Thomas Cook – Reputation

The tragic events that surround the Thomas Cook Story are hard for anyone to read as they involve the death of two children.

The company has been roundly slated for the way its handled the crisis but as Stuart Leach points out in PR Week’s review of the situation its often difficult Manage Reputation when the case is a legal one as you are constrained by what you can/cant say. The consensus is though that the company should have dealt with all this many years ago and worked with the family to come to a mutually agreed outcome that went some way to helping the family through the worst possible scenario a parent faces.

The media storm will inevitably abate and Thomas Cook will re-establish its reputation over the coming months and years and probably recoup a large chunk of the drop in share value they faced this week of £75m. The public will move on and in time generally forget the case.

The one place they will be reminded however, will be online and social media, where the content surrounding the story will stay around for a lot longer and this is where the company will find it harder to rescue its brand reputation.  We often deride the online space for it inability sometimes to  forget and move on but in this case perhaps its a good thing – and will remind people of the companies poor handing of the situation and give the consumer the right to boycott the company if they so wish. It will also embolden the company to ensure that this never happens again.

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