SeaWorld sets the record straight after animal activist put out reports critical of how SeaWorld treats animals in their care.
SeaWorld has always been one of my favorite places in Orlando. Living in Orlando we have been fortunate as residents to easily be able to spend a Sunday afternoon at the park with very little effort. You start to learn where to park, when to do, what to avoid and the experience just gets better and better. Some of us remember the beer garden area which is no longer there since InBev purchased the park a few years ago. It also doesn't hurt that my house is 10 mins away and my relationships in the hospitality industry make for getting tickets fairly easy. The park brings joy to many lives and still to this day, if you gave my 7 year old daughter a choice between the big three parks in Orlando, she will always talk about SeaWorld. This is why the abuse claims SeaWorld is now receiving means so much to me. But there is another reasons too.
The other reasons this story has big impact on me is because it highlights how important managing your reputation is in this new media world we live. We have been watching how SeaWorld has handled this situation and things reached boiling point yesterday when they went on the offensive against what they say were incorrect statements being made by animal right activist about how they conduct business. In an open letter from their Zoological Team, SeaWorld responded to questions about how they treat the animals in their care.
"The truth is in our parks and people, and it’s time to set the record straight." A Letter from our Zoological Team
This experience drives home for me even more than before, that businesses and brands and even people must tell their own story in their own brand voice consistently so that other people, haters, competitors don't start defining who and what you are. On the internet, nobody is going to promote you or your business interest more aggressively than you. Which means, if you don't do it, who will?
Last week we received an inquiring from a predominate business man in the Orlando area who had recently been arrested for something pretty silly but damaging to his reputation. This business person never even though about his reputation online until this arrest put his name in lights and in search engines. Now when you search this persons name (pretty standard practice for people evaluating you for business opportunities) you are certain to find him, but probably for reasons that are not going to further his business. These bad news articles were really scary to him for obvious reasons and I was called to help "manage his reputation online."
This is where my opinion starts to surface. First, your reputation is not something that is easily fixed. If you are an asshole doctor, believe it, your reputation will surface as such online. If you have poor service in your restaurant, it will only be a matter of time, if it hasn't already, to show a trend on Yelp about your poor service. This same principle of course holds true with personal brands. This particular business man and quite frankly SeaWorld, are left with only one option.
Go on the offensive. At any point in any reputation crisis situation it is time to activate an aggressive content strategy to respond to the critics, bad news stories, competition, etc. By creating more content as a business or a persons, you are helping control what is being said, or more importantly consumed about you. If you sit back and do nothing, you will allow others to control who you ultimately become in the eyes of others who subconsciously make decisions about things by what they see and read on the internet.
I am proud of SeaWorld going on the offensive this week to set the record straight, because if they don't who will? As Maria says in her comment...."Keep your head up SeaWorld!"
Bryan
SeaWorld has always been one of my favorite places in Orlando. Living in Orlando we have been fortunate as residents to easily be able to spend a Sunday afternoon at the park with very little effort. You start to learn where to park, when to do, what to avoid and the experience just gets better and better. Some of us remember the beer garden area which is no longer there since InBev purchased the park a few years ago. It also doesn't hurt that my house is 10 mins away and my relationships in the hospitality industry make for getting tickets fairly easy. The park brings joy to many lives and still to this day, if you gave my 7 year old daughter a choice between the big three parks in Orlando, she will always talk about SeaWorld. This is why the abuse claims SeaWorld is now receiving means so much to me. But there is another reasons too.
The other reasons this story has big impact on me is because it highlights how important managing your reputation is in this new media world we live. We have been watching how SeaWorld has handled this situation and things reached boiling point yesterday when they went on the offensive against what they say were incorrect statements being made by animal right activist about how they conduct business. In an open letter from their Zoological Team, SeaWorld responded to questions about how they treat the animals in their care.
"The truth is in our parks and people, and it’s time to set the record straight." A Letter from our Zoological Team
This experience drives home for me even more than before, that businesses and brands and even people must tell their own story in their own brand voice consistently so that other people, haters, competitors don't start defining who and what you are. On the internet, nobody is going to promote you or your business interest more aggressively than you. Which means, if you don't do it, who will?
Last week we received an inquiring from a predominate business man in the Orlando area who had recently been arrested for something pretty silly but damaging to his reputation. This business person never even though about his reputation online until this arrest put his name in lights and in search engines. Now when you search this persons name (pretty standard practice for people evaluating you for business opportunities) you are certain to find him, but probably for reasons that are not going to further his business. These bad news articles were really scary to him for obvious reasons and I was called to help "manage his reputation online."
This is where my opinion starts to surface. First, your reputation is not something that is easily fixed. If you are an asshole doctor, believe it, your reputation will surface as such online. If you have poor service in your restaurant, it will only be a matter of time, if it hasn't already, to show a trend on Yelp about your poor service. This same principle of course holds true with personal brands. This particular business man and quite frankly SeaWorld, are left with only one option.
Go on the offensive. At any point in any reputation crisis situation it is time to activate an aggressive content strategy to respond to the critics, bad news stories, competition, etc. By creating more content as a business or a persons, you are helping control what is being said, or more importantly consumed about you. If you sit back and do nothing, you will allow others to control who you ultimately become in the eyes of others who subconsciously make decisions about things by what they see and read on the internet.
I am proud of SeaWorld going on the offensive this week to set the record straight, because if they don't who will? As Maria says in her comment...."Keep your head up SeaWorld!"
Bryan
No comments:
Post a Comment