Marketing Matters
For Firms, Reputation May Be No. 1 Asset to Protect
Businesses, and the people who market them, should pay special attention to one valuable asset that’s not on the balance sheet: reputation.
That message came home to me when Stephen Greyser, a HarvardBusiness School professor, spoke at the Media Masters lecture series at Lipscomb University recently.
The Media Masters series highlights people whose work will inspire future generations of communicators. Detailing Greyser’s credentials would fill this column, so suffice it to say that he is a respected scholar and consultant who studies corporate reputation.
Greyser defined corporate identity as “the ways in which various stakeholders — external and internal — see who and what we are and what we stand for.”
Authenticity is a pillar of corporate reputation, Greyser explained, as he discussed what his research labels as four key elements of authenticity.
First, companies must communicate authentically. Second, their core values, behavior and track record should reflect a company that is authentic. Third, staying authentic requires stewardship of core values. Fourth, being authentic means companies can build a reputational reservoir of trust to defend themselves in times of trouble.
Why should corporate reputation be important to business, much less a scholarly pursuit?
The answer is easy: Consumers have high expectations of companies, and the 2011 Cone Public Relations Echo Global Corporate Responsibility Study verifies that.
In this study of 10,000 consumers, 81 percent said companies have a responsibility to address key social and environmental issues, and 93 percent said companies must go beyond what is legally required to be responsible.
Furthermore, 94 percent said companies need to evolve their business practices to make their impact as positive as possible.
“We expected consumer interest in corporate responsibility, but we got a groundswell … demanding companies look at the societal impact,” said Mike Lawrence, whose titles at Cone Communications include chief reputation officer.
According to the study, consumers reward companies that step up to the responsibility plate:
Find a cause: 94 percent are likely to switch brands of similar price and quality to a brand that supports a cause.
Environment matters: 76 percent have already purchased a product that had an environmental benefit.
People buy it: 65 percent have purchased a cause-related product in the last year.
What issues do consumers deem important? More than90 percent felt companies should focus on economic development, theenvironment, water quality, human rights, education, and health and disease.
“Consumers around the world want companies to be a force for good … in the way they do business and … (devote) their resources to address societal issues,” said Alison DaSilva, executive vice president at Cone Communications.
Which companies are doing well in the mind of consumers?
According to a study conducted by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and Reputation Institute, the top five U. S. companies are Publix Super Markets, Google, UPS, Kellogg’s and Amazon.com.
Lipscomb showed a measure of its corporate responsibility by making Greyser available to Nashvillians and inspiring us to think about authentic, responsible, impactful behavior, regardless of whether we market big companies, small companies or nonprofits.
Hemlines, Movie Tickets May Tell State of Economy read more
12/26/11
Are Baby Boomers Grinches or Big Spenders? read more
11/28/11
Consumers May Spend Less This Holiday Season read more
11/14/11
For Firms, Reputation May Be No. 1 Asset to Protect read more
10/30/11
Successful Messages Air Across Multiple Channels read more
10/17/11
Your Reading List Can Show Route to Success read more
07/18/11
Like Radiation, Is There Too Much Advertising Exposure? read more
05/02/11
Nostalgia for a Classic Brand Isn't Enough for Success read more
03/07/11
Did You Get Your Eight Hours of Media Today? read more
12/08/10
Marketers Must React as American Households Morph read more
11/15/10
