{"id":10456,"date":"2014-06-02T05:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T12:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=10456"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:29:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:29:21","slug":"minimizing-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/minimizing-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimizing Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing in mid-March, PR and crisis management experts around the world watched the news and cringed.<\/p>\n

\"Roger
Roger Conner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not so sure that you stay off their airline or their brand is ruined, but right now I don\u2019t feel too good about Malaysia Airlines because of their very weak response,\u201d said Roger Conner, an expert in crisis management for the hospitality industry, 10 days after the flight went missing.\u00a0 Conner\u2019s expert opinion\u2014he went through 9\/11 and multiple other international terrorism incidents while vice president of communications for Marriott\u2014was reinforced in the media. Canada\u2019s National Post called it a \u201cmaster class in crisis\u00a0mismanagement,\u201d both on the part of the airline and the Malaysian government.<\/p>\n

Malaysia Airlines was lauded for introducing a brand-agnostic website to provide crisis updates on the mysterious disappearance, but criticized for not working fast enough to determine exactly what had happened with the flight. And families of the passengers went so far as to emotionally and publicly protest the lack of information available while they waited anxiously for news in Beijing, the flight\u2019s intended destination. With the news that the flight had been lost in the Indian Ocean, their complaints only intensified.<\/p>\n

There are many differences between the airline industry and real estate, but dealing with an unexpected crisis situation \u2013 one that could irrevocably change how the public views your brand \u2013 is a concern for any business. As the global economy expands, as dependence on technology becomes pervasive and social media saturation is a fact of life, companies find themselves with more risk factors to control than ever before. Preparation, brand management and the hopefully unneeded crisis response are now essential parts of any business toolkit.<\/p>\n

Increased Global Risk<\/b><\/p>\n

For Conner, a 25-year career with Marriott International was marked by multiple crisis-level incidents involving the chain\u2019s properties. They included the takeover of the Panama Marriott by Manuel Noriega\u2019s rebels, the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane at the New York Marriott Eastside, the loss of 54 lives during a terrorist bombing of the Islamabad Marriott, and 9\/11, in which the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel, located between the two towers, was destroyed. While none of the Marriott World Trade Center guests died inside the hotel, two staff members and many firefighters who had rushed in to respond and aid in evacuating guests were killed.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Islamabad Marriott website describes security features before any other amenities. (Screen capture.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to criminality, terrorism and the risk associated with all forms of that, we are at a much greater risk in today\u2019s world than ever before. I think that holds true particularly for large, American-brand hotels,\u201d said Conner, who now consults on crisis management and communications strategy within the hospitality industry. He believes that Marriott properties were likely chosen as targets due to their internationally known, prominently displayed, American-based name. Any large real estate company could face the same threat, he noted, though the risk is likely two-tiered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no hall pass for an owner or manager of a building. They must be fully ready, and their lessees\/tenants, who may be the more well-known brands, are at risk, too,\u201d Conner said. A comprehensive crisis management plan, reviewed thoroughly every two years, is essential. Many of the plans he sees are out of date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have people ready to Tweet or post online immediately. They don\u2019t have social media messages pre-written. They have the old standard that I lived by for years: written messages like, \u2018It would be inappropriate to comment at this time, until we have further information and we are in touch with appropriate authorities.\u2019<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s nice, but that\u2019s not the way people talk anymore, and that\u2019s not how fast news travels in terms of social media,\u201d Conner said. Delivering accurate, timely information, especially in an urgent situation, satiates both the public and press, which are now equally vested in the reporting process.<\/p>\n

The role of Twitter and Facebook in breaking major news stories has forever changed the level of control that companies and brands will have when responding to crisis situations. PR professionals are extremely unlikely to be the first voice to speak out on an incident\u2014and, in fact, so are the news media. That makes social networks a valuable place to find warning signs on potentially brand-damaging incidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think of social media as an early warning system for companies, that\u2019s a critical role. In terms of monitoring what is being said about you in different markets, you can find out a lot and head off many crises simply by keeping abreast of what\u2019s being said in social media,\u201d said Doug Donsky, senior managing director of FTI Strategic Communications.<\/p>\n

Violent situations are not the only risk for companies striving to become more global. \u201cMore and more, real estate companies are looking to attract foreign investors as capital sources. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that in theory, but if a lot of money is coming in from Russia or the Middle East or other markets like that, there\u2019s a real question of where that capital is coming from,\u201d Donsky said. Best practices in reputation management require enhanced due diligence\u2014a comprehensive background check of any potential investor or partner not just for financial reasons, but for possible PR pitfalls.<\/p>\n

Building Better Brands<\/b><\/p>\n

But brand management can take place anytime and can be used to advance the business, as well. As recently as a decade ago, you probably headed out for a weekend shopping excursion without much thought as to who had developed the property where you would be spending the day. Similarly, apartment companies were unlikely to put a national face on your living experience with them.<\/p>\n

But that has changed, particularly in the retail real estate sector, according to Bob O\u2019Brien, partner, vice chairman & U.S. real estate services leader at Deloitte & Touche. <\/b>\u201cAs brand becomes more important, real estate starts to become more like a consumer product or a fashion item or a hotel chain. People begin to associate your brand with quality or lack thereof,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The trend has opened up a new opportunity for marketing. REITs like Simon Property Group have taken advantage of this. Simon promotes its nationwide network of shopping centers and outlet malls as \u201cShopping \u2013 The Simon Way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consumers can expect a uniform level of store quality, brand-name prevalence and aesthetic experience, whether they are on vacation in Phoenix, traveling for business in Chicago or at home in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Customers can buy gift cards usable at any Simon property nationwide and engage with the brand through an incentivized loyalty program (a recent prize was a $1,000 shopping spree) or by reading a Simon-produced fashion blog.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou begin to develop a certain expectation around a mall, whether you\u2019re in West LA or London. If that mall is owned by the same company, the quality of the retailers, the quality of the entertainment\u2014everything that\u2019s going to be in there is going to be a \u00a0destination-type place,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n

\"Roosevelt
Roosevelt Field, a Simon Mall in Garden City, NY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Simon tried a loyalty program in the late 1990s and ended it in 2001. But with enhanced competition to the shopping mall experience from online retailers, engaging customers and pushing a high-quality, experiential benefit to going to the mall has gained newfound importance. In March, the company launched Simon Venture Group, a spinoff that will fund technology projects focused on the retail environment.<\/p>\n

“We believe we have only scratched the surface on applying technology to the retail environment in innovative, interesting ways,” said Mikael Thygesen, chief marketing officer.\u00a0 Simon intends to ramp up its branding efforts this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to create a truly world-class brand for Simon that evokes the high quality of our retail real estate,\u201d CEO David Simon told shareholders in the company\u2019s annual report. \u201cThe new brand approach will create a unified presence across all of our platforms that promotes fashion, discovery and community \u2014 key elements defining who we are as a company.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in the May, 2014 edition of Commercial Property Executive.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing in mid-March, PR and crisis management experts around the world watched the news and cringed. \u201cI\u2019m not so sure that you stay off their airline or their brand is ruined, but right now I don\u2019t feel too good about Malaysia Airlines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":10458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3245,4],"tags":[822,8,821,635],"class_list":["post-10456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial","category-news","tag-branding","tag-commercial","tag-damage-control","tag-reputation-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing in mid-March, PR and crisis management experts around the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minimizing Risk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing in mid-March, PR and crisis management experts around the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/minimizing-risk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yardi Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-02T12:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T23:29:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/04\/roosevelt-field-02.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Etling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Etling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/minimizing-risk\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/minimizing-risk\/\",\"name\":\"Minimizing Risk - 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