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KRIS HUNDLEYCompanies work hard to become synonymous with their product. But reaching icon status also can turn a company into a target.
Being a global brand has plenty of advantages. Being a prime target for terrorists is not one of them.
This hard lesson was reinforced for Citigroup and Prudential Financial recently after it was disclosed that their U.S. headquarters have reportedly been targeted for attack by al-Qaida operatives.
Citigroup's 59-story skyscraper in Manhattan and Prudential's 24-story home in Newark, N.J., have become more than just headquarters of giant U.S. corporations. They have become icons of American economic power and, as such, they now represent a high-value target for anti-American forces.
"A lot of companies try to build a brand so they are widely recognizable and stand above the crowd," said Bruce Blythe, chief executive of Crisis Management International in Atlanta. "But the higher the visibility is, the more impact a potential terrorist may have in that people who know that brand will say, "My gosh, that hits me personally.' "
Marketing experts say corporations are being forced to grapple with security issues never before considered on their home turf. Jonathan Bernstein, who runs a crisis management consulting business in Los Angeles, said U.S. companies, particularly those in the oil business, have long had to downplay their presence in unfriendly countries.
"But being in an environment where you expect violence is much different from being in an environment where you don't expect it," he said.
The first step, Bernstein and others say, is to beef up security in order to reassure employees, customers and the general public the company can handle any threat. Top executives should be visible as they maintain their routine. Regular hours should be kept. And customers who still are nervous about using the company's services in person should be accommodated electronically.
"You can't stop a determined criminal, but you have to do your best to prevent it," Bernstein said. "The court of public opinion has to believe you've done your best to prepare or it will be completely unforgiving."
Security should also be heightened at nearby businesses and companies with similar names. Noting that the World Bank in Washington, D.C., has been identified as another potential terrorist target in this most recent alert, Bernstein said an acquaintance who works for the Export-Import Bank reports they've intensified security measures there as well.
"They frequently get mistaken for the World Bank," he said. "So any company with a name like Citibank or Prudential should be careful."
Blythe, the Atlanta crisis consultant, encourages corporations to think like a terrorist. "If you wanted to go after your company, why would you want to and how would you do it?" he asked. "You don't want to diminish your brand, but in what way are you a bigger target than you ought to be?"
Blythe has had some clients, whom he declines to name, who have taken their names off buildings to reduce their visibility.
Others have taken another look at their product offerings and tried to distance the corporate entity from anything that could be a potential target.
"A generic example might be a food company that produces kosher food along with other lines," Blythe said. "They might review their packaging to see how overtly it identifies the parent company."
Blythe said the biggest demand in the past few years has been from customers who want to integrate marketing with security, human resources and business continuity planners.
"They want to take an integrated approach to protecting themselves, while still getting their message out," Blythe said. "They're asking, "What are some of the unintended things we could step into from a security standpoint?' They want to make sure they're not saying anything that can be construed as offensive or provoking."
Though one branding consultant said companies like Citigroup and Prudential would be wise to pull their advertising until the threat of terrorist attacks passes, other experts thought it would be a meaningless gesture.
Said Bernstein of Los Angeles, "These companies are so visible, so well known already, they'd have to stop advertising for years to lose their brand identities. A short-term interruption in advertising won't make any difference."
Jennifer Garr, managing director of the Tampa office of ad agency WestWayne, said there's no way a company like a major financial institution can prevent their brand from becoming a terrorist target.
But how the corporation responds to such a threat reflects whether it lives up to its message, she said.
Referring to Citibank MasterCard's ad campaign with the "priceless" tagline, Garr said Citigroup has spent millions of dollars telling the public they understand what matters in life and that they can be trusted.
"So I'd imagine there are serious, big-time phone calls being made by Citigroup to major investors and financial groups reassuring them everything's okay because that's what the brand represents," Garr said.
"It's times like these that remind us just how strong brands are. When you get into a stress situation, if you have a strong core, you know how to react."
Kris Hundley can be reached at or 727 892-2996 or hundley@sptimes.com