By Lisa Hochgraf
Customers say if you lose their data, they’ll take their business elsewhere. The media is only too happy to interview the latest business that’s been hit by a phishing attack. And the number of breaches of information security seems to be on the rise. What’s a credit union to do?
According to new research by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, marketing executives can make a difference in this environment. The new study, Secure the Trust of Your Brand: How Security and IT Integrity Influence Corporate Brands, found that just 29 percent of marketers say their company has a crisis containment plan in case of a security breach. There’s a lot of room for growth in that figure!
Furthermore, although 60 percent of marketers surveyed believe that security and IT integrity provide an opportunity for brand differentiation, 60 percent also say security has not become a more significant theme in their company's messaging and marketing communications.
Fortunately, the study identifies three critical—and concrete—actions credit unions and other businesses can take to preserve their brands and promote trust of that brand:
- Prevention-Having the right technologies and security policies in place to keep a security breach from occurring. Yes, marketers, that means talking with IT. Today.
- Crisis containment-In case of a security breach, a credit union must be prepared to address members, business partners, and the press in an honest, upfront manner, thus "softening the blow" its brand may take.
- Restitution-A credit union must have a plan in place to help the victims of the breach, whether that’s a financial payout, or a service, such as a free credit check.
An organization's most valuable assets are its reputation and its ability to sustain customer loyalty," said Alan Scott, chief marketing officer, Factiva, which collaborated in the research. "Security breaches and negative publicity for an organization can put that trust in jeopardy. Those companies that can effectively manage their reputations have a better chance of attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
Slightly more than half of all marketers surveyed said they believe their role and influence in addressing security policies will increase in the future.
"As our digital dependency grows, the connection between information security and brand trust becomes much stronger," said Donovan Neal-May, executive director of the CMO Council. "Our study shows that, while some companies are aggressively addressing this issue, too many are not and, therefore, run the risk of brand and business value erosion.
The complete report on the Secure the Trust consumer findings, as well as an Executive Summary featuring key findings of all of the Secure research, can be downloaded by registering at http://www.cmocouncil.org/Reports_Password_Protected/BITPIPE/ST_ExecSummary.pdf.
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor specializing in operations, marketing and technology topics.
Get ideas for educating members about your CU's security efforts from this CUES Tech Port article by Cornerstone Advisors' Tripp Johnson. If you need your CUES or FSF member password, e-mail cues@cues.org.
Two CUES members have shared their plans for dealing with a phishing or similar attack. Find them in CUES Members Share. E-mail cues@cues.org for your CUES member password.
Read Identities Stolen? Strategies you can use to bounce back after a phishing attack" from CUES' Credit Union Management magazine.
