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Why we don’t use proxies in reputation management

Mon, November 12th, 2007 by Michael Cornfield | 0 comments

The client had a reasonable request.  We’re battling for their good name, and some of the individuals willing to come to the fore and attest to that good name were also willing to give 720 Strategies a proxy for their voices, sparing them the trouble of having to sign off on each and every message we helped produce for the cause.

Sorry.  Won’t do it.

Proxies are great tools for shareholders and legislators.  But when it comes to preserving, protecting, and extending a reputation, proxies are inappropriate.  There can be no room for public doubt regarding the authenticity of a statement on behalf of a company, non-profit, interest group, association, agency, or other entity whose reputation is on the line.  The cost of being discovered to have taken a shortcut far outweighs any potential gains in efficiency and numbers.  Those who learn about a proxy operation will wonder if there are also fake voices being marshaled, and then the game is lost.

So we’re happy to help clients find voices of support, coach them, alert them, prompt them with talking points, and direct them to venues where their voices need to be heard.  Indeed, we’re dedicated to that service; in an age where social media increasingly count as much as earned and paid in matters of influence, the capacity to amplify favorable opinions is becoming ever more crucial.  We will go as far as to compose messages for them to forward to friends.  But we won’t send a message on behalf of everyday customers and citizens.  That has to come from their computers, by their volition, every time.

The client agreed.

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