In August’s ‘Reputation Report’, our experts share their insights on the reputation management lessons that can be taken from this month’s highest-profile news stories. We look at the BBC’s handling of Jermaine Jenas’ recent dismissal, Labour’s communications since they came in to power and finally, Ticketmaster’s response to the controversy over their ‘dynamic pricing’ model.
The BBC and Jermaine Jenas
Tim Jotischky – Divisional Managing Director, Reputation
The BBC’s sacking of TV presenter and pundit Jermaine Jenas for sending inappropriate messages with female colleagues was crisis management on speed.
Jenas was dismissed from his £190,000 job on a Zoom call with HR and senior executives just five days after the internal investigation began – in stark contrast to the drawn-out Huw Edwards saga, which spanned more than 12 months.
The presenter was live on air at talkSport when the news broke and immediately hit back, saying there were two sides to every story, and he wasn’t happy with the decision, but he would have to let his lawyers deal with it.
Forty-eight hours later he told The Sun he was ashamed, deeply sorry and had let his family and colleagues down. He admitted to a self-destructive streak and said he was receiving therapy. But he also criticised the BBC’s handling of the situation and said he should not be made the fall guy for its previous mistakes; he is considering legal action for wrongful dismissal.
Three lessons can be learnt from this sorry saga:
- First, from the BBC’s perspective, its swift and decisive action earned plaudits. It established the facts, decided Jenas had breached his contract and sacked him. They calculated that the adverse reputational impact of failing to act would outweigh potential legal complications further down the line.
- Secondly, for any employee it is a stark reminder that the workplace rules have changed. A generation ago, inappropriate conduct might have been tolerated as banter between colleagues; now it is grounds for dismissal, regardless of your importance to the business.
- Thirdly, in Jenas’ situation you need to take good advice about whether to respond and, if you do go public – probably the right move in his case – make sure you are properly prepared and consistent in what you say.
Jenas’ interview was raw and honest, but he conveyed mixed messages and the line that he had done nothing illegal suggested he had not fully appreciated the gravity of his conduct in the modern workplace. His overriding objective must be to rebuild his career – with that in mind, his contrition should have been unconditional.
Sir Keir Starmer and his post-election communications
Robin Brant – Former BBC News Political Correspondent
He was the change maker who persuaded voters to ‘turn the page’ and promised the ‘sunlight of hope’. All very positive stuff. Now he’s Mr hard truths and worse-before-it-gets-better. With Mrs tough decisions living next door, is Keir Stamer already jeopardising his reputation as an agent of hopeful restoration, or will the voters who propelled him to victory last month accept that his incessant Tory blame-game is a legitimate part of the process of (trying) to make things better?
The answer to that question will be revealed no later than 2029. But, in the meantime, let’s look at the risk of this strategy. You’ve eviscerated your political opponents and you want to make sure that a) their reputation for economic mismanagement (in your view) remains long tarnished, and b) you need to ensure that the voters who backed you don’t then blame you – and punish you – for the ‘tough decision’ tax hikes and capital spending cuts that you inevitably (in your view) have to make.
But a narrative of gloom, albeit to try to avoid doom, comes with a potential downside. People think of you as gloomy. And negative and pessimistic. Then they – in their spending and saving habits – are more negative. They blame you for talking down Great Britain plc. And they wonder what happened to the ‘sunlight of hope’ man.
Reputations are complex things. They are not, usually, a simple binary construct. You can talk tough and make tough decisions before you deliver (?) on the good times. You may have to. But tone is crucial, as is balancing the message, which in this case revolves around ‘it’s not our fault but we are doing something about it’. Get that right and Keir Starmer may win the big reputation (and re-election) prize – trusted on the economy.
Ticketmaster and the Oasis reunion
Mimi Brown, Director of Corporate
August rounded out very badly for Ticketmaster – with its ‘dynamic pricing’ decision eclipsing the Oasis hype headlines.
Many fans waited up to six hours in the online queue to get into the site, and then again in the ticket selection queue – only to find that ‘due to demand’, standing tickets prices has risen by over £200.
For fans that will now be stood next to each other at the upcoming shows to have paid a price differential of £200 is extraordinary and unpalatable, but the real problem for both Ticketmaster and Oasis’ reputation are the parallels to ticket touting, a potential breach of consumer laws and now a government ‘probe’ into the practice of dynamic pricing have left Ticketmaster under a real cloud.
Dynamic pricing is not a new phenomenon but has been flung into the spotlight after an underestimation of how big this Oasis moment was going to be. Oasis themselves could get out from under this quite quickly with some creative and quick thinking around any new dates’ ticket sales, a ballot, or how to redress for those affected. But the ticket sale companies need to act as a united industry to address the practice as it comes under political and legal scrutiny.