Page 9 of Lie For Me

‘Shit.’ Jack said, rubbing his eyes.

Tim took his cue and started gathering up his papers.

‘And,’ Ellie continued, ‘they’ve already been screenshotted and re-shared. So we can’t contain it. Herberts are getting some pretty severe backlash already.’

Jack was on his feet.

‘Where’s Toby?’

‘With me, trying to help. But we really need someone to speak to Herberts. Sasha over there is pretty much losing her mind.’

Tim was at the door. He grimaced and waved the folder.

‘Catch you about this later,’ he said, slipping into the corridor.

Jack nodded.

‘Right, come on, Ellie. Let’s take a look at the damage, and then I’ll call Sasha and we’ll agree on a strategic response. Please tell me someone has now locked that intern out of the Herberts account.’

Jack strode out of the room, Ellie hurrying at his heels.

Three hours later, they had devised a consistent response to the Herbert’s mess. Working alongside Herberts’ own in-house media team, Jack’s team at BrandFriendsSocial had helped coordinate a response to the slew of angry posts, re-shares, and never-ending new memes that were popping up at Herberts’ expense. A press release explaining the unfortunate situation was quickly drafted and was live. Jack had had a frank conversation with Herberts’ marketing manager about how on earth an intern was ever given access to social media accounts in the first place.

He was pretty sure that once the initial furore died down, they could help Herberts spin this into a funny when work placements go wrong story and recover some more favourable coverage for the company.

Jack sank into his chair at his desk and looked at all he had to do. The Herberts’ situation had torn a hole in his day. Ellie and Toby would also have to push all their work into next week while they stayed on the Herberts account for the afternoon.

When he founded BrandFriendsSocial the focus was on helping companies build strong customer relationships through relatable branding, online profiles and social media engagement. The business model helped to build a strong reputation for the clients in a noisy marketplace. Protecting companies from themselves was a less commonly talked about but nonetheless vital part of their expertise. It had developed later as the explosive and uncontrollable nature of these public forums made itself known.

No company liked to think it would ever grab a massive shovel and dig the hole for itself. But at some point, many did. Whether on a grand and highly unexpected scale like Herberts, through poorly made products (Jack had recently led on reputation damage control for a kitchen appliance company after a massive recall for toasters that spontaneously combusted), or simply shoddy customer service that slowly eroded customer faith. At some time or another, many of BrandFriendsSocial clients had shot themselves in the foot and jumped on the phone looking for damage limitation. Jack rather enjoyed this part of the job—the chance to take an existing story and craft it into something new, all while battling the clock, the press, and countless keyboard warriors.

But it wasn’t easy to balance this work with the ever-growing demands of running the company.

His landline flashed as Jack clicked his mouse to bring his computer to life. He picked up, and Kathy’s cheery voice announced, ‘Jack, I have Steven from Bryce and Mays on the line for you.’

‘Great,’ Jack said. ‘Put him through.’

‘Hello, Jack.’ Steven’s calm and reassuring tones floated down the line. ‘How are you?’

Jack laughed.

‘Honestly? A bit frazzled. As you know, it’s a busy time as it is, and it’s never ideal when a client creates a major issue for themselves on a Friday afternoon.’

Steven laughed.

‘Yes, Herberts really went up in flames on this. Which is partly why I am calling.’

Jack fell quiet.

‘Casston’s is impressed with how BrandFriendsSocial has handled this, and they know that you’ll have been at the forefront of the strategic response. They’d like to discuss a revision to the draft contract for the purchase of the company.’

Jack was wary. Casston Media & Communications had been in talks with him to buy his company for a few months now, so any change now was really eleventh-hour stuff.

Steven chuckled into the silence.

‘It’s not bad news, Jack. As your lawyer, I’d tell you upfront if it was.’

Jack ran a hand through his hair.

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