Best Places to Work in Maine

37 B E S T P L A C E S TO W O R K 2 0 1 8 Tyler employees make a difference! Careers in software development, IT, implementation, training, quality, service, support, sales, and marketing allow employees to have an impact nationwide. Locally, employees impact Maine communities by supporting dozens of charities and programs, including the 2018 Anatomy of Leadership program, pictured here. Interested? Visit tylertech.com/careers. Find out why Tyler was named one of Forbes' "Best Places to Work in Maine" and "Best Employers for Women" in 2018. Come grow with us! MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY How to: Navigate when pressured to advocate For some time, brands largely avoided expressing any opinion on debates consuming the public discourse. Unless it was central to a unique mission, such agnosticism was not only accepted, but recommended. The general logic has been that expressing an opinion would only serve to alienate half your audience. That is not to say that brands were absent values or failed to practice them. They simply weren't expected to advocate on behalf of those values and be an ac- tive participant in the political dialogue. That has decidedly changed. Brands are increasingly expected to not only publicly declare their stance on controversial political issues, but also advocate for that stance in representation of their values. This evolution in consumer demand is the result of many factors including, the growth of hyper-partisanship, the empowering capability of the internet, and the entrance of millennials into the consumer pool. As the first generation born with the internet and to come of age in a world of hyper-partisanship, millennials' demand for advocacy is solutional. Whereas the hyper-partisan intent is to co-opt another segment of society that can be divided into two warring sects that only serves the purpose of the partisan, millennials look to their brands to be a reflection of their individual values and subsequently hold brands to account for the values they claim to be guided by. A recent study by Sprout Social indicates that millennials want more trans- parency from their brands. In fact, the study found that transparency and CEO social media engagement were significant factors in their employment and pur- chase decisions. Conversely, failure to engage, advocate and provide transparency is negatively impacting brand reputations, while responsive organizations are strengthening relationships with their core audiences. According to the same study, "avoiding relevant political/social issues" was viewed negatively by 34% of the respondents. This effect was recently evidenced by Nike. Their now ubiquitous ad featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback-turned-racial-justice advocate, was launched on Labor Day. The immediate aftermath was dominated with images of disapproving owners of Nike apparel cutting, burning, or otherwise defacing the iconic swoosh. But on the way to Wall Street, something happened that would have been considered counterintuitive a generation ago. In the nine trading days since the announcement of the ad campaign, Nike's stock went up 4%. It is up 33% on the year. What can we learn from Nike? It's hard to find a company more attuned to their values, more in sync with their consumers' values, and more capable of identifying the 10 components of their reputation than Nike. This does not mean you have to assume Nike's values, but you do need to assume their mastery of brand reputation and know when your consumers expect you to act. Here are some best practices: • Know your values and communicate them internally with regularity • Demonstrate your values to your audiences • Measure engagement with your audiences in relation to your values. Where you receive the most intense consumer response will indicate where you need to advocate when the time comes • Master the 10 components that comprise an organization's reputation • Recognize the relationship between your reputation's components and the leading threats to your brand's reputation • Prepare advocacy statements for each of your articulated values. Brand reputations have never been more important or more at risk than they are today. Nike may have done it right, but for every Nike there is a Volkswagen, an Uber and a Delta — companies that have failed to live up to their professed values or advocate for them and subsequently damaged their reputations. Consequently, as audiences continue to make values- based decisions and demands, brands will have to be prepared to respond. Jason Sulham is vice president and senior strategist at Broadreach Public Relations where he advises clients on strategic communications, brand reputation management and public affairs. He can be reached at jasons@broadreachpr.com By Jason Sulham, Senior Strategist, Broadreach Public Relations

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