From a small northwestern observatory…

In my last post, I commented about AON’s Global Risk Management Survey.  I want to continue on that theme today, and continue to compliment the great folks at AON for a super job.

Number one on their list was Damage to Reputation / Brand.  The open the chapter on that with a wonderful story, which I will briefly retell here (with full attribution).  A worker in China purchased an electronic device and while charging it, the device caught fire.  He videotaped the incident and uploaded it to the internet.  The clip was soon viewed millions of times around the world.  Other customers reported similar defects.  Even though less than 0.1% of the devices sold were defected, widespread panic followed.  the company was forced to issue a world-wide global recall costing an estimated $5 Billion.  Ironically, this tech company became a victim of the tech revolution.

AON notes that widespread fake news, the lack of fact checkers on social media, and the political cross-fire following the US 2016 elections all have risk for brand damage.  AON estimates that there is an 80% chance a company could lose at least 20% of its equity value in a month over a 5 year period doe to a reputation crisis.

Eight years earlier (2009), Damage to Brand / Reputation was ranked number 6 among risks by respondents.  Today it is number one.  Reputation / Brand events often arrive with little or no warning, to cite the survey, and organizations are forced to respond quickiily.  As such, it is critical that companies have comprehensive reputation risk control strategies in place.  Such strategies include meticulous preparation and executive training, to help maximize the probability of recovery.

Thanks again to the good folks at AON for providing this information.