Whenever Muhammad Ali stepped into the boxing ring, his opponents often were defeated before the opening bell. The formality would come in a few rounds. What Ali said he would do, he did.

Defeat had come about over the days and weeks leading up to the event, when contenders were subjected to an assortment of messages touting Ali as the greatest of all time—the whimsical rhymes, picking the round when victory would be confirmed. Media, friends, neighbors, peers, even those in the opponent’s corner, ultimately had to speak of Ali’s greatness. All that was left was the ceremony and advancement of his crown.

While our job in public affairs is neither to beat down nor beat up nor brag, the great lesson of Ali is that respect is born of real behavior and follow-through. Ali’s mouth and his actions were in the same “place”.

Don’t overstep what’s real
A public affairs campaign cannot tout what does not exist. We must work within the reputation we have and our track record of behavior as it is. To stretch one inch beyond that boundary is dangerous. It’s a formula for being proved wrong, being caught in exaggeration, or being accused of trying to stand taller than we deserve. That temptation—that seemingly oh-so-little slip—is an Achilles heel we never need. Better to under-promise and over-deliver.

Companies can win in the court of public opinion when their unblemished company reputation precedes them, when documented instances of exemplary behavior can be cited and used to build credibility to counter the opposition’s negative messages to the contrary.

But that assumes an established track record of good conduct. When one has it, it is a dream:

One of our clients felt the constant nipping of competitors at its heels and decided to do something about it on both the marketing and image fronts. But to take on the competition head-on would only lend credibility to the opposing message and open the door for ever-escalating insults about our client’s product and corporate credibility.

We counseled to ignore the bothersome and instead do something competitors couldn’t come close to doing. We helped our client take credit for what makes the company great; for what sets it apart from everyone else; for what has allowed the company to set industry standards for the last half-century: We directed the spotlight squarely on our client’s time-tested corporate culture.

From a marketing standpoint, this positioning—this Declaration of Principles—helped our client define the value it brings to its products and services above and beyond what the competition can provide. And from an issues standpoint, this Declaration enhanced the corporate profile by communicating the behavior that is the essence of the corporate culture and its standard-setting business successes.