“Standing Tall!”

Strategies, tools and the ADEPT model for better reputation management

What are the key strategies to be used when honing the corporate reputation to target specific audiences? Imagine what Microsoft will do amidst all the controversy? It is in fact difficult for Microsoft to work on winning support, though their products do have a strong brand identity.

Tools for Measuring Corporate Reputation

Customer Satisfaction Index

Marketing departments use this index to either make changes in the marketing strategy or to find out how to construct a better image.

Customer Loyalty

Customers stick with companies that provide them with great products, understand their needs and continuously improve offerings and service levels. Loyalty to a large extent also depends on the course of company events. For instance, when the Tylenol blunder occurred, Johnson & Johnson lost all its customers, even those who were purchasing the other J&J products.

Employee Beliefs and Attitudes

What do your employees feel about the way the company functions? It is they who shall spread the word-of-mouth. Listen to what they say! If the opinion they hold is good, then the good word spreads. If it is bad, then it can immediately rub off on customers. After all, poor reputation is caused first by insiders, the frontline staff, failing to connect with the company’s mission and values.

The Fortune List

Fortune magazine's annual survey of the Fortune 500's most admired companies stands as testament to the value of a good corporate image. This reputation is built on the image created by the admiration of employees, clients and other customers. The results are increased loyalty, higher sales, and improved stock market valuation.

Look at the attributes that placed the following companies on the Fortune 500 list:

• Coca-Cola’s distribution network.
  
• Sony for shaping the future consistently through innovation.
  
• GE for employee retention.

In the end they all add to building a strong image.

Strategies to Build Reputation

• Management must define and research the message it wishes to present.
• The message must be communicated with clarity and consistency through the corporate communications as well as all other channels, including the audience's direct experience of the company.
• Align the message with the experience. As Helmut Maucher, chairman of Nestle, said in his book, 'Leadership in Action' - "It is imperative that the actual situation of a company, its products and its mode of operating, correspond to the information being disseminated." This is perhaps the most critical step.

Reliability and Responsibility

The company should be reliable and take full responsibility for its products. It would then acquire the reputation of being a true leader.

Accountability

Today's stakeholders are holding companies accountable for everything. Everything from its environmental issues to employee practices is closely watched. For instance, if a company does not pay attention to society's demand for a diversified workforce, it will score a lower rating in the consumers' minds and could experience marked reputation problems.

In addition, regulators are publishing more standards and reporting requirements. Accountability lands many companies in courtrooms. For ex. Microsoft's name being added to a long list of defendants in a lawsuit.

Image Building through Marketing Communications

Advertising, Personal Selling, Promotion, Public Relations and Direct Marketing are the arms of the organisation that reach out to the market.. Remember: Tata Tisco ads of the entire organisation coming together in a multi-media campaign to serve better. Such holistic advertising helps build the right reputation frame and compete in the consumer's mind.

Executive Support

Good corporate reputation starts with the top executives. The company’s top decision makers must support and approve of the strategy. For effective brand building of the company, top executives use:

The ADEPT Model:

A ction
D irection
E xpression
P romise
T rust

The ADEPT model makes the point that business action, corporate strategy (through continuous discovery), expression (everything you communicate about yourself and how), and the promise that you ultimately make to your customers, shareholders, and employees, all have to be aligned in order to build trust.

It takes almost thirty years to build an image and just three days to break one. Managers constantly ask themselves how they are evaluating the reputation issue in making decisions that move the company forward, and how strategic direction and strategic plans impact reputation. After all, its all in the name.

Related Reading:

1. “Our Actions Speak Louder than Words” (1121)
Marketing, 03 Aug. 2000.

2. “Corporate Reputation Management: 'CRM' with a Strategic Twist?” (1122)
Prema Nakra
Public Relations Quarterly, Summer 2000.

3. "Speech at 3rd International Corporate Reputation Conference” (1145)
Dave Allen
www.brandknowledge.com