Why and How PR deals with Corporate Reputation, Image, Positioning and Identity.?
Every
organization in today’s IT led world is witnessing unforeseen levels of
competition for clients, customers, capital, talent, resources and space in media
for message communication & coverage.
Combine it
with various challenges and uncertainty in business and economic environment, it’s
not easy for your organization to maintain desired level of goodwill, reputation
and growth.
To prevail these
situations reputation becomes one of your most crucial assets and a critical
factor for success. Your organization can actively plan and build a good
reputation through Public Relations and effective Message Communication.
Public Relations is about reputation
— the result of what you do; what you say and what others say about you. Public Relations is the discipline
which looks after reputation with the aim of earning understanding, support and
influencing opinion and behavior.
Drivers of Good Reputation.
Business
wisdom says that businesses can be built overnight, but reputations are earned
over time. Building a reputation can be as much a part of the strategic plan as
growing market share or increasing net income and profit. The
five drivers of reputation provide the foundation.
Distinctiveness
Good
reputations have distinctiveness in the minds of consumers and other
important audiences. Dell is the easiest way on the planet to purchase a
customer computer for personal or business use. Amazon sells a larger selection
of books than any bookstore. Apple's Macintosh is the personal computer of
choice for graphic designers and artists. Companies must work hard to
differentiate themselves from peers and carve out a distinct positioning based
on their own unique vision, values, strengths and strategies.
Focus
Good
reputations have a focus that is unwavering and uncompromising. Southwest
Airlines has one class, one kind of airplane, and a singular commitment to the
customer. The company is also one of the few airlines not in serious financial
trouble.
Consistency
Consistency
of action and communications with all stakeholders is one of the driving forces
behind a positive reputation. Lack of consistency can destroy a
company's reputation. MD’s and CEOs who spend as much time in the field as they
do in the boardroom send a message of consistency. Companies that resolve
customer issues quickly and take steps to ensure they don't happen again send a
message of consistency.
Identity
Johnson &
Johnson could have fallen apart when the Tylenol crisis struck in 1982. It
might have if not for the one-page Johnson & Johnson credo, which starts
out, "We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses, and
patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and
services." This 70-year-old credo gives Johnson & Johnson an identity
that serves as a moral compass for its actions. What are the chances that Enron
had a similar credo?
Transparency
Speaking of,
Enron is singularly responsible for elevating the importance of "transparency"
in the English language. Transparency was once used primarily when referring to
an overhead projector. Transparency, in a business or governance context, is
honesty and openness. Transparency and accountability are
generally considered the two main pillars of good corporate governance. The
implication of transparency is that all of an organization’s actions should be
scrupulous enough to bear public scrutiny. Increasingly, the nature of social media and
other communications means that even actions intended to be secret may be
brought into the public's awareness, despite an organization's best efforts to
keep them hidden. Great reputations always upheld a sense of
transparency.
Reputation is
the greatest risk that an organization can face. As Warren Buffett have said:” It can take twenty years to build a good
reputation, and only five minutes to destroy it”.
An
Institution’s and individual’s reputation is always at risk, and if you do not
believe that, just google the topic. From personal scandals to business
malpractice, the list of reputation risk failure are staggering.
What is Reputation, and why should you protect it all cost?
What is Reputation, and why should you protect it all cost?
Reputation
Risk is the risk that an
activity, action or stance performed or taken by a company or its officials
will impair its image in the community and/or the long-term trust placed
in the organization by its stakeholders, resulting in the loss of business
and/or legal action.
Reputation
Risk can be loss of earnings
that occur in a situation of negative public opinion. It normally results in
loss of sales, share value decreases and breakdown of relationships. Many a
crises have led to stock price decreases and impact in other areas of the
business.
And Reputation
Risk also emerges when the
reasonable expectations of stakeholders are not met. It essentially involves taking a look
at each stakeholder’s needs and expectations, matching the drivers of an
organisation’s reputation and minimizing the gaps that exist.
Understand the Difference
Since we are focusing on Reputation, we must differentiate and understand relationship between reputation & related concepts such as image, positioning and Corporate identity. Every organization has these attributes, and a lot of organizational resources are given to creating, managing, rebuilding and maintaining them. But what does each term mean?
Understand the Difference
Since we are focusing on Reputation, we must differentiate and understand relationship between reputation & related concepts such as image, positioning and Corporate identity. Every organization has these attributes, and a lot of organizational resources are given to creating, managing, rebuilding and maintaining them. But what does each term mean?
Reputation in general, is the overall impression of an organizaton. Based on
the organization's images within particular publics, reputation is the
prevailing impression that people have of an organization. As a composite
reflection of the organization, reputation does not vary from one person to
another. Reputation generally lags behind an organization's conscious attempt to affect the way people
perceive it.
Image (aka perception) is what people think about the organization. More specifically, it is the impact made by all messages on each particular public. Image is based on both word and deed -- on the verbal, visual and behavioral messages, both planned and unplanned, that come from an organization, leaving an impression on an individual observer or a particular public. Thus image can be inconsistent, varying from one public to another, and varying from one time to another.
Positioning is a process of managing how an organization wants to be seen and known by its publics, especially in relation to other similar organizations and the products or services associated with them. The organization first determines what position it holds among various publics and what position it would like to hold, and then develops a communication campaign to maintain or modify its current position. As a concept drawn from marketing, positioning specifically deals with establishing and maintaining a distinctive place for an organization vis-a-vis its competitors. It is the organization's competitive posture.
Corporate identity is the manner in which the organization consciously projects itself outward. Identity is the planned, visual expression of an organization's personality. It is a category of images that identify the organization and either associate it with others or distinguish it from others. Identity involves the choices an organization makes about presentation through its messages and its actions.
Image (aka perception) is what people think about the organization. More specifically, it is the impact made by all messages on each particular public. Image is based on both word and deed -- on the verbal, visual and behavioral messages, both planned and unplanned, that come from an organization, leaving an impression on an individual observer or a particular public. Thus image can be inconsistent, varying from one public to another, and varying from one time to another.
Positioning is a process of managing how an organization wants to be seen and known by its publics, especially in relation to other similar organizations and the products or services associated with them. The organization first determines what position it holds among various publics and what position it would like to hold, and then develops a communication campaign to maintain or modify its current position. As a concept drawn from marketing, positioning specifically deals with establishing and maintaining a distinctive place for an organization vis-a-vis its competitors. It is the organization's competitive posture.
Corporate identity is the manner in which the organization consciously projects itself outward. Identity is the planned, visual expression of an organization's personality. It is a category of images that identify the organization and either associate it with others or distinguish it from others. Identity involves the choices an organization makes about presentation through its messages and its actions.
By- ARYAN PREM RANA, AARYANA
MATASCO
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