Corporate and Personal Brand Protection and Defense, a new profile and professional functions increasingly in demand.

It should not be viewed as a single person but rather as a department or team that can be formed to work on a specific need or pop-up basis, or on an ongoing basis.

Why this new profile? Due to a paradigm shift and a series of new issues identified in cases such as Gil Stauffer, FNAC, Inditex, Pepsi, PSOE Councilor, and other problems arising from poor management of communication, security, and legal compliance online

The defense of this new professional profile must be defended internally and socially by positioning it not as a new trend but as a response to the needs of a new RSL paradigm. To this end, some data that will help us:

• 40% of the companies surveyed receive approximately 10,000 cyberattacks per day.

• 69% of the 250 executives interviewed fear that this will increase and become more sophisticated.

• “The bad actors know a lot, and if they don’t know… they have the money to hire those who do”

Cyberattacks on personal and corporate privacy top the list of organizational concerns

• Theft – damage to secrets and intellectual/industrial property
• Online fraud
• Identity theft and impersonation

The cost of these cybercrimes totals 1 trillion dollars, and could triple by 2020 if companies do not strengthen their defenses.

After monitoring recent years, we see manifestations that endanger the reputation of some Spanish multinational organizations with a common denominator:

• Due to their activities in the environmental field
• Due to financial results
• By linking the past with the State
• By increasing the price of products and services

In what areas does this profile and/or function operate?

This profile should ideally work directly with the Presidency and/or the Management Committee. Their functions must cover 3 areas of work but with extensive knowledge of the organization, its strategy, and its Business and Communication Objectives.

Areas of action (Reputation, Security, and Legal)

Reputation (preventive and reactive)

The organization’s communication actions and strategy operate in several areas: in the Preventive and positioning strategy; in the Reactive (in response to an issue/crisis); and Post-crisis (your learnings from a crisis that serve as prevention).

Organizations have had, at best, a Reputation Manager, Digital Communications Manager, Social Media Manager… These roles have had to experience situations and cases specific to social media, and this knowledge will help them establish new working parameters.

For example, when rumors and an organization’s actions have been perceived as “negative” by its audience, it affects the bottom line. Therefore, it will measure REPUTATIONAL CONSEQUENCES IN DIFFERENT AREAS: COMMERCIAL, SOCIAL, AND EXECUTIVE SPHERES

COST OF REPUTATIONAL CONSEQUENCES (All this intangible has a tangible result based on the loss or non-gain, not only of customers).

• Establish key performance indicators for intangibles
• Establish tangible indicators

Technology Legal (preventive and reactive)

Until now, organizations had their legal advisory teams or people within the company with knowledge, but now the paradigm has changed and the level of specialization and workload has increased, therefore more resources are needed in this area.

Every action has a consequence, whether by action or omission. Therefore, an organization must consider at least 2 situations in its areas of operation: Preventive and

Reactive.

In Technology Legal, legal protection and defense measures must be considered, such as local and international legal compliance… (ISO, GDPR, LSSI, e-commerce…) as well as Reactive measures against attacks Fines and Sanctions for non-compliance and as a response to defamation, slander, or attacks against honor.

Cybersecurity

In this area, the roles responsible for protecting and defending corporate security have been, in large corporations, the Corporate Security areas, and in professional profiles, the CISO and CSO, if they have them. In some cases, IT Managers have fulfilled certain functions of these profiles.

Currently, this new professional paradigm requires specific knowledge and training in situations specific to new social media, such as prevention in Privacy of corporate Personnel, Presidency, Management, Spokespersons, as well as protection of Trade Secrets, Intellectual Property…

Having said that, for obvious reasons, the Corporate and Personal Brand Protect and Defense will ultimately be a person and/or department with multiple skills and experience in communication, reputation, security, and technology legal, and in the best case scenario, they will outsource what they cannot handle.

The situation and requirements differ according to each organization. For example, Corporate and Personal Brand Protect and Defense in SMEs

Corporate and Personal Brand Protect and Defense in the IBEX 35 and large Spanish organizations

These functions are diluted among departments, agencies, consultancies, legal teams… but who orchestrates these 3 areas of work? Which department or whom does this person report to?

I thought about explaining the RSL functions (onbranding’s theory of the inseparable triangle)

discussed extensively in our previous posts: reputation, security, and technology legal, and clearly explain the difference between this CPBPD (Corporate and Personal Brand Protect and Defense) and the CISO (Chief Information and Security Officer) / CSO (Chief Safety Officer) and the traditional Brand Manager.

OPEN DEBATE

From onbranding, we want to make a specific proposal. After making an effort to reflect and based on our experience, we want to know your opinion on this new profile or orchestrated functions.

• Where should the CPBPD be located?
• Who should they report to?
• Who do they depend on?
• What and when do they act?