Managing the cross-channel reputation of a government institution

In spite of popular belief, Reputation Management is not restricted to high-profile companies that are likely to cause mass environmental destruction or disrupt the social balance of fragile and exotic communities. Corporate reputation has now become one of the most important criteria in the mind of ordinary people looking to buy everyday products and most report they would not do business with a company with a tarnished reputation.

But in fact, Reputation Management is not exclusively the sole preoccupation of businesses either. Even governmental institutions that have nothing to sell are preoccupied with creating and maintaining long-term trust with their stakeholders. Who these stakeholders are, how varied they are, what their main concerns related to and what communication channels they use most is explained in detail in this new episode of our “Reputation Management Decision Makers” Web TV series in which Augure CEO Michael Jaïs talks to Didier Venturini CTO of the Region PACA.

Multiple stakeholders and reputation drivers

What does a public procurement awards and CMMI certifications received by an IT department have to do with reputation ?

In very practical terms, they prove that the department is spending public money efficiently and wisely. More generally, they are just two of the numerous reputation drivers that are discussed in this video. And this is one of the most interesting aspects of this interview, in that it clearly describes that reputation management is not simply about pushing messages out to your Facebook page hoping that fans will gobble them up and buy products in their droves.

In the case of the regional institution Mr Venturini describes, reputation management hinges around creating a lasting relationship with multiple stakeholder types over multiple issues and multiples channels. In particular :

• Stakeholders can be citizens of all ages, business owners, other administrations, the French government, the European government …
• Issues addressed range from optimized public spending, quality of outreach, legal information, event promotion
• Communication channels include mail (of the pulverized wood pulp type), email, the website, blogs, newsletters, Facebook and Twitter
• People playing a role in reputation management are not limited to PR but include IT and other departments

Besides this important diversity, collaboration with the public is a strong focus and building lasting trust is envisioned as fostering personalized and interactive engagement with all.

My guess is that many large company are not as mature in their own internal definition of reputation management. What do you think ?