Natura, Ambev and Ita lead the Merco reputation ranking in Brazil in 2022
A false accusation of sexual abuse destroyed the reputation of the Escola Base, which was located in the Aclimação neighborhood, in the south of São Paulo, in 1994. The owners Icushiro Shimada and Maria Aparecida Shimada, the teacher Paula Milhim and the driver Maurcio Alvarenga were found not guilty Yes, but the police and the press had already condemned them all, even before the end of the investigation.
Immersed in assumptions, people became enraged and the school was vandalized. Lack of evidence and inconsistent findings fall on the story, told in the series Escola Base – A reporter faces the pastreleased by Globoplay, in 2022. Reporter Valmir Salaro relives the facts, and admits incorrect journalistic conduct.
This example shows the disastrous consequences that lies can have on businesses in the most diverse segments of the economy. In 2017, Ambev had to deny a video showing the existence of pigeons in a factory that actually produced bread in Russia. The containment of fake news to preserve the name of the companies comes out with a hard struggle. In a brewery, there are a series of grids until the grains are ground. It is impossible for an animal to enter the system, explains Lucas Rossi, director of reputation and external and internal communication at Ambev.
The beverage giant’s response began with WhatsApp, the platform that led to the spread of the controversy, offering repertoire and ammunition to the suspicious audience. The case was also emblematic because the company decided to proactively contact the press to clarify the situation. If anyone watched the video, they would already know it was a lie. Soon the confusion ceased. You have to be very quick and respond where the matter catches fire, warns Rossi.
the truth of history
No brand is immune to product or operational crises. The difference is that, about ten years ago, the news cycle was longer. Scandals only came to light when they were denounced in mass repercussion programs. But the digital world shortened the path. It is enough for a person to post a video for an accusation to take on unimaginable proportions.
Acting reactively is no longer enough. Depending on the size of the company, it is not feasible to monitor the surroundings of the business. Response time, honesty and context are basic premises. People expect an attitude, and that the company shows that it cares, maintains Rossi.
With 32 operations spread across Brazil, Ambev promptly brings together top leadership and specialists at the first notice to make the appropriate decisions without having to escalate the business. There is more transparency and we managed to deal with the truth of history, emphasizes Rossi. The company also invests in psychological safety to optimize the dynamics of the process. I’ve been through a crisis situation when I was traveling for work, and it’s very comforting to know that everyone involved is in the same place, recalls Rossi.
Conduct starts from understanding the purpose of the company, its strengths and weaknesses, in order to understand how it is perceived. Reputation is a thermometer between what the company is, how it perceives itself, and how others perceive it, Rossi differentiates. Self-understanding and clarity in messages are supported by metrics capable of indicating opportunities.
Market investigations, such as the report by Monitor Empresarial de Reputao Corporativa (Merco), a consultancy based in Madrid, Spain, mine data according to the stakeholders adjacent to the business. In 2022, more than 5,000 leaders of companies with revenues greater than $40 million named the 10 most reputable companies. Maintaining a good image is among the main business challenges for 53% of the 501 entrepreneurs surveyed by Deloitte in the Agenda 23 survey.
Positive indices go beyond self-analysis, proving that there is no such thing as a character whose mask falls on the first decision, observes the Ambev executive, who ranks second for the fifth consecutive year on the Merco list. Day by day and social networks check whether people really understand what the brand preaches, and annual clippings show how the observation curve behaved.
Streisand Effect
The materiality matrix, a survey carried out with Ambev’s main leaders, also helps to identify risks and potential businesses. We don’t create anything from scratch to build reputation. We give light to what already exists, points out Rossi. The brand has just put Chopp Brahma in the can. Synonymous with tradition and category in Brazil, innovation is the result of active listening by consumers who have long dreamed of drinking draft beer easily at home.
Superficiality has no place. Previously satisfied by positions, today crises demand actions capable of meeting the agendas involved. Although certain methodologies contribute to organizing processes, it is fundamental to study the dimension of the problem, understand who is part of it, gather relevant people, monitor and respond.
For each ocean, we will sail in a different way, compares Rossi. In the eagerness to go through the storm, many end up sinking. The Streisand effect is evidence of unpreparedness and haste in crisis management.
The phenomenon is inspired by the actress Barbra Streisand, who in 2003 went to court to demand the removal of photos from her mansion, published on the website of the California Coastal Records Project, produced by photographer Kenneth Adelman. She claimed privacy defense, but lost the action and only managed to give even more visibility to the development located in Malibu (USA). It is estimated that the project received more than 420,000 visits in just one month. That’s how the public knew that the mansion in the photo belonged to the artist.
Issues specific to a particular group are not always universal. Inside or outside the bubble, seriousness in dealing with the issue is as paramount as understanding the real extent of the mess. But the market fails to deal with this distinction. Professionals and communication agencies exist, but the ecosystem that deals with crises is unprepared and, generally speaking, despairs.
Often, the communication professional is not even involved, and he is the bridge between the external and internal worlds, complains Rossi, who has an internal team for social and analysis quality, in addition to PR agencies, such as Loures, four years ago, and InPress, 33 years ago. The company is still served by Ideal. If people perceive our truth, it means that we are doing our job well, concludes Rossi.
Consistency
The outcome can have disastrous implications if the brand lacks coherence between its public positioning and what it actually does. And this harmony only exists if there is transparency. A communication process in a crisis situation is not an act of self-promotion, but an exercise of accountability to society, warns Michel Blanco, head of corporate communication and reputation at Natura &Co América Latina, leader of the Merco report for nine consecutive years in Brazil.
A good reputation does not prevent crises, but helps to get out of them faster. A benchmark in sustainability and caring for relationships, Natura pioneered the use of refills in the early 1980s, when little was said about solid waste. And for more than 20 years, it has turned socio-environmental challenges into opportunities, integrating the Amazon into its portfolio.
It is also a brand that evokes affection and the celebration of stereotype-free beauty. In 1992, for example, it launched the campaign real beautiful womanfrom Chronos, which highlighted ordinary women on Brazilian TV, valuing beauty in all stages of life.
Avon, purchased by Natura in 2019, has pioneered the territory of female empowerment since David H. McConnell founded the company in the United States in 1886. In Brazil for 65 years, the brand has defended the financial emancipation of women even before they had the right to vote in US elections. An expression of welcome and liberation, the brand also works to fight breast cancer and violence against women.
Diversity and democratization of beauty also identify the brand, which in 2020 expanded its color palette to suit black and brown skin tones. In 2021, the campaign Avon t onwinner of the Best of propmark 2021, updated brand perception. Natura and Avon are recognized, each in their own way, as avant-garde brands, which position themselves in connection with the spirit of the times and reconcile purpose and product in their business model, describes Blanco, who heads the reputation and corporate communication area ( Rec) from the company.
nothing to hide
Only brands that have something to hide are so concerned about shielding their image. Those that already work well add additional layers of protection. Taking care of reputation is something experienced throughout the organization, it is ingrained in the way of being and doing things. It is at the base of our beliefs and our business behavior, confirms Blanco. Business decisions, communication actions and dialogue with stakeholders also involve a commitment to the truth.
We take care of our reputation with high doses of consistency. being faithful to our beliefs and making our actions a constant exercise of corporate citizenship, seeking the greatest possible impact on society, insists Blanco. According to the executive, making choices is also fundamental to attack the problems that can be dealt with more directly by our businesses, by our exclusive resources, he adds.
Active listening anchors the perception constructed by the companies, delegating the role of the strategy to the communication area. By reflecting this effort, it serves not as a mirror but as a window on the world. The public relations activity is essential for reputation management. Among Natura and Avon’s partners are Weber Shandwick, in the institutional account, and Zeno Group, in products. There are also regional agencies, such as Dupla, in the Northeast, and Eko, in the North. In advertising, Natura is served by Africa and Galeria, and Avon by Wunderman Thompson.
In a country as big and as full of particularities as Brazil, we need this cooperation between the agencies so that we can talk well with our different audiences, says Blanco. This diverse team opens up the possibility of co-creation from new perspectives, guaranteeing legitimacy to communication by reflecting the countless realities that make up Brazilian society.
Natura &Co uses social listening tools, already available on the market, to specific solutions, developed on demand, such as risk perception monitoring used by the research and innovation area. It also monitors studies and research.
But the most powerful technology at our disposal is human relationships. We are a relationship-based sales business, an original social network made up of millions of people connected by common purposes, identities or interests, says Blanco. A part of Avon’s social fabric, consultants and representatives set the pulse of perception of the company’s brands.
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