How can you identify reputational risks in your creative strategy?

This is more of a Brand Strategy question. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. To assess "reputational risks" is to factor in societal opinions towards the audience you wish to adopt. Ex. Bud L***t & Dylan Mulvaney | Nike & Colin Kaepernick. Bud L***t folded when people became aggressive towards the brand. Upsetting their core audience & showing inauthenticity towards the audience they wished to adopt. Nike stood their ground alongside an audience against a volatile opposition during a divisive period. The question to ask for any audience: What is society's response to this audience? Can we (as a brand) truly be an advocate? Do our values match theirs? Do they posses an obstacle we cannot ignore?

If you have a solid brand foundation: follow it, try to be true to your brand DNA, and tweak your messages accordingly to your audience's needs and desires. Don't overdo it, but don't just do the work: make it original, dare a little bit. If you don't have a solid brand foundation: don't even think about creative strategy. It means it's not the right time to work on that: go back to basics, work on your identity, and only then push your creativity to the limits.

Managing reputational risks is crucial for any brand or organization. You'll need to conduct a thorough assessment and research to ensure your creative strategy is free from such risks. Seeking stakeholder feedback, monitoring industry trends and social media, and analyzing customer complaints can provide valuable insights into potential risks. Once you've identified these risks, develop a plan to mitigate them effectively. Tailoring your approach to your unique circumstances can safeguard your brand's reputation and drive long-term success.

Start by accepting that no matter what you do, you’re taking a reputational risk. If you’re not taking risks, you’re not doing it right. Once you get comfortable with risk, you can start doing work that actually matters. Rather than let your actions be guided by fear of risk, lean into it. Not everyone is going to like what you have to say; most will be entirely indifferent. You’re just more noise in the echo chamber. If you want to be heard, you need to niche. Figure out who you’re trying to serve. Create solutions that help them solve their problems, ease their pain points, and achieve their goals. Let them know it’s specifically for them. Take the risk. Earn the reward.

In my experience, managing creative reputational risk is a delicate balance that requires a nuanced approach. Nurturing a positive creative reputation involves not only showcasing innovative ideas but also considering potential pitfalls. It's crucial to anticipate how the audience, stakeholders, and the broader community might perceive and react to unconventional or boundary-pushing creative endeavors. Striking the right balance between pushing creative boundaries and aligning with ethical and societal norms is key to safeguarding one's creative reputation. This proactive approach can help mitigate potential risks and ensure that creativity remains a force for positive impact while minimizing the chances of unintended consequences.

I want to give a specific take on reputational risk related to audience and context: cultural assessment. What works in the US may not work in Europe. What works in Europe may not work in Asia. Always spend that little more time on cultural double-checks: the potential backlash could be huge. I'd also like to suggest a GREAT book on this topic: The Politics of Design, by Ruben Pater.

I feel its important to tailor different campaigns to individual countries, cultures or scenarios to truly have the right tonality and resonance with your audience. It's also great to employ or have as consultants, a few natives of the land who can guide you on certain sensibilities, regulations and other matters which may be highly unknown to you regarding certain regions and customs. It was fascinating to hear just how differently cultures use / interprete the same data. Eg. My cousin collects decorative skulls in all kinds of designs / compositions. ..But when he came home to Nigeria, he had alot of workers and friends who refused to step into his foyer because of the negative cultural significance of those items. He removed them.

Exploring consumer sentiments has proven to be immensely valuable, offering insights into what garners positive resonance and what may elicit skepticism or backlash. Within our sphere, we found it imperative to align with public values. Scrutinizing public opinion aids in anticipating how a creative project will be perceived by a wider audience. This proactive approach enabled us to foresee potential reputational challenges and make well-informed decisions regarding the creative direction.

Creative strategies are about empowering breakthroughs. They need to stand on authentic brand foundations, be transparent and relate to the right audiences, for sure. But this isn't a brand strategy or positioning statement, it's a bridge between logic and emotion. It should provide a spark, something uniquely ownable. Calculated risk, as some say. Testing is a sticky wicket when it comes to creativity. Removes the element of surprise and smooths the edges of courage. In today's communication landscape, you do have ways to "test" in live scenarios, get real reactions and input, not something in a focus group. And then, you can adjust. But, creative strategies must always come from accurate/authentic brand strategies, first.

Our creative flywheel consists begins and ends with data insights, the "Why". The foundational "Why" informs the "What", "When", "How", "Where" and comes full circle by revisiting the performance data that allows us to a reevaluate or reformulate the initial "Why" -- and the process repeats.

Feedback can play a huge advantage when it comes to validating creative strategies. As creatives, we often fall into the inner-circle trap: what may look like genius to us, may sound ridiculous to the public. Gathering feedback becomes an essential tool that allows us to get back to the wide audience's reality. If you prefer an agile approach, you don't really have to gather lots of people and lots of comments about the work: just ask your family, your friends, and your colleagues (who are not involved in the project). You'll be surprised by the amount of insights.

In my role as a video content creator and strategist for short-form advertising, mitigating reputational risks is paramount. Aligning creative strategies with brand values and industry trends ensures a distinct identity for direct-to-consumer brands. Rigorous testing, active feedback seeking, and ongoing monitoring are integral to my risk mitigation approach, allowing for the celebration of successes and prompt rectification of shortcomings. This process safeguards against potential reputational pitfalls, fostering positive engagement in the dynamic realm of short-form advertising.

Reviews are the top major resource for most consumers, who are looking to check experiences with a brand and their products, before indulging. If people are speaking negatively about you, no amount of creative marketing will push your brand further. Same way, If your brand foundation is unclear or wrong, no amount of creative marketing will save or help you impact your audience. If your product does not meet user expectations or usefulness, no amount of creative marketing will help you long term. It's important to have your brand house in order before you attempt to develop any strategies for how to reach your audience or market. It's also important to be able to back up everything you say with the right experiences with your brand.

Before formulating a strategy, assess your brand equity, relevance, target audience, and product use to preempt reputational risks. Conduct a thorough evaluation to align your creative approach with these factors. If, despite precautions, reputational challenges arise, it's crucial to have a proactive Online Reputation Management (ORM) team in place. Swift and strategic actions from the ORM team can effectively mitigate potential damage and safeguard your brand's reputation, ensuring a swift recovery and maintaining positive public perception.

Having an official brand guideline will make identifying reputation risks easier as you have a guide to always check in with to make sure what you are doing aligns with your brand. This will not just guide basic decisions like what kind of posts to put out, font and brand colour but it will also help you decide who you can work with as a brand and who you can't.