As Head of Communications at a large real estate group, the current interim manager was faced with the task of improving the company's highly negative image. The company had been publicly accused of questionable business practices for years. As a result, the company's operating business suffered noticeably. The public accusations also had an increasingly negative impact on shareholders, employees and business partners. The mood among employees in particular had reached an all-time low.
Social acceptance of the business model was highly jeopardized
The rapid loss of reputation was largely due to the fact that management did not want to actively engage in dialogue with critical stakeholders. They had developed a wagon-castle mentality: Convinced that they didn't need to communicate because the company's products were good. The credo was that no laws were being violated and that criticism from the press, media, residents or politicians had no basis. With this attitude, the company had almost lost its "license to operate". The social acceptance of the business model was highly endangered.
Dialogue-based communication offensive initiated with decision-makers
After a lengthy clarification process, the interim manager suggested launching a communication offensive with decision-makers. As the management now wanted to act quickly, the interim manager developed a dialog campaign - and implemented it. The main addressees of the campaign were decision-makers from politics, business and the media. A broad-based poster campaign or even the placement of advertisements would not have been very effective. The interim manager recommended a very targeted approach in order to avoid wastage in the target group. The dialog campaign, which was clearly focused on the limited target group, also had the advantage of being comparatively cost-efficient.
Including critical stakeholders in the public dialog
In terms of content, the interim manager relied on a credible demonstration of the company's willingness to engage in dialog, backed up by its actions. The campaign was given the bold title "We need to talk". The focus was on physical dialog forums. In these forums, representatives from industry, associations, politicians, interested citizens and scientists discussed the controversial issues facing the industry. The organization of the dialogue forums was extremely important for the successful demonstration of the willingness to engage in dialogue. Critics of the company also appeared on the podiums and praised the new way of dealing with each other. This was received positively by the public. The interim manager succeeded in reinforcing the positive astonishment about the new willingness to engage in dialog through targeted press work.
Website set up with multimedia content and interactive content
The central communication tool during the dialog campaign was a constantly updated website. In addition to the evaluation of the dialog forums, podcasts and video interviews with critics and supporters of the company were also posted there, as well as a moderated online dialog.
In addition, an opinion research institute was commissioned to conduct a representative survey of attitudes and opinions on the industry among the population. The interim manager disseminated the helpful results of this survey through accompanying press work.
Turning the mood into a positive one and calming the public debate
The interim manager flanked the public dialogues with internal events for employees. At the end, the results of the public dialogue were summarized in a brochure and sent to employees, partners, politicians, critical stakeholders and the media. The dialog campaign ultimately succeeded in turning the mood in the company, among partners and owners, into a positive one. External critics were deprived of key negative arguments and the public debate surrounding the company calmed down considerably.
