Reputational risk is among the most challenging to insure, says I.I.I.’s VP of Communications Loretta Worters in this timely tale of Uber shenanigans:
There’s no such thing as bad publicity, the old saying goes. But the publicity ridesharing company Uber is getting lately may not just harm its image, but can hurt its bottom line. And for a business valued by some at north of $50 billion, that’s a world of hurt!
The latest trouble for the beleaguered rideshare titan started earlier this week when SVP of Business Emil Michael was reported by BuzzFeed to have said that the company should initiate a million-dollar “smear campaign” against journalists. Worse still was CEO Travis Kalanick’s response, a rambling 13-tweet condemnation of Michael’s on-the-record screed. (To date, however, Michael still has his job.) Jumping into the fray was Uber investor Ashton Kutcher, who defended the company for “digging up dirt” on journalists.
A company’s reputation is core to its profitability and long-term competitiveness. And the challenges from social media and other interactive online platforms often force businesses to respond immediately. This in part explains why damage from reputational risk events oftentimes does not result from the initial crisis, but from how well the company responds to it.
This isn’t exactly the first time Uber has “stepped in it.” However, leaving aside Uber’s occasional self-destructive missteps, how vulnerable is Uber or any other company with a capricious C-suite?
Reputational risk is among the most challenging categories of risk to manage, according to 92 percent of companies responding to a survey from ACE Group. Fully 81 percent of respondents view reputation as their most significant asset—and most of them admit that they struggle to protect it. The report also suggests that organizations need a clear framework for managing reputational risk that reduces the potential for crises, taking a multi-disciplinary approach that involves the CEO, PR specialists and other business leaders.
While Uber’s Kalanick acknowledged his company needs to repair its image, he clearly would benefit from reputational risk insurance and the expertise of a risk manager—even if that risk manager’s counsel amounts to: “dude, shut UP!”
Reputational risk is not covered under a typical business policy, but companies can purchase coverage as a stand-alone policy which typically pays fees for professional crisis management and communications services; media spending and production costs; some legal fees; other crisis response and campaign costs such as research, events, social media, and directly associated activities.
New reputation insurance products have started to emerge in the marketplace that cover financial losses caused by bad news that harms a company’s profits. For example, Aon with Zurich, Willis and Chartis among others have come out with policies that address the exposures of reputational risk and offer risk management services to help corporations keep their reputations intact.
One thing is clear: as the rideshare business grows more competitive, Kalanick will need to do better at projecting a positive image. And if he took a cue from his own product, and let somebody else do the driving for a change, Kalanick would be following the lead of many a troubled CEO before him.
For information on the insurance implications of ride-sharing, check out this handy Q&A.
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