In this month’s ‘Reputation Report’, our experts share their analysis on September’s highest-profile news stories and the reputation management lessons we can learn. This month, we’ll be looking at Keir Starmer’s clothing row, Manchester City’s ongoing legal battle and Amazon’s mandatory return to the office for its staff.
Free Gear Keir:
Robin Brant, former BBC News Political Correspondent
When your line of defence reaches ‘my children made me do it’ and ‘I know it seems a bit odd’ it’s clear something has gone wrong. This is not the messaging that the No.10 Director of Communications Matthew Doyle lies in bed at night dreaming of.
So, what went wrong and how damaging is it to the reputation of a man who likes to portray himself as a normal-ish, down to earth family guy?
The messaging around it has been disjointed, to say the least. You’ve got the Starmer defence, that security costs would be intolerable if he stayed in his seat on the stands at Arsenal (*full disclosure, I am also an Arsenal season ticket holder); versus the Bridget Phillipson defence, that one of her children pretty much compelled her to take those Taylor Swift tickets that politicians were lucky enough to be offered gratis. You then have the Reeves defence, that she acknowledges it’s ‘a bit odd’, but her close friend really wanted to help her out; versus the Rayner defence, that she comes from a working-class background and thus felt justified in accepting the gift of clothes (and a New York apartment). It was horses-for-courses, but it was messy messaging.
The decision to call and end to these ‘donations’ didn’t draw a line under it. At best the reputational damage may simply be that voters think #freegearkeir is the latest instalment in a long line of politicians ‘on the take’. It’s not good for the change narrative though. It’s OK to do it because everyone else was doing it doesn’t sit well with the turn-the-page promises.
Man City, The Premier League and 115 charges:
Neil McLeod, Divisional Managing Director (Corporate)
There is a hilarious new Paddy Power video which pokes a whole lot of fun at Manchester City and the charges they are facing for alleged serious financial breaches.
The sketch parodies the typical football TV show pundit set-up, but swaps out analysis of City’s superstars for a breakdown of City’s crack legal team, headed by Lord Pannick KC.
Former England star Joe Cole is seen in the studio calling Pannick “a top, top lawyer” as actors depict the legal team getting off a team bus in front of adoring fans.
The pay-off line quips that City – which denies all charges – will probably get off with a fine and that will be that. It works because it is so near the bone.
Pep Guardiola said last week that he believes all non-City fans hope City are found to have been in breach and are punished.
He’s probably right. The other European leagues are the winners in this scenario as the whole affair is a sorry tale of damaged reputations at every turn.
If City win, the Premier League loses badly. It is already under-fire for the length of time and poor communications around the case.
It City lose – even with a fine – the club and everyone around it loses. But so does the Premier League. The issue is this – many would say City under Guardiola have revolutionised football and bore the flag for the quality in what is often described as the best league in the world.
But if they are found to have done it by cheating the rules, then it also serves as a severe reputational loss for the Premier League, damaging its image, its standing, and potentially the industry around it.
As Joe Cole says in the Paddy Power video: It’s a mess.
Amazon and its return to the office:
Mimi Brown, Director of Corporate
Hybrid working is back in the headlines following Amazon announcing a five day return to office mandate. But is it Amazon or remote working with the reputation issue on it’s hands?
Amazon’s CEO justified the move in the context of ‘company culture’, ‘collaboration’ and wanting ‘to remove layers that create overhead and waste valuable time’ – all hot topics in the national and international business media. But it’s unlikely to go down well with a global tech workforce that sees other employers going more remote than ever before to lower costs and increase their global talent pool. But when you’re Amazon, do you care? People aren’t working for you based on the ethics – and that’s the second wave of backlash that’s emerging on social media…
Amazon’s move is also at direct odds with the UK government’s belief there are ‘real economic benefits’ to people working from home, so it must address the practical global policy rollout clearly in the coming weeks, not least in the context of EU legislation and attitudes. The comms challenge will be to navigate policymakers’ bold views and the fact that across the pond we’re rather less fond of five day return to office mandates – and on the whole are seeing less of them. It will be interesting to see the debate play out (no doubt on LinkedIn) in the coming weeks, and see if the tide turns against Amazon, or remote workers in the productivity battle ahead.