Digital PR - Why Reputation Is Central in the Creative Economy - Case Study Example

Discuss how digital PR is a reputation economy and why reputation is central in the creative economy Introduction: The advent of technology that brought about a simultaneous rise in the social networking sites has brought about a significant change in the manner in which information is accessed and communicated by individuals, practically resulting in the redefining the very concepts of personal privacy and social behaviour. These platforms have afforded businesses to grow rapidly by enabling them to reach their target audience by transcending physical and geographical boundaries. The digitalisation of our social economy has hence changed perhaps forever, the dynamics of hiring and employing of people and the manner in which we, as individuals communicate with the world at large. Social media platforms that began with a humble aim of enabling loved ones to stay in touch across distances has now emerged as a much bigger and powerful tool that serves multiple purposes. These include seeking employment, and retailing of goods and services online. This essay discusses the manner in which digital PR has emerged to be a powerful tool in recent times and the causes behind reputation being central to todays creative economy. Central idea & key argument: Digital PR has increased in significance over the years with the rise in popularity of social media. Managing one’s personal and corporate reputation in the digital world is extremely crucial since failure to do so is likely to result in disastrous consequences. Tell us your idea here. what is your argument? I suggest you state it explicitly at this point. Digital PR as a reputation economy: There has been a significant rise in the popularity of social networking sites as mediums of communication. The presence of ‘netizens’ in the online world is increasing at a rapid rate and the conversations they engage in are no longer ‘private’ or personal but are out there for the world to see, ‘comment’, ‘like’, ‘share’ or ‘retweet’. The virtual world of today is highly transparent and the information, including personal and otherwise, shared online via these social networking sites is public, thus making it a highly priced and valued asset. Managing one’s reputation in a digital world is hence of crucial significance. Digital PR helps in accomplishing the goal of managing one’s personal as well as corporate reputation in an online world and communicating one’s positive image to the wider online public at large. The term digital PR is defined as: “combining of "traditional PR with content marketing, social media and search...transforming static news into conversations and bypassing media to speak directly to your target audience online” (Morgan, 2013). Managing of one’s reputation in the digital world is highly crucial for individuals as well as organisations since the public has become all the more aware and conscious about the events and communications that take place around them. Hence one wrong move on the part of the individuals is likely to lead to disastrous consequences with long-ranging implications for both – the individual concerned as well as the firm or organisation they represent. The recent case of Justine Sacco is a case in point. Justine Sacco a 30 year old veteran in the field of corporate communications and who enjoyed a senior management position in a renowned organisation, ruined her professional career and risked her personal life as well, all due to a series of acerbic tweets that she very openly posted on her personal twitter page. Her tweets managed to upset a large section of the society due to their racist implications and caused a twitter storm - a virtual tirade levelled against her making her an instant celebrity. She went on from a regular employee with a humble 170 followers her twitter account to a worldwide trend, becoming the subject of headlines of several national newspapers overnight (Robson, 2015). The aftermath of her negligent tweets was something she never expected, but once again provided an insight into the manner in which reputation economy operated and functioned and the emphasising, yet again, the strict dos and donts that one needs to follow, almost with a religious fervour, to avoid a career suicide. Needless to add, Sacco was sacked, almost immediately. Social media platforms have taken vigilante justice online, and hence the management of ones reputation professional or otherwise has become all the more crucial, since the public opinion counts as never before. In a similar case, Lindsey Stone, a 32-year-old woman from Massachusetts, who worked as a caregiver for adults with learning difficulties, faced the wrath of the virtual world. She had posted photographs, seemingly in jest, posing beside a war memorial while pretending to shout and swear and flipping the bird. The photograph was posted on her personal Facebook page and was one among several other similar photographs that she described as a running joke between her friends. However the photographs soon caught the attention on the web, and the online community was promptly up in arms against the unsuspecting woman demanding her to be sacked from her job. She too, like Sacco, became an instant celebrity and faced an army of journalists and camera crew standing outside her building trying to interview her. Her reputation was ruined beyond repair, causing her to lose her job, her social image, and pushing her into the depths of depression and insomnia (Robson, 2015). The cases discussed in the previous section emphasise the significance and relevance of the concept of reputation in today’s highly digital world, where almost all our digital footprints are out there for the world to see and scrutinise. Hence the manner in which reputation is handled or managed in an online world plays a key role in one’s long term growth and stability. Any action that is perceived by the public as against the ‘norm’ and offensive is likely to be berated in public, and the individual or organisation concerned is likely to bear the full brunt of the public backlash against them as observed in the case of Justine Sacco. The matter is further worsened due to the fact that the content shared online via tweets or Facebook status is permanent and stays online forever, once shared. It never leaves the public memory and just one “Google search” is enough to bring it all back in the limelight and hence in public debates. The permanency of the digital content created and shared online makes it highly lethal and hence it is highly imperative to manage one’s reputation with utmost care and concern. Significance of reputation in the creative economy: The evolution of the internet technology have also brought about a significant rise and expansion of the creative economy resulting in a huge demand for creative employees / individuals or creativity in general (Barley & Kunda, 2001; Grugulis & Stoyanova, 2011; McKinlyay & Smith, 2009; Lee, 2011). This creative economy relies heavily on creative labour, which includes offering professional services in the form of freelance work (Christopherson, 2008). This in turn has resulted in the development of a neo-liberal culture that unlike, the previous economies emphasises more on promoting the economy through creativity. These creative employees working within the newly developed creative economy comprise of a set of highly skilled workers, mostly self-employed, and depended on their social relationships and social networks as credible references to boost their respective jobs (Gill & Pratt, 2008; Blair, 2009). Since the creative workers /labour largely depend on their social networks, reputation and self-image have hence become a highly coveted and greatly valued asset of the individuals. This has been further fuelled by the increasing penetration and inevitability of social networking platforms that allow and enable individuals to develop personal and professional relationships with those around them. These creative professionals have hence not only become highly visible on social networks but also, at the same time, become equally vulnerable since their reputation is being shaped by the digital footprints they choose to leave behind. According to Gill & Pratt (2008) the communications they engage exposes them to outcomes, the nature and intensity of which is difficult to predict and /or prevent in these newly established and mediated social platforms. In this information age where knowledge is a vital commodity that is commoditised extensively through innovative technological systems the corporate marketplace is likely to rely more and more on the creativity of employees in a bid to develop a competitive advantage that is unique to them or their organisations. This gradual shift from the information age to the creative economy has caused organisations to engage in aggressive tactics to hire people that manage the reputation of their brands as well as that of themselves through innovation and creativity (Härtel & Fujimoto, 2014: p. 125). Background: I DONT SEE THE NECESSITY OF THESE TWO SEPARATED PARAGRAPHS (BACKGROUND AND IMPLICATIONS). YOU CAN EASILY INTEGRATE THE CONTENT OF THESE PARAGRAPHS IN THE REST OF THE ESSAY. Implications: The rise in social media platforms including video sharing sites such as YouTube or other social media platforms has given the common public a place and an opportunity to seek public attention. It is this uninhibited freedom has however proved to be extremely devastating for some. Both, individuals as well as organisations have fallen prey to the vices of technology that ruined their reputation resulting in a serious negative impact on the credibility of the organisations in question. One such case that of Domino’s Pizza which is discussed below. The case: Domino’s Pizza Domino’s a multinational pizza chain, which enjoyed a positive reputation so far, was caught up in a scandal when two employees posted candid videos of themselves involving a series of public health violation, on the popular video sharing site – YouTube. The employees filmed themselves engaging in highly unhygienic and rude behaviour, which involved putting food ingredients in their noses and blowing mucus on the sandwiches among others. The video soon went viral and attracted widespread attention and criticism from the public. The companys official twitter page was flooded with queries from concerned and alarmed customers. The damage was done, and the reputation of the company was ruined. The crisis faced by the company was huge and could very well be defined as a public relations nightmare since the video was repeatedly being shared across social networking sites and showed no signs of dying down. The misdeed of the employees at Dominos and the lack of prompt response from the management continued to be hotly debated and widely discussed on blogs, via tweets and retweets and Facebook sharing features (Wadsworth, 2014). WHAT IS THIS CASE TEACHING US FOR DIGITAL PR? I THINK YOU CAN ELABORATE A LOT MORE AROUND THE CASE BASED ON THE PREVIOUS SECTIONS The key lessons learnt from the cases discussed above include – the effectiveness and implications of managing one’s personal and corporate reputation in the online world; the significance of digital PR in the creative economy; and the consequences of failure to manage one’s digital footprint. The cases of Justine Sacco and Lindsey Stone indicate that any statement made on a public platform must be weighed carefully since digital footprint are not only difficult but impossible to erase and they never go away from public memory. One’s reputation hence is of extreme significance since once damaged it is difficult to restore. Considering the increased significance of managing individual and corporate reputation the concept of digital PR management has also grown exponentially over the years. These digital PR management firms are dedicated to restoring the images of their clients and improving their online image. Conclusion: Reputation management is highly imperative for individuals as well as organisations mainly because despite it being an intangible concept the lack of proper reputation management might lead to disastrous consequences with individuals losing their jobs or prospects of engaging in gainful employment or companies losing their customers and credibility in the corporate marketplace. Word of mouth is rapid and the overwhelming presence of netizens online make it all the more difficult to not only manage but repair the reputation, once ruined. Reputation offers the individuals to build a competitive advantage and drastically improve their chances of achieving their personal or professional goals. The online world makes it easier to judge and criticise those who falter and is often unforgiving to mistakes unless managed effectively. The increase in PR firms and reputation management companies that specialise in improving and controlling the digital footprints of individuals and firms, bears testimony to the fact that reputation is a highly priced and valued asset in this age of creative economy. Firms such as reputation.com, 1Igniyte, and reputation changer offer services that include air brushing the portfolio and digital footprint of their clients in a way that tidies up their image and enable them to present a fresh new outlook on those who have had a bad past or a brush with public criticism in the past (Dowling, 2013). Considering the increased reliance and emphasis placed by recruiters and professional HR executives on the social media and online behaviour of their prospective candidates, the management of ones own personal brand or reputation has become all the more crucial (Hearn, 2010; Hoffman & Casnocha, 2012). The concept of self-branding and reputation management have hence emerged off late where individuals are compelled to professionally manage their digital footprints in order to present the most desirable image to the world, in a bid to ensure a stable and secure professional life. Branded persona has become integral in the pursuit of job procurement and professional stability (Hearn, 2010). In the absence of due care and professional management of self-reputation, the online persona is at high risk. Bibliography: Arvidsson, A., and Colleoni, E. (2012). Value in informational capitalism and on the Internet. The Information Society, 28 (3): 135-150. Barley, S. R., Kunda, G., (2001). Bringing work back in. Organisations Science, 12 (1): 76-95 Blair, H. (2009). Active Networking: Action, Social Structure and the Process of Networking. In A. McKinlay, C. Smith, eds. 2009. Creative Labour. Working in the Creative Industries. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 116-134. Bolton, G. 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Digital reputation is not just for a crisis [Online] Available at: [Accessed: March 24, 2015] Read More