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How we help you build and protect a strong reputation

What is indicated and appropriate for your organization? We guide you through a proven process.

Quality and consistency are central to int/ext's work. We lay the foundation of a successful working relationship with our clients in the kick-off. If indicated, we also define urgent actions for immediate implementation here.

In this phase we get to know each other. It is also an opportunity to learn more about our company or organization and each others' working methods. We are used to dealing with sensitive information. If desired, we will conclude a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in advance.

How do we put together your consulting team? It combines the know-how and experience that your specific situation requires. Our consultants each work on a manageable pool of projects. In this way, we ensure that you can always reach a trusted contact person at eye level. This is an important prerequisite for efficient collaboration, especially in complex assignments with a wide range of stakeholders. At the same time, with the exception of very sensitive projects, we do not work in silos internally and can therefore call on additional expertise at any time.

Central to successful onboarding are in-depth briefings with the contact persons on the customer side. This also includes the operational and strategic leadership. Reputation is a matter for the boss.

In this phase of our collaboration (30-90 days), we conduct an analysis of the current state and draw an objective picture of the initial situation and the development potential for your reputation management. Using primary or desk research, we examine the current internal and external organizational environment, identify stakeholders and issues, and prioritize opportunities and risks.

Depending on the requirements, we draw on

Background interviews with executives and key stakeholders
Desk research
Media and social media analytics
Surveys

If immediate actions are indicated, we implement them for you immediately.

In this phase, we also draw up an initial plan of action and define the project organization. A 4-week review has proven effective in order to optimally align your expectations and our services.

Based on the analysis, we develop a reputation management strategy for your organization and a concrete implementation plan. Depending on the initial situation and your preferences, you and your team can either participate intensively or let us develop this proposal.

At the end of this phase you will have a set of objectives for reputation management that are aligned with your organization's journey as well as a solid foundation for implementation. Depending on the requirements, deliverables will include:

Strategy roadmap
Message Map
Stakeholder, Risk & Issue Maps
Implementation plan incl. detailed budgets

Depending on the situation, we draw on the many years of experience of our team members in public relations (PR), corporate and ESG communications, employee and stakeholder engagement, community relations and public affairs to flesh out the plan of action.

You are looking for strategically thinking advisors who are strong at implementation. We not only support you in developing clear strategies. We implement them for you or together with your team.

In doing so, we focus on the following areas of activity, among others:

Playbooks for reputation management, communication or crisis management.
Stakeholder engagement
Risk & issues management
Crisis preparedness, crisis management and crisis communication
PR & public affairs
Change communications
Media training
Content management & publishing
Internal communication/employee engagement
Monitoring & reporting

Knowledge and competence transfer are important to us

We place great emphasis on helping you and your team learn to understand reputation risks and seize the opportunities of a resilient reputation. In this way, you proactively strengthen relationships with your stakeholders. Together, we improve processes and resources in reputation risk management, issues management or crisis management, including clear protocols, e.g., for crisis communication.

Reputation doesn't come in XL, M, or XS

Reputation management is always individual, despite all the parallels we see every day. A strong reputation can only be built on facts and must be tailored to a very snug fit.

Depending on the resources your organization has at its disposal, we take the lead in implementation and seek complementary expertise in our national and international network if needed.

Do you have concerns about costs?

We work with companies, nonprofits and government agencies of all sizes and with very different budgets.

Organizations without their own communications function

We work with your leadership team to identify opportunities and risks for reputation management. We act as strategic navigators, take responsibility in daily implementation and in extraordinary situations, sensitize and train key people and provide hands-on communication support - if desired with 24/7 on-call availability.

Organizations with communications staff

We see ourselves as a complementary resource to your team. Together we formulate a strategy tailored to your organization. We supplement your internal forces with specialized expertise, train them and advise as needed on the path to continuous improvement or are available for coaching and debriefing sessions.

Very lean organizations or startups

For budget-conscious organizations, we limit our advisory and support services to impulses and interventions as requested. We guide you and your team members, e.g., by arranging fixed office hours. Of course, this means that a large part of the work is left in your hands.

What we do

Wie wir arbeiten: Services

Does this sound familiar to you?

There is not much of substance to report to the Board of Directors under the heading "reputation"
Stakeholders don't even give you the benefit of the doubt
Conflicts of interest or public resistance jeopardize an important project
It is not clear how your organization would cope with a real crisis and hold its own in terms of communications

What we focus on at the beginning of our collaboration with you:

During the initial conversation, we focus on three things:

What are your intentions and goals?
Where are you missing important elements? Where can we support you?
What would the collaboration look like?

If the chemistry is right, we will not simply send you an offer with line items from a service catalog, but a meaningful outline of our engagement.

By the way: We are ICCO-certified and publish our sustainability profile

Since 2006 we have been regularly audited according to the Consultancy Management Standard, the only globally recognized quality system for our industry.

This seal of quality was specially developed with regard to quality processes in consulting firms in the PR and communications industry. It certifies that int/ext adheres to the highest professional, economic and ethical standards.

Our sustainability profile with a focus on compliance with regulatory requirements and sustainability standards can be found at IntegrityNext.