This document discusses strategies for managing corporate reputation through standards and certifications. It provides examples of how companies and nations use standards organizations like ISO to influence soft law and affect their reputations. It also analyzes cases where companies engaged in reputation warfare through offensive and defensive strategies with NGOs and competitors over issues like the environment, workers' rights, and product quality.

1. Repu
@
O
ar a
Strategies & Methods through 13 cases
Guy Debaux
Competitive Intelligence Consultant,
Former CI Officer at Coface.
gdebaux@yahoo.fr

2. Reputation & war: what rationale?
“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme
excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting”
SUN TZU, The art of war 6th century BC
Image crisis
prevention
VS
Image crisis
management
Reputation, the fulcrum to move the world!
Archimedes 230 BC.

3. The reputation’s fulcrums
LAW
LAW
Regulation, decrees,
directives…
Infringement
Infringement
non-compliance
non-compliance
SOFT LAW
SOFT LAW
BRAND
BRAND
Public
Public
release
release
Reputation
Reputation
damaged
damaged
Recommendations,
guidelines, labels,
standards …
Companies: Brand content & storytelling
Nations: Diplomacy, culture promotion, advert on tourism, sports events
& medals, brand content-like FDIs (ex.Qatar on PSG, sport World cups,
le Louvre etc.), granting passport to celebrities (Depardieu) …

4. The reputation warfare’s diamond
Impacts
a.
b.
c.
d.
Company
Providers Origins
Customers
Others
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Stock value
Revenue
M&As, divestment projects
Recruitments
Partnership project
Providers & customers
Operations opening
New product
New market
Nation’s stakes
Grounds
Medias
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Newspapers
Radios & TVs
Blogs
Twitter
Social Networks
Forums
a.
b.
c.
d.
Environment
Social
Governance
Product quality

5. ESG criteria as Nations’
reputational weapons

6. Soft Law, field of influence & reputation
warfare: the ISO example
To be involved in the ISO’s committees is critical, but does not suffice:
1.Half of the standards are yielded through the “fast track” procedure
2.Key role of the NGOs, consortiums (ex. GRI), forums (ex. « Forum for the
Future » on the « Sustainable Shipping Initiative-vision 2040 »
3.In many cases, NGOs & companies precede or overtake the ISO (cases beyond)
Other standardization players:
 International: CEN, CEI, UIT,
Cenelec, Etsi, Codex
Alimentarius
 National: Afnor (F), ANSI
(USA), DIN (Ge), JISC (Jp), SAC
(Cn)

7. ESG standards, national stakes
Top food exporters: EU, USA, Brazil
Environment: 267 457 certificates (+6.3%)
Food safety: 19 980 certificates (+7.5%)
Top 10 countries for ISO 22000
certificates - 2011
Top 10 countries for ISO 14001
certificates - 2011
1
CHINA
81 993
1
China
6526
2
JAPAN
30 397
2
Greece
1214
Romania
1100
3
ITALY
21 009
3
4
SPAIN
16 341
4
India
982
5
UK
15 231
5
Italy
945
6
KOREA
10 925
6
Turkey
665
7
ROMANIA
9 557
7
Poland
573
8
FRANCE
7 771
8
Japan
512
9
GERMANY
6 253
USA
4 957
9
10
Taiwan
France
502
460
10
ISO 14001 Growth 2011
1
China
2
Italy
ISO 22000 growth - 2011
12209
1
China
951
3945
2
Italy
719
Romania
459
3
France
2520
3
4
Romania
2139
4
Australia
88
5
Korea
1244
5
Netherlands
88
6
UK
885
6
France
61
7
Singapore
684
7
Czech Rep
45
South Africa
42
Korea
41
Finland
36
8
Canada
550
8
9
USA
550
9
465
10
10
Thailand
© Guy Debaux 2013
7

8. ESG standards, Asian supremacy
x1.7
X4.8

9. China: standards, a state’s priority
Political lead, through five state administrations:
1.AQSIQ (Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine): market monitoring
2.SAC (Standardization Administration of China): technical supervision on
provinces, ministries and national committees, compliance with WTO
3.CNIS (China National Institute of Standardization: standards’ census
4.SPC (Standards Press of China): nationwide news on standards
5.CAS (China Association of Standardization): watch on the standards use
Chinese standards proliferation = EU x
7!
Key Political Triggers, see on the ISO 14000:
2006 = 18,842 Chinese cies. 15% of the global (was #2, Jp #1,
Sp #3)
2011 = 81,993
“
“
29% of the global, #1, X3 Jp (#2)
What
What
Happened?
Happened?
Feb. 2007: Hu Jintao’s visit to a Chinese mine in Zambia, welcomed
by strikes and demonstrations against work casualties and social
inequalities.

10. ESG criteria as companies’
reputational weapons
- defense & attack cases
- some non-cases

11. Company’s mistakes (1)
Dave Carroll had his guitar broken by United Airlines. Non-helpful
customer service: he posted a video song on July 6 2009 on Youtube
July 6 2009
July 9 2009
15 Aug 2009
Feb 2011
Jan 2012
150 000
500 000
5 000 000
10 000 000
11 400 000
Aftermaths:
1- UA’s share price plunge by 10%, wiping $180 million off the company's value
2- Dented image among customers; unknown lost sales linked with the event
Epidemic model
Youtube
Radios & TVs
Newspapers

12. Company’s mistake (2)
 15/10/2010 13:00 France2
 18/10/2010 6:15 F. Inter
Audrey Pulvar
 19/10/2010 CSA MeD
Google’s intuitive help 28/1/2011
Twitter week average = 200 tweets up to 1000!
 15/10/2010 21:30, PR through AFP on Mr Guerlain’
apologies.
 Facebook wall gets 159 negative comments, calling
for demonstration in front of the maison Guerlain
Champs Elysées, and boycott
 18/10/2010 15:00 Guerlain communiqué on
Facebook wall
 5/01/2011: AXA indemnifies >300K€ for operating
losses
TV Fact
Radio
Stickiness
Buzz
Delayed fix
12

13. Employee disgruntled at
a. 2012 Nov 1rst: Twitter account born
b. 2012 Nov 3: the Communication Manager opens
discussion
c. 2012 Nov 22: Article from Slate.fr
2 months
d. 2012 Dec 16: Twitter account blocked, then
resumed.
e. 2012 Dec 27: working contract suspended
f. 2013 Jan 3: Quick France takes @EquipierQuick
to court
g. 2013 Jan 3: Huffington Post’s and Le Monde
Blogs articles + BFM TV news + iTélé News…
To be continued…
260 tweets so far, and 2800 followers as on Jan 4
(5600 on Jan 8 2013).

14. The non-case
Jan 6 2010 - New York Times article: H&M in Herald Square has been destroying and discarding
unworn, left over clothes instead of donating them.
Jan 7 2010 - H&M’s NYC store stops trashing unsold clothes H&M
Fact
Press
Stickiness Buzz
H&M fix
The two day crisis !
www.whatthetrend.com/trend/H%26M/detail
After spending a day in the number two
"trending" spot in Twitter, H&M’s
spokeswoman called the NYT “it will
not happen again” said Nicole Christie,
“we are committed 100% to make sure
this practice is not happening
anywhere else, as it is our standard
practice”.

15. Offensive: Greenpeace vs Nestlé
Yet often attacked (the babies’ powdered milk in developing countries),
Nestlé had to cope with palm oil well known issues.
March 17 2010, Greenpeace’s new report on palm oil
March 18 2010: Greenpeace warns that such popular chocolate bars as KitKat and Coffee Crisp use palm oil
from Sinar Mas, which replaces rainforests by palm tree plantations that eliminate natural habitat and reduce
carbon dioxide sinks that help keep the atmosphere clean and fight global warming.
March 18 2010
n
yo
d
ro
Pa
e
ub
t
ou
Y
Nestle tried to get the video censored from YouTube
Triggered 68 related YouTube videos that attracted 1.2 million views

16. Offensive: Greenpeace vs Nestlé
Nestlé erased the comments on Facebook pages, threatening writters…

17. Offensive: Greenpeace vs Nestlé
 Triggered thousands of posts on Twitter
1- a commitment delayed till 2015
2- censorship on Youtube &
Facebook
 a dented image, residual
weaknesses

18. Offensive: Greenpeace vs Mattel
(Barbie)
June 7 2011, Greenpeace’s activists rappelled down
the Mattel HQ and hung a giant banner "Barbie: it's
over. I don't date girls that are into deforestation."
Barbie arrives on a pink bulldozer, policemen, fire
brigade, radios and TVs…
Ground: Packaging made from APP’s paper, said to destroy the Indonesian forest (tiger’s
habitat)
Media:
videos on Youtube (event + fake interview of Ken in 20 languages), Twitter 1rst post 18:44,
followed by thds. On June 10, Mattel closed Facebook page saturated with negative comments.
Aftermaths:
Jul. 7, Lego drops APP’s paper, commited to use recycled paper certified by the NGO FSC
Oct. 5, Mattel does the same…

19. Offensive in washing powder (1)
vs
Sept. 2010 Initiative « Future Friendly »
Commitments on manufacturing processes :
 to reduce its use of petroleum-derived materials by 25%,
 reduce its packaging by 20% and
 ensure 30% of the power in its operations is sourced from renewable energy
by 2020.
+ Long-term partnership with WWF.
© Guy Debaux 2013
19

20. Offensive in washing powder (2)
vs
Answers with its own comitments …
« Sustainable Living Plan » 15/11/2010, over 50 concrete targets that will:
 Help more than one billion people improve their health and wellbeing
 Halve the environmental impact of our products
 Source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably
…and chose another com agency
fuzzier
& later
…was seeking an
NGO to partner with
Ogilvy & Mather, after Fallon
…heading towards social CRM & influence on Facebook:
« Facebook, with 500 million users, is the third biggest nation in the world after
China and India, and it can mobilise millions of people. We are just listening to
consumers, staying close to give them what they are asking for. Social media’s
power to punish, as well as to reward, is quite extraordinary. » Paul Polman,
Unilever’s CEO
© Guy Debaux 2013
20

21. ESG criteria & offensive: the EC’ role
The EC aware of washing powder industry’s ESG issues:
a.A coopetition case: Trade association by P&G, Unilever and Henkel for fixing
environmental issues
b.EC’s decision for setting up environment-friendly criteria for detergents
28/4/2011 = P&G + 8 months
A betrayed coopetion:
EC fined P&G (€211m) and Unilever (€104m) in April 2011, but Henkel (the informer), for
prices fixing cartel.
© Guy Debaux 2013
21

22. Offensive in chocolate:
March 4 2009: Cadbury (Kraft Foods) announces its Dairy Milk chocolate will be
certified by the Fair Trade Foundation, the Social dimension being critical in
chocolate farming (children work)
Dec. 2011, Kraft Food releases its carbon print data and commitments, with third
parties WWF and Quantis
April 1 2009: Mars states all its providers will be certified “sustainability” by 2020.
Its Galaxy is certified in 2010 by Rainforest Alliance
Dec. 2011, Maltesers goes Fairtrade, for $1million/y
Oct. 22 2009: Nestlé announces its Cocoa Plan, commitments not certified by a
third party.

23. Offensive in IT industry
“We’re working inside and outside to make sure they know they can grow without adding more coal
or nuclear. A lot of companies are starting to get this, but we need to move a lot faster.”
Greenpeace
IT companies ranked by Greenpeace:
Fuming Facebook
Heavy investments in green
energy plants (solar, wind…)
Copyright Guy Debaux 2011
© Guy Debaux 2011
23

24. Offensive Greenpeace vs Facebook
© Guy Debaux 2012
24

25. Offensive failure:
 Objective: to dent Google’s reputation
 Ground:, Gmail’s Social Circle, for harming privacy
 Ways: to « commission » on stealth mode a wellknown expert: Mr. Soghoian. Baiting mail
on May 3 2011.
 Results: expert refuses, who releases all docs on his blog. Hundreds of press articles
beg. 11 Mai 2011…
 Burson Marsteller and Facebook’s public denials, then a « Communication » campaign for
saving what could be saved…
Mails abstract:
from Mercurio, John <John.Mercurio@bm.com>
to
Christopher Soghoian chris@soghoian.net
date Tue, May 3, 2011 at 10:38 AM
subject RE: Op-Ed Opportunity: Google Quietly Launches Sweeping Violation of User Privacy
Thanks for the prompt reply. I’m afraid I can’t disclose my client yet. But all the information
included in this email is publicly available. Any interest in pursuing this?
On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 10:08 AM, Mercurio, John <John.Mercurio@bm.com> wrote:
Mr. Soghoian,
I wanted to gauge your interest in authoring an op-ed this week for a top-tier media outlet on an
important issue that I know you’re following closely.
© Guy Debaux 2012
25

26. Defensive and prevention: Levi Strauss
A growing threat, an anticipated & timely response:
WHO Program
Silicosis eradication
1995
1rst silicosis case at
Atatürk University
2005
Stop sand
blasting
Sept 2010
sand blasted ban
campaign
Nov 2010
Feb 2011
New CSR
standards
May
2011
Guide Ecodesigning of
apparel
20/10/ 2011
WWF + ONG
Yamana + EVEA
+ companies
Followed by an initiative in the apparel inustry
 May 11 2011 CERES’ conference: "We are proposing a new apparel industry standard of
social, economic, and environmental sustainability that focuses on improving workers' lives. If our
ultimate goal is to improve not just factory conditions, but to make a material difference to the
people and communities in our supply chain, then we need a more holistic approach and a more
human perspective."
 LS& Co. committed to a nine-month advisory process with NGOs, other brands, labor unions
and suppliers around the world. Levi Strauss & Co. will release a white paper for public comment
and then will begin implementing the new terms of engagement with suppliers in May 2012.
 « New terms of engagement is not only the right thing to do, but is good for business »
Weak or no answers from the competitors…
© Guy Debaux 2012
26

27. Two cases under-process
&
Bisphenol A: requests for industrial processes changes
Shareholders Annual meeting April 2011: 4US NGOs ask the company to disclose its
plans on the future use and possible phase out of bisphenol-A in beverage can linings
(As You Sow, Domini Social Investments, Trillium Asset Management » : 26% voted Yes
NGOs backed by
“Coca-Cola does not sufficiently disclose the steps the
company is taking to address shareholder and consumer
concerns about the use of BPA in can linings”
A growing minefield:
Jan 2010: FDA has concerns and "will support changes in food can linings and
manufacturing to replace BPA or minimize BPA levels”
March 2010: EPA will consider adding BPA to its list of chemicals of concern and requiring
manufacturers to provide test data on BPA's potential impacts.
1- Manufacturing consent: to cast doubt on danger (tobacco-like model)
2- To speed-up technical alternatives (top secret)
© Guy Debaux 2012
27

28. Two cases under-process
A troubled context
&
History of attacks by competitors (patents
infridgment), institutions (EU etc) and NGOs
The Chinese providers’ compliance with the ESG criteria
Environmental (pollution by Chinese providers) and social issues (Foxcon suicides)
Recurrent Apple’s efforts to publish its Providers Responsibility Annual Reports
US Media involved (ex. NYT “How the US lost out on iPhone work” Jan 21 2012
1- Joined the Fair Labor Association on Jan 13 2012 (assessment &
training)
2- To speed-up manufacturing processes changes (providers)
3- To master the Social Networks:
© Guy Debaux 2012
28

29. Reputational warfare:
lessons learnt

30. Lessons learnt, recommendations (1)
Most of reputation-based accidents stand on ESG and product quality grounds
1.Prevention > crisis management
2.To lead action towards standardization institutions
1. Directly: being member of the ISO’s committees etc. (or chairing them)
2. Upstream: consortiums & trade association (ex. GRI etc)
3. Surroundings: NGOs
3.To carry out a reputational S&W Audit (product, processes), which encompasses the
providers, for protection & attack purposes
4.To benchmark reputational S&W with providers and competitors on detailed criteria
(mapping)
5.To spot critical situations and periods of time: CEO change, new product launch, M&A…
“Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting” Sun Tzu, The art of war

31. Lessons learnt, recommendations (2)
6. TIME is a KFS:
1. Long term for preparing an audit, choosing the best field of argumentation, a partner
(attacker’s advantage)
2. To catch reliable information (witnesses, videos etc) in safe and secure conditions
3. Precipitation leads to failures
4. Short term: for an attack, and its response. No over or under-reaction. Evidencebased transparency, no provocation, clear commitments, third parties’ involvement
…
6. Communication plan:
1. Mapping of the stakeholders and influencers (and their positions regarding the
criteria)
2. synergy of radios, TVs, Newspapers, Social Networks
6. Attacks:
1. On a stealth mode: the hit done by a third party (unaware of its role)
2. Evidence-based (reports, video etc), emotional fulcrum based on guilt (when
guilt>pleasure), derision & humor