In my recent post about Trendwatching.com’s ‘Flawsome’ trend I explained what being ‘flawsome’ means but didn’t expand on what I believe some of its characteristics might be. So here they are.

Remember, as an organiastion or individual, being ‘flawsome’ is delivering an authentic mixture of being honest about your flaws, being willing to be held accountable and doing so in a way that’s empathetic, generous, humble, flexible, mature and good-natured.

Clients and consumers in 2012 won’t expect brands or companies to be flawless – they know it’s just a matter of time before something goes wrong and they fail in some way. Rather than flawless, they will want to engage with organisations that are clearly ‘flawsome’.

Trendwatching will be providing a trend briefing in March focusing on Flawsome and Human Brands. In the meantime I’d hazard a guess characteristics of being flawsome are likely to include: Read the rest of this entry »

The discussion on National Radio’s ‘Afternoons‘ programme with Jim Mora yesterday regarding celebrity endorsements was interesting.

Panellists Scott Yorke and Michael Deaker had differing opinions as to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) might pursue former news anchor, Richard Long, over his involvement as ‘frontman’ for failed finance company Hanover Finance in terms of lending his reputation and name to the campaign.

Might the FMA have to pursue the copywriter, the ad agency, a voice-over artist as well as Long, for example? And might the perceived risk in terms of loss mitigate involvement if it’s low?

Not only did Yorke feel anyone investing in financial products probably wouldn’t be swayed by a celebrity endorsement, he also noted that even if Long had undertaken extensive ‘due-diligence’ to satisfy himself as to the robustness of the company’s financial performance and status, it’s likely financial advisers at the time may indeed have advised him that it was sound. Fair comment. Read the rest of this entry »

Pic: 3news.co.nz

NZ Prime Minister John Key is in hot water and it’s not cooling off. The ‘Teapot Tape’ remains a hot topic of conversation, both in the media and amongst the public, given New Zealand is just one week away from a general election.

So why is it still dominating headlines? The apparently inadvertent recording of a supposedly private conversation between Prime Minister John Key and ACT candidate John Banks continues to be a hot topic because of doubts about whether voters are ‘being played‘.

Instead of fronting up and simply saying ‘we look forward to working with ACT as a coalition partner’ National again staged managed the so-called ‘Cup of Tea’ ritual to surreptitiously direct voters in Epsom to vote for Banks, as ACT’s candidate, rather than their own man. Read the rest of this entry »

When was the last time you used your phone to actually speak to someone? Chances are it won’t be anything like it used to be even just a few years ago, which is a shame because voice-to-voice, in-person communication is one of the most powerful tools we can use to build trust and rapport, and enhance our reputation.

We’re supposedly more connected than we’ve ever been and spend hours using social networks and sending emails, text and instant messages. And yet the constant availability of instant communication tools can make us more disconnected from in-person interactions than ever.

Far be it for me to decry electronic communications. Used effectively they can help us reach more people more cost-and-time-effectively and work in a way that suits us. They don’t, however, have the same power that can be generated from picking up the phone and actually speaking with someone in person.

So why is physically speaking with someone so powerful rather than sending them an email or text message instead? Read the rest of this entry »

Emerson cartoon: The new adidas logo published in the New Zealand Herald 9 Aug 11

Less than a month out from the opening game of the Rugby World Cup major sponsor Adidas continues to have a public relations nightmare on its hands following the public outcry in New Zealand over its official All Blacks jerseys.

Trying to ring-fence New Zealanders and block them from purchasing the same product more cheaply from overseas websites did nothing but enrage Kiwi All Blacks fans with many promising to boycott not only the official jersey itself, but all Adidas products as a result.

Now the story has spun out into how much the NZ$220 jerseys cost to manufacturer (approximately $9) and whether Adidas is acting ethically given the wages paid to those that make them is estimated at as little as $1 a day.

Their ‘we won’t drop the price under any circumstances’ stance has, and will continue, to cost them dearly. Already events celebrating their support of the tournament have had to be cancelled in the wake of the public outcry that’s occurred. Read the rest of this entry »

In Reputationz News each month I highlight what I consider to be recent reputation winners and losers. They can be people, companies or even abstract ideas. Some are fairly obvious. Others are off-beat or quirky. You may or may not agree! The lists are purely my opinion.

Check out the lists below for my pick of recent reputation winners and losers and feel free to leave a comment with nominations for the next issue if you think someone or something should be included.

Reputation Winners

• Australian legislation for promising to give investors in ASX-listed companies the power to force re-election of an entire board if investors believe executive pay is inappropriate two years in a row.

• Air New Zealand for continuing to provide scheduled flights and ensure passenger safely despite volcanic ash clouds that grounded flights by Quantas, Jetstar, Pacific Blue and Virgin.

• St Pancras railway station for supporting bands and musicans wanting to get their music across to thousands of passengers during lunchtime and rush-hour ‘Rock ‘n’ Rail‘ jam sessions.

Reputation Losers

• EMA (Northern) CEO Alasdair Thompson for spectacularly forgetting that the camera is always rolling, the microphone is always on and there’s no such thing as ‘off the record’ when discussing reasons for women’s sick leave.

• Celebrity endorsements of financial products and companies in New Zealand following proposed legislation to make endorsers liable for claims made and face fines of up to $1 million.

• Diving and snorkling on the Great Barrier Reef following a tourist being left behind by a dive boat operator in similar vein to previous tourists, some of whom made it to safety, some of whom didn’t.

Who or what do you think should be listed? Leave a comment to let me know. Click the link to view Reputationz News online.

There is a line in the sand for all of us, as individuals and organisations, and crossing it can make us a pariah.

News International’s News of the World became an outcast as soon as it became clear the phone-hacking scandal it’s caught up in wasn’t limited to a very small number of individual journalists and celebrity victims but extensive and widespread in terms of those involved and those they intruded upon.

The News of the World held itself up as being a moral evangelist in many instances yet the way information was gathered was highly unethical. The disclosure of the extent of the phone taps and other highly questionable practices demonstrated that the line in the sand had clearly been crossed to the point of being obliterated altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

Reader’s Digest magazine has been producing annual ‘Most Trusted’ lists for several years and New Zealanders that tend to sit at both the top, and the bottom, are usually those that have had some form of high profile during the year or are very well known – often entertainers, politicians and TV and sporting celebrities.

This year, however, it’s different, with scientist and inventor Sir Ray Avery topping the list. Following him in second and third places are Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Sir Peter Gluckman and physicist Sir Paul Callaghan. So how come scientists have become the most trusted people in New Zealand? And, without wishing to offend any of them – who are they anyway?

It seems the reason these three topped the list this year is down to a change in the methodology used in questioning respondents. According to an article in the New Zealand Herald, a new research company – McCrindle Research – who took on the task this year: Read the rest of this entry »

There have been mixed responses to the Government’s proposal to change legislation to make ‘celebrities’ liable for claims they make in so-called celebrity endorsements.

The New Zealand Herald’s editor feels celebrities shouldn’t be held accountable for claims they make. Rather, investors should be better-educated about investment decisions and not so easily influenced by prominent people used to endorse products or services.

Others, including Aucklander Glen Stanton, welcome the fact that under the proposed new legislation endorsers will face fines of up to $1 million as well as compensation orders. Stanton was less than 10 days away from receiving $50,000 from an investment in Hanover Finance when the company collapsed.

Former TVOne news anchor Richard Long’s endorsement of Hanover was a primary reason Stanton invested in Hanover in the first place. Commenting in the New Zealand Herald he said “I lost a lot of money in the other finance companies as well, but in most of those companies I [invested] smaller amounts, like $5,000 or $10,000,” he said. “Hanover was the only one that I invested the large amount in … [Mr Long's endorsement] gave you a feeling of false security, definitely.” Read the rest of this entry »

Reputation branding isn’t rocket-science. It’s largely common-sense; but for some reason common-sense isn’t common.

I’m often asked ‘what do I need to do to make sure I can create and maintain a positive reputation?’ Apart from the fact that we can’t actually create a reputation – we can only influence it – there are certain things we can do to ensure we stack the odds in our favour in the reputational stakes and help others to think and speak well of us. I call them…

The 10 commandments of reputation branding:

• Make it easy for others to speak well of you
• Keep abreast of changing values and expectations
• Seek win-win outcomes from every interaction
• Never assume others think as you do Read the rest of this entry »