No Place for the Real You to Hide

With the advent of websites, blogs, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, the real you is rapidly and widely disseminated. What people really think about your company today tends to have as much—if not more—to do with how you and your employees conduct themselves as it does with the image you work hard to portray.

This sobering reality is top-of-mind for business owners and managers all over the globe. Is it top-of-mind for you and your employees?

Take Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America. He said recently at an appearance in Tulsa:

“Gone is the day companies could ‘talk the talk but not walk the walk.’”

If a company fails to live up to its own image, consumers will quickly spot it, blog about it and call it out publicly.

“Used to be people just watched your commercials and accepted what you said about yourself. Branding was easy then. Those days are gone.”

Couple this with the fact that people want to do business with organizations they admire and trust. Lose their trust and admiration, and you’re in a world of hurt. Coke’s president knows this. He said:

“For example, if consumers don’t genuinely see that Coca-Cola is doing all that it can and should to care for the environment, fewer will reach for Coke products.”

Are you and yours protecting your brand with vigilance? Do you realize how important it is what people think of you and your business, and the direct impact it has on revenue?