George Zimmerman: A Rep Management Case Study

While I understand some of the sensitivity related to the case I actually think this case study is highly relevant to marketers. Many agencies offer reputation management as a core service and there is much to be learned from a case like this.

The same principles apply whether you are trying to refute misinformation or discredit ad hominem attacks. Whether one chooses to believe in the guilt or innocence of Zimmerman, they should also take into account that companies employ reputation management on a regular basis to protect their image, or to soften the blow of bad publicity.

In many cases the causes for this publicity can be worse than the alleged murder of an unarmed teenager. Take BP for instance, where 11 workers and countless animals died due to the negligence of BP and their affiliates. Now refer to Google for the wealth of case studies available on the RM regarding this incident.

In either of these cases marketers can learn from the actions taken to employ reputation management and the use of social media in doing so. One doesn’t have to endorse these actions/events, but they should be open to understanding the implications and applying what can be learned from them. That’s just my two cents!

@Virginia – Thanks for your measured response, and it’s probably right that you’re covering this issue given you’re stature within SM circles and the BC blog stature within the industry.

I guess I’m just cynical about rep management being associated with a high profile legal case, as I instantly asume that it’s just a ploy to help GZ’s defence. Anyway, thanks for covering this subject with decorum, I’ll try not to be over-senstive in the future! :D

The problem with the above case is that it was a total media hatchet job, where the media would run their “news” banners over the top of a bloody head to hide the actual evidence which didn’t line up with the narrative they wanted to spin. Other innocent people in the country have been beaten due to racist media spin on this topic.

Ultimately if the mainstream media attacks you & you are just a regular old joe, there is no reputation management solution – especially when they are willing to lie to shape a story. I mean…you can sue them after the fact, but even that is hard to win due to how powerful, rich & connected the big media players are. And if that suit gains any traction you just create more well linked content on authoritative domain names linking your name to topic x.

Fox even fired their reporters for wanting to report on risks associated with rBGH. In spite of having related bits in writing, those reporters still lost the case after an appeal where the media basically stood behind the fact that they are not obligated to tell the truth!!! :D

The need for “political correctness” among the accused & the framing of racism (where none exists – this guy was even praised by the city mayor for helping a homeless black man) would make it virtually impossible to to write about anything.

The best thing he could have done there was nothing, because the more he defended himself the more the media would have used that to continue the story, and the more innocent people who would be violently attacked due to low IQ racist people watching the hate TV deciding to beat on others. I think a few weeks ago there was even a story about a group attack on a 78 year old man!

I appreciate what you’re trying to illustrate, but I find this entire article completely cynical. If you’re trying to prove a point about how social media marketing should be conducted, surely there has to be an example more relevant to your readership (internet marketers, I assume) than a case-study about a man facing trial for the second degree-murder of an unarmed teenager. If you had to use this as a case-study for how social media marketing should be conducted, over the plethora of small, medium and large businesses that all use SMM successfully, then I really do despair.

You said, “Of all the lessons society can take from the case of Trayvon Martin, disaster response and reputation management sit at the bottom of the list.” Well, perhaps it’s just my natural inhibitive nature coming through, but I don’t think ‘rep management’ and ‘disaster response’ should be on the ‘list’ at all…

Anyway, like I said, I appreciate what you were trying to show, but I did feel this was in slightly bad taste (although obviously not intentionally). I still love the BC blog, and will carry on reading regularly, I just thought I’d give my two-cents on this one!