From Corporate Brand to Company Brand: Authenticity, Transparency and Origin

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1 Insights&Trends I40/2014 Brand From Corporate Brand to Company Brand: Authenticity, Several years ago brands expanded their role from the original area of marketing and sales to the corporate scale, leaving behind exclusive association with products and moving towards reflecting the company in its entirety. Today brands are making another step forward: they still reflect the commercial and corporate areas, but the intersection of the two areas yielded a new field: brand as a company. In the 1970s and 1980s, brand management practice was directly linked to corporate identity, especially in terms of the visual content, i.e. logos, symbols and design in general. A new discipline, Brand Management or Branding emerged: adjacent to the area of advertising, it was related to strategic planning of advertising and became popular in the 1990s. Brands became the centre of people s lives. However, some years ago, brands turned into an object of heated public criticism, accused of disguising companies true purposes, serving as a beautiful package or an expert make-up. Brands credibility was questioned and the role of reputation in determining the value of brands became crucial. Such is the experience of the sector s transformation from the 1970s until present as viewed by Terry Tyrrell, President and Co-Founder of The Brand Union, a UK-based consultancy specializing in brand management. According to Terry Tyrrell, currently reputation is the concept that really matters to CEOs when it comes to brands. A New Space for Brands Coherence between what is said and what is done is the most important value of brands behaviour it is the golden rule of good reputation. At the same time, coherence plays an important role in synchronizing different products and services under the corporate umbrella a portfolio of different commercial brands united by the same corporate identity, an overall value proposition. This document was prepared by Corporate Excellence Centre for Reputation Leadership and contains references to the speech delivered by Terry Tyrrell, the President and Co-Founder of The Brand Union (2007), formerly Sampson Tyrrell (1976) and Enterprise IG (1996), and a member of the Board of Corporate Excellence Centre for Reputation Leadership, at the event titled Meeting the Board: The Company Brand, held in Madrid on January 31, 2013.

2 Coherence between what is said and what is done is the most important value of brands behaviour it is the true golden rule of good reputation. Today positioning is based on social and emotional values, on a close and almost intimate relationship with the consumer, on the vision, mission and promise, and the social cause that a company defends by carrying out its business activities. The size, the dimension, the reach or the products are no longer key for successful competition in the world of brands. Thus, the company brand determines whether the company s products will be successful or not, like in the case of Apple. This is only possible if brands are managed from a holistic and integrated perspective, on the firm-wide basis and by leveraging the intangible value and emotional charge of the brands instead of focusing on the tangible and rational issues. Apple is a good example of this philosophy: the company s fans are attracted by the company s commitment to its cause: simplicity, excellent design and the opportunity to put into play our creativity and talent thanks to the technologies. Five fundamental elements of this brand are the following: 1. Essence: people are more important than machines. 2. Belief: a man is able to change the world. 3. Promise: making technologies accessible to everyone. 4. Values: alternative, individual, easy and humane. Graph 1: A new brand space is emerging World 5. Feelings: people are inspired by culture, not systems; development of products from within; products are easy to handle; always think differently. Reputation, Supporting the Brand In 2011, Weber Shandwick published a report based on its comprehensive study of several big national markets: consumers are increasingly aware of the company that stands behind the products and compare its brand to its reputation. Reputation contributes extra value to products, especially in emerging countries, by creating trust and highlighting quality. This is especially true about situations when reputation draws on ethical behaviour, as well as social and labour responsibility. Lack of coherence between these two narratives triggers an immediate chain reaction in the mass media and social networks: consumers feel deceived and report the instance of deceit or fraud. If quality points in one direction, and price in the other, if the company promises one thing, and behaviour indicates something else, the company will surely face public controversy and criticism. That s why, in order to be successful, a company s brand and reputation should be based on three fundamental and inalienable elements: 1. Authenticity: values should guide behaviours. They should not be cosmetic, ethical or aesthetic attributes. Corporate World brands Company Brand brands Source: Terry Tyrrell, Company Brand, Insights&Trends 2

3 Graph 2: Culture fuels brand BRAND LONG-TERM DIFFERENTIATION REPUTATION BRAND Identity + Personality + Structure What we believe in What we stand for How we express ourselves in the way we look & feel How we present our organization and our products & services CULTURE Values Behaviour Performance Culture is the basic component and condition for the company s continuity and sustainability in the long run. Source: Terry Tyrrell, Company Brand, : openness and cooperation, trust in one s partners and readiness to accept criticism and improve. 3. Origin: one s origin is associated with guarantees and prestige, and serves as the basis of trust. It is also important to have an action programme, which should include the following elements that need to be prioritized: Create a solid culture rooted in the values that a company commits to defend. Develop a responsible attitude towards the environment in general and the society in particular. The principles that define how we do business The filters for everything we do Make sure that the interests of employees and customers are placed above other stakeholders, especially the shareholders. Understand the power held by the mass media and social networks and the fact that markets are driven by communication. This last aspect brings us to an interesting conclusion: today a good company brand transforms a consumer from an egocentric me into a cooperative we. How we act & behave The relationships we form and experiences people have of us What we do and how we deliver it The value we deliver The focus shifts from private interests to common interests, from how I benefit from the product to how it affects us, and finally, from personal choice to social influence. Brand: the Seal of Authenticity Apart from quality, authenticity becomes another key factor in the face of today s reality flooded with fakes and imitations as well as unauthentic behaviours, when actions are copied by impostors. That s why more direct, open and transparent relations, as well as more transparent communications play an increasingly important role. Thus the product label gives way to company trust label, helping companies to mitigate an overwhelming scepticism of consumers. The trust label disciplines companies as well as their suppliers. In the case of the brand s origin and country brand, this label may increase or destroy the company s value. By implementing these techniques, a transparent and authentic company that creates sincere relations and trust may have a large number of intermediaries, those who recommend and defend its products, including employees, customers, investors or suppliers who speak well about the company and translate their direct good experience into indirect experience of their contacts. Insights&Trends 3

4 Culture Is the Foundation of Strategy This premise was suggested and popularised by the U.S. guru of innovative management Gary Hamel. Most of the business leaders in the field of technologies agree with this statement: culture is strategy. The case of Apple analysed earlier is a good example. A brand today is reflection of the external and internal culture, an ecosystem that gives rise to passions, feelings and behaviours of people. It is important to understand that internal culture is not the domain of the HR department, and external culture should not be managed by the Marketing department. It is a basic component and condition for the company s continuity and sustainability in the long run. Values, behaviours and performance create long-term differentiation, which, when aligned correctly, promotes the experience promised by the brand. Leading by one s own example, transformation symbols and leaders and shared vision are the elements that should be incorporated by any culture that aims to have a lasting impact. Strong cultures generate equally strong businesses, and a strong culture may be defined as the one that enriches and improves people s lives by drawing on a clear purpose, effectively communicated and implemented. Conclusion: Company Brands, Global Brands A new stage in the evolution of brands that we discussed here is the shift from corporate brand to company brand. This process accelerates globalization of brands since they are increasingly based on global values shared by people in different cultures and countries. They are driving the change and shaping the future thanks to the ability to generate innovation and anticipate trends. A company brand today is able to combine its origins with its future projects; to sincerely respect and admire one s historical heritage and at the same time create something important for people on the other side of the world by sharing and realizing basic human strivings and aspirations, by being open and transparent with others without losing one s authenticity and credibility. Without a doubt, these trends are intensified by social networks and the rise of the digital world as well as the fact that diversity is perceived as something positive, an element that should be taken into account, because globalization means multiplicity rather than uniformity. This is the only way to bring large numbers of people as well as a variety of communities and countries to identify themselves with these brands. Insights&Trends 4

5 Leading by reputation 2013, Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership A foundation established by major companies aiming to excel in the management of intangible assets and facilitate promotion of strong brands with a good reputation and a capacity to compete on the global markets. Our objective is to become the driving force, which would lead and consolidate professional reputation management as a strategic asset, fundamental for building value of companies around the world. Disclaimer This document is a property of Corporate Excellence Centre for Reputation Leadership developed with an objective to share business knowledge about management of reputation, brand, communication and public affairs. Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership is the owner of all rights to the intellectual property related to images, texts, drawings or any other content or elements of this product. Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership is the holder of all necessary permissions for the use of the document and therefore any reproduction, distribution, publishing or modification of the document without its express permission is prohibited.