The worst time to buy insurance is when your house is on fire. The worst time to build brand equity is when you are in the middle of a PR crisis. Yet, this is exactly how many executives operate. They
The worst time to buy insurance is when your house is on fire. The worst time to build brand equity is when you are in the middle of a PR crisis. Yet, this is exactly how many executives operate. They treat branding as a 'nice to have' until Twitter (X) creates a trending hashtag about their latest failure.
The Trust Bank Account
Think of Brand Equity as a bank account. Every time you deliver on a promise, you make a deposit. Every time you are transparent, you make a deposit. A crisis is a massive withdrawal. If your account is empty, you go bankrupt (reputationally). If your account is full, you pay the fine and move on. Companies with high brand equity recover 3x faster from crises than those without it.
Proactive Vulnerability
Crisis-proofing isn't about being perfect. It's about being human. The brands that survive storms are the ones that have already established a dialogue with their customers. They have owned their small mistakes in the past, so they are trusted to own their big ones. Silence is not a strategy. Proactive vulnerability is.
Don't wait for the storm. Build your shelter now.
