What did Brown do for itself? UPS’ tips for image polishing

Sometimes no news is bad news for a high-profile brand’s reputation

It takes a long time to build a good reputation but only a few minutes, one indiscretion even, to tear it all down—as we’ve seen lately in celebrity news.

Company reputations are just as fragile, which is why communicators spend so much time worrying about it, and why the United Parcel Service employs a director of corporate reputation management.

Although UPS has a good reputation, Director Lynette McIntire doesn’t sit on her laurels and wait until there’s a problem.

“Most people think of reputation management as more crisis management when they have a problem,” she says. “Really, corporate reputation management should be proactive; you should be constantly evaluating gaps.”

For example, UPS was ranked as the worst consumer shipper last year in terms of its climate footprint, impact on global warming, and support for progressive climate legislation by Climate Counts, a nonprofit environmental-ranking group.