CAPSULE KEYNOTE
Driving Trust in a Brand
Getting consumers to trust your brand is vital, so what does it take to build a positive brand image? Alex Baldwin reports.
Sometimes it takes a period of adversity for a brand to ultimately gain ground, including when it comes to building consumer trust. In yesterday’s Capsule Keynote interview with Tony West, senior vice president, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary at Uber Technologies (US), Mr. West had that story to tell, and others.
Mr. West joined the tech-driven ride-hire company in 2017 during a challenging period. At the time, Uber was facing several high-profile lawsuits, investigations, and an exodus of senior staff.
But the company took steps to change its brand image. Now, Uber is engaged with many high-profile social issues with a particular emphasis on brand image and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Tali Alban, director, Marketing & Advertising, Legal, Uber Technologies (US), interviewed Mr. West to find out what brands need to do to earn trust, how to get involved in social issues, and the role of in-house counsel in promoting and maintaining the brand image.
Committed to Change
Mr West said: “As powerful and positive as the Uber brand was, it was definitely under fire in 2017. If I’m completely honest, these were self-inflicted wounds.”
Becoming the new chief legal officer at Uber might have seemed an unenviable position at the time.
“It was a difficult year,” he said, “but there was a real commitment to turning the company around from a cultural standpoint and to addressing the issues that had become apparent.”
One of the first steps required for the company to turn the decline of its brand reputation was to focus on “transparency, integrity, and accountability,” Mr. West explained.
To demonstrate this, one of his first responsibilities on the job was to announce a data breach from a year earlier that Uber had not yet disclosed.
He said: “It’s very important not just to talk about values—that is important, to be clear—but it’s important to walk the talk. You have to act in ways that demonstrate that you believe in these values, because actions speak louder than words.”
This was also reflected in the company’s new hires, one of whom was chief deputy general counsel Tammy Albarrán, a lawyer who had co-authored a report on Uber’s culture that sparked an internal investigation into issues at the firm.
“You have to act in ways that demonstrate that you believe in these values.”
Tony West, Uber Technologies (US)
Picking Battles
With the increasing expectation by consumers for companies to tackle social issues, choosing what causes to stand for is crucial for a brand’s CSR initiatives.
When Ms. Alban asked how Uber approaches picking its battles, Mr West said: “Companies and brands have to be both strategic and mindful about how they weigh in on different issues. You can’t stand for everything and have a sustained impact. If you stand for everything then you stand for nothing.”
At Uber, he continued, “We ask ourselves a few questions before we weigh in on a particular issue. For instance, we ask, Is there is a nexus to our business? Is speaking up consistent with our mission and values? Is it tethered to some principle that truly aligns with our corporate purpose? We ask ourselves, Will our voice even matter?”
The result of this can be seen in the CSR issues Uber chooses to embrace. Last year, as part of its COVID-19 response, Uber offered free rides and food deliveries to frontline healthcare workers, seniors, and people in need around the world.
During the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, it discounted rides to and from polls, and it sent fleets of food trucks to deliver free food to polling stations.
“As a tech company, Uber’s appetite to take risk is fairly high.”
Tony West, Uber Technologies (US)
Managing Risk
There are pros and cons to associating a brand with any particular social issue, especially in today’s fractious political climate.
Asked how in-house counsel weigh the risks of getting involved in issues, Mr West said: “My risk barometer needs to reflect the risk tolerance of the company. This means it needs to reflect the risk tolerance of the chief executive and the board. You have to calibrate that because ultimately that is how these judgments will be made.”
“As a tech company, Uber’s appetite to take risk is fairly high,” he explained, so the legal team’s role is “often trying to make sure we are putting the appropriate guardrails around all the extremely disruptive and creative things that people want to do, because we need to be mindful of the brand.”
In closing, Mr. West turned to how counsel should consider their own role in balancing risk and facilitating a company’s vision.
“In-house counsel should think of themselves as business partners and try to facilitate the business objectives within those guardrails and boundaries that need to be maintained in order to maintain brand integrity as well as making sure we remain true to our values,” he said.
Video courtesy of Envato Elements / brostock
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
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