Corporate Reputation
Corporate Communication and the Corporate Brand
Peggy Simcic Brønn
(From: Corporate Communication: A Strategic Approach to Building Reputation (2002), Brønn, P.S. and R. Wiig (eds.), Oslo: Gyldendal.)
The first years of the 21st century have been hard on companies and their brands. It is predicted that Firestone is dead as a brand as a result of its defective tires used on Ford SUVs, which tipped over causing loss of lives. Arthur Anderson is feverishly trying to find partners for its many clients as it takes its last breath. The anti-globalization movement is targeting companies from McDonald’s to Starbucks to non-governmental organizations. Today, no organization is safe from public scrutiny of its actions and what it stands for. In many cases, it is not the product that gets organizations in trouble; often it is the action of its managers that directly causes the problem or exacerbates it. In fact, in many cases, products are not an issue at all. Customers continue purchasing from companies while other interest groups attack the company. It is naïve, however, to believe that organizational actions do not in the long run impact customer response. Both the organization and its products and services have images, and it is important that both are carefully nurtured and protected. This is true for any organization, whether for profit, non-profit or governmental sector. The relationships and concepts discussed in this chapter are complex and are based on theory from a number of disciplines, including strategy, organizational theory, psychology, sociology, and ethics, just to name a few. Some of these are explored in greater detail in other chapters. Here the point is to continue the discussion from Chapter 3 on the elements that lie behind the notion of the organization as a brand, otherwise referred to as the corporate brand and normally expressed as corporate image. The basic message here is that everything about an organization communicates. Everything.
Peggy Simcic Brønn
(From: Corporate Communication: A Strategic Approach to Building Reputation (2002), Brønn, P.S. and R. Wiig (eds.), Oslo: Gyldendal.)
The first years of the 21st century have been hard on companies and their brands. It is predicted that Firestone is dead as a brand as a result of its defective tires used on Ford SUVs, which tipped over causing loss of lives. Arthur Anderson is feverishly trying to find partners for its many clients as it takes its last breath. The anti-globalization movement is targeting companies from McDonald’s to Starbucks to non-governmental organizations. Today, no organization is safe from public scrutiny of its actions and what it stands for. In many cases, it is not the product that gets organizations in trouble; often it is the action of its managers that directly causes the problem or exacerbates it. In fact, in many cases, products are not an issue at all. Customers continue purchasing from companies while other interest groups attack the company. It is naïve, however, to believe that organizational actions do not in the long run impact customer response. Both the organization and its products and services have images, and it is important that both are carefully nurtured and protected. This is true for any organization, whether for profit, non-profit or governmental sector. The relationships and concepts discussed in this chapter are complex and are based on theory from a number of disciplines, including strategy, organizational theory, psychology, sociology, and ethics, just to name a few. Some of these are explored in greater detail in other chapters. Here the point is to continue the discussion from Chapter 3 on the elements that lie behind the notion of the organization as a brand, otherwise referred to as the corporate brand and normally expressed as corporate image. The basic message here is that everything about an organization communicates. Everything.