Three undercurrents suggest the time is right to discuss reputational risk with your clients.

Trust is down. The 2019 Reputation Macro-Trends Data & Insights finds that the percentage of people who strongly trust companies has slipped from a high of near 50% in 2017 to about 30% at the end of 2018.
Reputation matters more. An Ocean Tomo study found that intangible assets like reputation account for more than three-quarters of a company's market value today, compared with less than one-third in 1985.
Your clients face greater challenges. How they respond to natural disasters, active shooter incidents, data breaches, hazing and sexual assaults and other crises can reinforce or erode stakeholder trust.

Many well-known companies can attest to how extensive reputational damage can be.

Uber's reputation in the U.S. dropped after former CEO Travis Kalanick resigned amid sexual harassment allegations.
Volkswagen suffered a $27 billion market value loss after admitting to manipulating emissions data.
United Airlines experienced an increase in customer complaints after video of a passenger being dragged off a plane went viral.
A scandal at a university covered in a long-form news article has been shown to lead to a 10% drop in applications the following year, equating roughly to falling 10 places in the U.S. News & World Report college rankings.

Modeling the way

Reputational risk is one of the hardest to quantify and mitigate. Most mid-sized companies do not have the in-house expertise to assess this on their own. Agents play a critical role in identifying risk and connecting companies with insurance carriers that have coverages and programs in place to help businesses prevent, manage and respond to reputational risk.

Special Reports /

Avoiding the Bermuda Triangle of reputational risk

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