NEW YORK, February 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

In response to huge shifts precipitated by advent of social media, Fortune 500 companies will gather in March to share new approaches to reputation preservation and crisis communication.

Product recalls, employee strikes, natural disasters and destructive rumoursare just a selection of the potential threats corporations face. With the on-going changes online it has now reached the stage where crisis planning is not only important it is a necessity. Social media has created a new risk for organisations and challenged some of the most admired including Nestle.  

As the openness to reputational threats increases protecting brand image becomes increasingly challenging. It has become evident that stakeholder engagement, analysing risk, crisis response and building corporate reputation are most challenging for communication officers.

Global communication officers and board members now find reputation management high on their agendas. So much so that Pfizer, Hormel Foods and Bill Wohl (Former Chief Communication Officer for HP and SAP) have joined an international business gathering- which reinforces the importance of this topic and the enormous flux in the industry at the moment.

These senior executives not only have the responsibility of responding to crises but are responsible for representing the image of the whole company worldwide. Managing risk. Building corporate relations and supporting the corporate brand is top priority forAlcoa, GE, P&G, Pfizer, REI, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Southwest Airlines who will be meeting up to share why protecting brand image is so important.

Building reputation is a must, but without a solid crisis response strategy the likelihood of maintaining a good image during a crisis is minimal.  Faced with the global challenges of a crisis Verizon, Caesars Entertainment and Bill Wohl (Former CCO HP and SAP) have all experienced times of high reputational impact. To discuss their experiences further they have joined the panel and will debate their most effective strategic communication efforts. Eli Lilly & Company, GAP Inc, Chubb Corporation, Virgin Atlantic, Hormel Foods and AIGare also amongst the top communicators to address crisis communication best practice.

For more information about the conference next March 5-6 New York visit  http://bitly.com/Crisissummit. Join the conversation on Linked in: http://linkd.in/reputationandcrisis

About Ethical Corporation  

Ethical Corporation was established in 2001 and provides business intelligence for sustainability to more than 3,000 multinational companies every year. Ethical Corporation publishes the leading responsible business magazine, website and research reports. 

For more information contact:
Hayley Dunn
Ethical Corporation & Useful Social Media
+44-207-375-7236
hayley.dunn@usefulsocialmedia.com

SOURCE Ethical Corporation

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