News

Professional and public person -- Confidential

HOW TO RESTORE A DAMAGED REPUTATION IN A COURT CASE

Service: Communication of disputes

Sector: Financial, Health

Responsible Lucia Casanueva, Valvanuz Serna, Rocío Hidalgo, Fernando Pérez-Montero

Challenge

In 2013, a case involving two people of recognised prestige - one with great economic and social power and influence, and the other anonymous but with great professional prestige - hit the media.

By the time the case reaches PROA, six years have passed in which the media have only reported one side's side of the story, and the reputation of the other side has been badly damaged. Our client asks us to help him get his side of the story out and restore his personal and professional reputation.

Two priorities are set:

Drafting a reputation report establishing parameters to be measured and intangible elements that need to be analysed and assessed.
Develop a communication strategy and action plan to restore the reputation of the damaged party and anticipate future damaging situations.

Solution

A strategy was devised based on making our client's side of the story known, regaining the trust of stakeholders and generating credibility without, under any circumstances, entering into controversy or attacking the other party.

Generation of a triangle of trust and a joint lawyer-client-professional PROA litigation communication strategy.
Personal contacts with court reporters from all media to make our client's side of the story known. Educational and confidence-building work.
Meetings with opinion leaders or media directors.
The litigation communication professional organises the rotations and who should participate in each meeting, as well as the topics to be covered in each meeting.

Results

Within 48 hours, the first publication was published with objective and favourable elements for our client. In the following months, all the media published favourable objective milestones. In some cases, the same media outlet published articles with different journalists, reporting both versions. The results in the legal process were progressing positively. Our client did not lose any of its customers, and was able to restore its reputational image.

Aristotle and communication

To improve communication in our companies, perhaps we should go back to the origins. Recall the elements identified by Aristotle in Ancient Greece: What makes someone a good communicator? Let us remember the basics of any effective communication: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos is essentially your credibility. The reason why...

Communicating with a conscience

Last Thursday I attended a meeting at the University of Deusto with José Manuel Velasco, president of Dircom, the association of communication executives that brings together more than 820 professionals from the most important companies and institutions in Spain. The association, with headquarters in Madrid and a presence...

Brands and customer experience

Beatriz López, vice-president of the Spanish Association for Quality, explains why brands are important and why it is important to develop customer experience strategies to reach audiences. "Transparency and honesty of brands reach customers very quickly," she says.

...

Pilar Urbano at the Proa Observatory: "In the Nóos Case, the ethics of the Royal House and the impartiality of Justice are under suspicion, only the judge is saved".

"Having the last word does not mean having the truth", said Pilar Urbano presenting her book 'La Pieza 25', key to understanding the ins and outs of the 'Nóos case', but with a certain irony she recommended "not to read the last three pages so as not to fall into melancholy. They are the pages dedicated to the sentence....

José Luis Martínez-Almeida: "The Center-Right Cannot Stay at Home on May 26".

"The centre-right cannot stay at home on May 26," insisted José Luis Martínez-Almeida repeatedly, the Partido Popular's candidate for Mayor of Madrid, during his speech at the Proa Comunicación Observatory with a presentation titled 'Recovering Madrid for Everyone' , held at the Wellington Hotel. Martínez-Almeida put special emphasis on the...

The secret keys to branding

Branding? Brand image? Relevance? A self-respecting brand needs to be more than just a logo, colours, an easy-to-remember sounding name, an attractive and memorable slogan, etc. In order for a brand not to remain so simple - and therefore so weak - it needs to...

More conversations, more ideas, more PROA.
Follow us on our networks.

Receive ideas with criteria

Every week we share reflections, trends and the key aspects of about reputation, strategic communication, public affairs and innovation. Content designed for professionals who value information with diligence and perspective.