Most companies strive vigorously to create a corporate reputation that instills both confidence and loyalty in their customers. Too often, however, all that hard work turns to dust in a heartbeat. For example, journalist Rebecca Mathews reports how a 2023 BBC investigation into the perfume industry discovered children slaving away in the jasmine fields of Egypt.[1] The investigation found “that almost half of the world’s jasmine flower supply comes from Egypt. It’s an essential perfume ingredient, but major brands have squeezed their budgets and created lower pay for jasmine pickers who say that they need to involve their children to make ends meet.” Mathews observes that cosmetic brands didn’t intend for this to happen (or even know that it was occurring). After all, she writes, “[Every major brand had] clear policies outlining supply chain transparency and a zero-tolerance approach to child labor.” Nevertheless, corporate reputations were sullied.

Amanda R. Lucey, CEO of The Partnership, indicates that protecting corporate reputations isn’t a high enough priority for most businesses. She insists companies need to anticipate situations that could lead to both “legal ramifications and the potential negative PR affecting brand trust and reputation.”[2] And yet, most companies don’t have crisis management in place and, even if they have such a plan, it often doesn’t include reputational risk. A couple of years ago, crisis expert Edward Segal wrote, “A basic rule for successfully managing corporate crisis situations is to plan and prepare for them. Unfortunately, most surveyed CEOs don’t think their organizations are prepared to deal with a major crisis. … Without a crisis management plan in place, when a crisis strikes, corporate executives will be forced to scramble to decide what do, when to do it, how to do it, who will do it, where to do it, and why they should do it.”[3]

The Fragility of Corporate Reputation

Many of the crises affecting reputation now happen online. Evan Nierman, founder and CEO of Red Banyan, explains, “You hear about it often: a business is #canceled or a person’s reputation is wrecked because someone posts something somewhere that's construed as offensive. And it happens in a blink. Suddenly, a successful company or person is struggling to remain relevant, or financially solvent.”[4] That’s why supply chain expert Mike Mortson, admonishes, “When running a business in the modern world, it is the case that more and more of it will be conducted online. With this in mind, you certainly need to take all the necessary steps to ensure your online reputation remains as strong as possible.”[5] Unfortunately, that is easier said than done.

Nir Kossovsky, CEO of Steel City, insists, “Because the peril of economic harm is so great, managing risks to reputation needs to be an enterprise-wide effort, not merely a marketing task. Because reputation risk is so complex, an ounce of preventative enterprise risk management is worth much more than pounds of marketing.” Mortson offers a few suggestions. They include:

• Learn about reputation management.

• Develop a response strategy.

• Create as many channels as you can handle.

• Develop a crisis management strategy.

When developing a crisis management strategy, Lucey also suggests a few key steps companies should take. First, conduct some strategic planning. She writes, “A strong research, data, and planning foundation is needed to craft any company’s message and brand strategies.” Second, take a detail-oriented approach. “Every detail matters in a crisis,” she explains. “Every minute impacts the brand's reputation.” Third, create cross-functional teams. Kossovsky said it best, “Managing risks to reputation needs to be an enterprise-wide effort.” Finally, ensure you develop strong media relations. “The goal of solid media relations,” according to Lucey, “is fairness.”

Let AI Help

Because reputation management is so important and complex, it makes sense that the power of artificial intelligence (AI) be applied to the challenge. For that reason, Enterra Solutions® and Montfort Communications, a company with deep expertise across every aspect of reputation management, recently announced the development of the Enterra-Montfort Platform. The Platform will be powered by Enterra’s next-generation Autonomous Decision Science™ (ADS®) technology and harnessing Montfort’s strategic communications networks and expertise, Enterra-Montfort will transform communications into a predictive, performance-driving asset and will redefine how organizations manage reputation as a driver of enterprise value.

The Enterra-Montfort Platform is the first solution to adopt a top-down approach, achieving cost and time efficiencies that ensures that reputational advice is based on the most advanced decision intelligence available. The core capabilities of the Enterra-Montfort Platform include:

• Autonomous Reputation Intelligence — Enterra’s AI agents continuously identify emerging reputational risks and opportunities, giving leaders early-mover advantage over market and sentiment shifts.

• Dynamic Stakeholder Mapping — Real-time analytics map influence networks and sentiment across digital, political, regulatory, and media ecosystems to spotlight exposure and inform engagement.

• Enterra Business WarGaming™ & Strategic Planning — Scenario simulations blend Montfort’s advisory insight with Enterra’s sophisticated reasoning engines to stress-test decisions before they’re made.

• Agentic Communications Execution — Smart automation empowers account teams for content creation, targeting, and optimization for measurable business outcomes — not just message distribution.

• Adaptive Cultural Intelligence — An always-learning system integrates cultural, political, and economic signals to ensure messaging adapts to the current environment with precision and relevance.

Concluding Thoughts

The Montfort Communications team notes, “The economic, financial, political, social and technological landscape is ever-changing. Corporate communications are integral in responding to these changes and successfully implementing your wider business strategy. … The way you communicate in periods of crisis will define how you are perceived by your stakeholders.”[7] Segal warned business executives against getting lulled into a false sense of security when things appear to be going great. He recommends constant vigilance. Protecting your reputation is essential. So is repairing your corporate reputation when damage occurs.

Footnotes

[1] Rebecca Mathews, “Smelly dirty secrets: Reputational impact of supply chains,” The Business Continuity Institute, 30 May 2024.

[2] Amanda R. Lucey, “49% of Companies Have a Crisis Plan. But Is It Enough to Save a Reputation?” PR News, 17 December 2024.

[3] Edward Segal, “Most CEOs Say Their Organizations Are Not Prepared To Deal With A Major Crisis: New Survey,” Forbes, 16 January 2023.

[4] Evan Nierman, “Reputation Management: Moving Forward in the Wake of Cancel Culture,” PR News, 19 February 2021.

[5] Mike Mortson, “How to Ensure Your Business Online Reputation Remains Strong!” Supply Chain Game Changer, 24 July 2025.

[6] Nir Kossovsky, “Why Reputation is a Vital Enterprise Risk, Not a Marketing Issue,” QSR Magazine, 17 October 2018.

[7] Staff, “Corporate and Crisis Communications,” Montfort Communications.