'Reputation Economy' Reputation In Danger

Think you understand the "reputation economy?" Ha. Two separate reports today indicate that reputation maybe is not all it's cracked up to be.

In the first example, despite the cocaine scandal involving Kate Moss, including seeing brands like H&M dump her in response, the British model has made much more money. Secondly, another report notes that Jet Blue passenger traffic rose 15% in the wake of the Steven Slater debacle. (You're forgiven if you've forgotten Steven Slater, by the way.)

"All publicity is good publicity" was always the cliche trotted out by those on the side of having bad publicity. It still doesn't hold completely true (BP, anyone? LeBron?). But if a consuming public no longer defines "good" in the same terms, the maxim can start to hold dangerously close to true.

Obviously, attaching the financial health of a billion-dollar brand to a minor PR event in the midst of economic turmoil, or the Q-factor of a sex symbol to a drug scandal, is misleading. Yet, with Goldman-Sachs richer than ever and the stars of Jersey Shore declaring million-dollar incomes, one has to wonder.