Signing sponsorship agreements with athletes, influencers and endorsers or onboarding high-profile individuals into your organisation now carry an added layer of potential risk as a result of individuals’ higher public profiles and visibility. 

One ill-advised comment during a TV appearance, a badly-worded tweet from a few years ago or inapproapriate remarks when young can suddenly surface and develop into a reputational crisis when they come to public attention.

Having your company or organisation connected to the individual involved can cause unexpected threats to your business’s reputation as a consequence, even if the negative incident did not occur on your watch or happened long before your partnership was contemplated.

Running detailed background checks on the individual before entering into an agreement and ensuring your team regularly monitors any developments are essential for a successful business connection.

InsightX‘s reports go deeper and further than those of any other provider and surface third-party misconduct and non-compliant behaviour, recommending risk mitigation strategies. The updates are rigorously checked by a team of experienced journalists and editors, and cover all areas relevant to the client. 

Who is it for

Organisations looking to:

• Sponsor or seek endorsements from an individual athlete, celebrity or social media influencer
• Sports clubs and teams pursuing player transfers
• Onboard a high-profile or other individual to a senior executive or board-level position
• Engage an individual in lobbying discussions

How it works

After the brief has been agreed, we set our global research team in motion to investigate all the subject’s details and activities:

Understand

• Titles and details on positions the subject currently holds or held in the past
• The individual’s net worth including all legitimate assets that can be confirmed
• Any corporate interests or connections
• Information confirming the sale of property, inheritance and salary
• Records of criminal or civil litigations, watchlists and sanctions
• The individual or close family’s connection to public office or state interference
• Full history of official and verified social media profiles
• Details of previous partnerships and endorsements
• Any area of sensitivity important to the client

Analyse

Once the data is collected, our specialists assess: 

• The individual’s character, ethics, political views and behaviour
• Publicly shared views and comments on human rights, discrimination, the environment, social issues, and subject areas of particular interest to the client
• Negative social media and media coverage highlighting reputational risks
• Discrepancies between income, source of wealth and overall net worth

Mitigate

At this point, a bespoke report is created including recommendations:

• Reputation risk analysis with overview of findings
• Recommendations for risk mitigation
• Reputation Risk Rating clearly showing an estimation of the potential for damage to the client’s reputation
• Escalation status indicating whether a decision on partnership should be elevated to senior executive or board level
• Summary
• Full report
• Appendix including links to all source material