12. The New Corporate Challenge Media Control In traditional media, corporations largely held control of negative publicity. Firstly due to the leverage afforded to them by their advertising budgets. A newspaper will not print a negative story about a large advertising client, for obvious reasons, and secondly due to the difficulty an individual or small company has in gaining access to traditional media channels. With New Media, this hold is diluted, to the point where it almost becomes obsolete, in fact, traditional media are now also sourcing their information from the New Media platforms.

13. The New Corporate Challenge Attitudes In traditional media, large corporations often created a view of being public benefactors, who had a well developed sense of social justice. Within the New Media culture, corporations are generally viewed more realistically, if not cynically (perhaps as a backlash). A common, and growing, view is that under the flag of required profitability, corporations will do anything, and that their PR and corporate communications hold very little water. A corporations quest for a positive public perception is going to become increasingly difficult.

14. The New Corporate Challenge Communication The practise of speaking at, as opposed to engaging with clients, suppliers, and the market, is the norm for corporations and PR agencies. Within the new Media culture this is an increasingly unacceptable practice which results in a negative reaction and disregard of the information. This response will see continued growth, and will reach the point where corporations will find it advantageous to modify their communication methodologies, or be negatively affected.

15. So, What is the Real Risk? As these new corporate challenges grow in weight and importance, so will the risk on the reputation of the corporations. Corporations, who effectively engage the market and negate these risks, will have a distinct advantage over those who continue with legacy communication strategies. Simply put, the result will be as it always was. If you don't manage your New Media communication, and have ethical disputes, the accumulation of this knowledge will result in damage to your reputation, and negatively effect your company.

16. How Does a Corporation Deal With This Challenge? Firstly, perhaps to state the obvious, what happens if we do nothing? The continuation of existing practises and media strategy will result in a lost opportunity i.e. first to market , and increase future costs due to the build-up of negative sentiment. While ROI on present strategies decrease In short, its an opportunity for your competitors to get ahead.

17. How Does a Corporation Deal With This Challenge? There are two broad catagories of activity which can be used to address this challenge 1) Operational 2) Corporate Cultural.

18. How Does a Corporation Deal With This Challenge? Operational Create the channels for multi-way communication, which includes blogs, websites, multimedia presentations, and forums, include direct channels of communication between senior staff and customers with issues. Utilise these channels to alleviate existing POF's (Points of Frustration) for the clients. Publish the issues and their effective resolution then keep them as case studies and precedent determinators – then use them to demonstrate the company ethic.

19. How Does a Corporation Deal With This Challenge? The Corporate Culture This is a more difficult issue, but one about which much has been written in the last few years. Corporate culture is primarily determined by a “Top-Down” effect. There are constant anomalies, but to summarise brutally, the way the boss treats his managers determines how they will treat their their staff, which in turn will determine how they treat their customers. This in turn creates the corporate ethic, which in turn contributes to the company reputation. People work for, and with people. The company ethic is determined by the sum of the attitude of the people that make up that company.

21. Determine where it should be

22. Implement measures to get it to the desired place

23. Re-measure to determine if you are successful Measures can include employment policies, acceptable and unacceptable practise procedures, rewards, etc.

24. IS THIS REAL, OR IS IT JUST WAFFLE? On the basic cornerstones of New Media growth, there is no problem re credibility. There are numerous studies which all show conclusively the increase in internet usage, research, blogging, multimedia uptake, and the characteristics of New Media culture. To presume, or believe, that Internet and New media marketing has made traditional marketing redundant is false, but it is definitely adding a new dimension, with its own risks and challenges.

25. IS THIS REAL, OR IS IT JUST WAFFLE? There isn't a director, Manager, or Salesperson worth their salt who hasn't, and doesn't “Google” their competitors, suppliers, and potential clients. Information is power. The question is : Are the emerging challenges to corporations real, or imagined? Lets take a look at an active example..

26. DAVID VS GOLIATH A small New Media company “David” does business with a multi-million dollar cellphone giant “Goliath”, and gets treated badly. David “Googles” Goliath and determines that Goliath is involved in other similar issues. http://www.noseweek.co.za/article.php?current_article=1974 David determines Goliath's basic strategy via news reports on the internet. http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article274746.ece David views Goliath's “Statement of Ethics” via the Internet. http://www.vodacom.com/the_vodacom_way.php

27. DAVID VS GOLIATH Goliath uses a practical strategy based on the fact that David's generally don't have access to unlimited financial/legal resources, and that time is money for David's, whilst Goliath continues comfortably with their core business. The most probable result is that the David's will “Go- Away” when their resources and will, have been sapped. And the likelihood of resolution in their favour is improbable. “ Oh it's a cruel world we live in Master Jack.”

28. DAVID VS GOLIATH David's Strategy Clear and Thorough Strategy Development is vital for the success of any campaign, including New Media, but this is a subject of a separate discussion. In Short, David takes on Goliath via Social media. But why? - Easy access, low cost, worldwide distribution, View David's response on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5qeDC2pcQw

29. DAVID VS GOLIATH What's the problem for Goliath? - Their standard legal solution and financial muscle is void. Goliath doesn't control this media. The matter is now public, and is now part of the public record. Finally it places Goliath's ethics on this matter, and on their actions moving forward, under scrutiny, Which all goes to reputation.

30. DAVID VS GOLIATH The Result The matter of David vs Goliath is ongoing at this time, but in short, all bullying tactics by Goliath become public record, and the more brutal or unreasonable Goliath becomes, the more damage they cause themselves. The logical way forward becomes one of ethical resolution. Moving forward, I will create and upload a further presentation focusing on corporate strategy and smart options when faced with this type of situation. Which will include developments in this precedent setting David vs Goliath situation.

31. CONCLUSION Many Thanks for your attention and time, in viewing this presentation. I trust it is has been interesting, and at least, thought provoking. Please feel free to make comments, or contact me directly via email. Pieter van vuuren [email_address] Images courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net