One of the Bumblebee Branding Company’s specialties is online reputation management, which includes extensive content repair, blocking, adjustment, and replacement experience. We follow a structured yet flexible process for revamping an individual or company’s digital prestige. Solving reputation issues during times of crises is one of our core competencies in this department. In the following study, we highlight an example of how we reclaimed a prominent individual’s reputation that was under contention on the Internet.
1. An Affair With Consequences
When we first opened our reputation management department, we were often approached by individuals seeking to remove or edit minor pieces of information on the Internet. Through one of our cases, we became connected to a prominent politician, just a month before they were due to begin a campaign for a position in one of the highest offices in their area.
While they had a brief history in politics, they had primarily built their career in other fields, and were concerned that inappropriate information about their past may be used against them. Most information about them online contained misinformation, and was insufficiently informed about their political efforts.
For the position they aimed, they needed to campaign with a spotless, philanthropic, and politically-oriented digital image – that had to be created in 15 days, while maintaining the utmost discretion throughout.
2. Assessing the Situation
To begin, we spent several hours in conference with our client and their campaign team, acting as an extension of the group. We took a proactive approach to set our client up with a digital kit that would set up their reputation for years to come. Our framework decided how to repair the harm that had already been done, while providing a longer-term plan to build positive online visibility.
The end goal: To project our candidate as a strong, ambitious, and far-sighted person of the people. Also to project their intentions to bring massive, long-term improvements to the neighbourhoods where they had spent their youth.
3. Going Into Action
To repair the damage, we:
- Rewrote their Wikipedia page, which was missing several key details
- Quietly suppressed several pieces of misinformation about their political career
To project them as a strong political figure, we:
- Set up a website for them focusing on their campaign, which we proceeded to circulate
- Wrote a digital profile for them focusing on their political history, timeline, achievements, and philanthropic efforts
- Wrote a set of articles and press releases about their upcoming platform
Outcome Achieved
While the prominent individual did not win the elections they applied for, their reputation received a significantly positive lens.
