Reputation management ahead of an IPO

The chairman and managing director (CMD) of an Indian industrial company came to us six months before the company's IPO. A search for his name returned two adverse results on the first page: a court order from a commercial dispute, published on a legal database, and an adverse report in a national daily. Investors, bankers and journalists would all search his name before the listing. Our job was to make sure what they found was accurate, credible and complete.

Neither result could be removed: both were legitimate publications. The programme had to work within that, building enough accurate, credible material about the CMD and the company that the full picture, not two old items, defined what people found. And it had to hold through the listing, when attention would peak.

Reputation audit. We mapped what a search for his name returned, page by page, and separated what was harmful, what was merely outdated and where the gaps were.

Narrative and owned profiles. We agreed the accurate facts of his career and the company's story, and built or strengthened the profiles that should be found for his name.

Thought leadership and earned media. Interviews, commentary and coverage of real milestones in business and industry media, so independent sources carried the accurate picture. [[Add the formats and outlet types used]]

Monitoring. We tracked the results month by month and adjusted the plan where positions moved, through to the listing.