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Excellence in Communications
´It´s all about brand and reputation´
Rostov-on-Don, 4 June 2013
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION & BRAND STRATEGY
Koenraad van Hasselt
In old times, the best companies were the
ones with access to the best resources…
Labour
(employees, labourmarket, alumni)
Money
(shareholders,investors)
Raw materials
(suppliers,partners)
…now the best performing companies also
have considerable intangible assets
Labour
(employees, labour market, alumni)
Money
(shareholders, investors)
Raw materials
(suppliers, partners)
Legitimacy
(various stakeholders)
Brand and Reputation
(all stakeholders)
PR departments have to meet high
demands…
Monitoring
environment
Managing
stakeholder
expectations
Media relations
Writing
Public Affairs
Sponsoring
Financial comms
Internal comms
Community
management (2.0)
Dialogue and
interaction
Strengthen identity
& comms skills of
organisation and its
people
Best in Class communications
meets five criteria
Quality of
staff
AlignmentEnd
game
Accountability
Stakeholder
orientation
1. Quality of staff
• People are business savvy
• People are sensitive to
organization and its
environment
• Management development in
place
PR people need to possess many
skills and competences
• Strategic (visionary, analytical, lateral thinker) as well
operational (planning, organising)
• Sensitive to the outside world as well as the inside world
• Pro-active as well as the trusted advisor
• A good communicator (listening, speaking, writing,
presenting, social media ) as well as a business partner
and conflict solver
Framework of comms competences
needed for management development
Dutch professional profiles, based on European Qualification framework, Logeion, 2010.
Core tasks Analyzing Advising Creating Coaching Organising Managing
Professional levels:
Issue driven
Planning driven
Results driven
Task driven
Instruction driven
For PR people, there are more
opportunities than every before…
The economist, 190511
Het
Financieele
Dagblad
PR has become more
professional and
strengthened its position
versus journalists
Media saw their
resources cut, are more
dependent on PR
people.
2. Stakeholder orientation
• Organisation of comms reflects stakeholder focus
• Stakeholder sentiment is monitored, measured, analysed
• Communications facilitates dialogue and interaction
Brand Promise, Mission, Core Value, Strategy, Culture
Cross-functional Communications at DSM
Corporate messaging, visual identity and behavorial framework
EmployeesShareholders Communities
Marketing/BGs/CC IR/BGs/CC PA/BGs/HR/CCHR/BGs/CC
Strategic
Priorities
Strategic
Priorities
Strategic
Priorities
Strategic
Priorities
Customers
Communication
prioritiesCommunication
priorities
Communication
priorities
Communication
priorities
Tactical
initiatives
Tactical
initiatives
Tactical
initiatives
Tactical
initiatives
Clientsdon’t buy
Activist groupsdon’t want
Rating Agenciesdon’t rate
Suppliersdon’t
conform
Staffdon’t behave
Sustainability indices don’t
validate
Analystsdon’t back
Partnersdon’t promote
Local communities don’t accept
Politiciansdon’t support
NGOs don’t
approve
Online communitiesdon’t accept
Mediadon’t believe
Regulatorswon’t allow
Corporate
Reputation
12
Stakeholder support should never
be taken for granted. What if…
Reputation
undermined
Signal detection and pattern
recognition of stakeholder sentiment
3. Accountability
• Measuring input, output and
outcome
• Independent analysis of data
• Individual performance
management and target setting
Balanced
Scorecard/
Dashboard
Communications efforts and results
must be measurableREPUTATION
• RepTrak
• Fortune 500
•Tailor made research
STAFF
•Employee satisfaction & motivation surveys
• Exit interviews
• Employer brand
surveys
STAKEHOLDERS
•Stakeholder
dialogues (qualitative)
Shareholders &
authorities
• Dow JonesSustainability Index
• Transparencybenchmark
• Global Reporting
Initiative
CUSTOMERS
• Customer satisfaction
• Market research
4. Alignment
• Communications strategy derived from corporate & business strategies
• Cooperation with other comms´owners´ (CEO, CFO, HR, Legal, Finance, Marketing, Country Managers etc.)
• Orchestration based on overall functional comms ´ownership´
Communications should facilitate and
manage the coalition towards alignment..
Comms
HR
MKT
Strat
OPS Comms
HR
MKT
Strat
OPS
..choosing the an alignment platform
based on the dominant logic
Comms
CSR
Reputation
Brand
Qualitymanagement
Alignment finds often its origins in
the corporate story
What makes a good corporate story ?
• It makes the essence, the soul of the organisation, clear, in a way that is
relevant, attractive and realistic to all stakeholders.
• It makes the organization stand out from others.
• It describes the (unique) history of the organization, the core competences
and its ambitions.
• It gives the organization a personality.
• It is a real story, with a plot, a beginning, middle and an end.
• It forms the basis for all communications and dialogue.
• It is well embedded in the organization, the CEO is the owner.
5. End game – long term value
STAFF
Alignment
Accoun
-tability
Stakeholder
orientation
• Corporate brand
• Employee
engagement
• Reputation
Brand is an anchor as well as a compass
The corporate brand brings together
vision, culture and image.
VCI Alignment model: Mary Jo Hatch en Majken Schultz
Who do we want to be ?
What do we want to be known for ?How do they look at us ?
Who are we ?
Stakeholderimages
Organisationalculture
Strategicvision
Organizational
identity
Strong corporate brands create
internal alignment…
Marketing &
Communication
HR
Products &
ServicesSales
Business
development
Corporate
brand
Touch
point
Touch
point
Touch
point
Touch
point
Touch
point
…and create a bonding with (all) stakeholders
Marketing &
Communication
HR
Products &
ServicesSales
Corporate
brand
Touch
point
Touch
point
Touch
point
Touch
point
Touch
pointBusiness
development
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
What makes a strong brand?
Authority
EsteemDelivers quality
Trust It´s ok
Vitality
DistinguishingOne unique claim
RelevantServes a purpose
Measuring brand value
Role of corporate brand depends on
strategy, structure and governance model.
One brand,
one promise
Light endorser
strong identity and promise, primarily for
internal alignment
Brand behind the brands
Added value
Visibility High
Strong vision
and promise
Weak vision and
promise
Low
Corporate brand and
lead brand
A corporate brand represents a
promise
?
?
?
?
?
?
Benneton´s promise?
Delivering on the brand promise will
influence reputation positively
Corporate reputation is the observers’ collective
judgment of a corporation based on the assessments
of the financial, social and environmental impacts
attributed to the corporation over time
Barnett et al.
Reputation: about stakeholder support
and licence to operate
The value of a strong corporate reputation
Works for internal motivation and bonding
Pride, identification and alignment lead to better performance
Functions as an airbag / insurance in incidents
Thanks to positive and selective perception
Acts as a magnet
Attracts customers, investors and talent
It represents financial value
Companies with a strong corporate reputation are valuated
higher on the stock market
CEOs fear reputational risk most
..and their own reputation contributes no
less than 30% to corporate reputation
CEOs take responsibility, but do they
know how ?
* Brand and reputation in the Boardroom,
Koenraad van Hasselt, 2011
• CEOs do not feel like the personification of the company,
but accept the responsibility of figurehead, esp. in crises
• CEOs look at brand as something operational and
manageable, whereas reputation simply ´happens to a
company´ and is therefore more threatening
• Profile of business sector is one of the key reputational
risks
• CEO is not familiar with state of the art methods of
measuring and analyzing brand and reputation
• CEOs are held accountable for non-financial
KPI´s, but only rarely for brand and reputation.
What influences corporate reputation ?
Products & services
Financial performance
Corporate sustainability
Vision and leadership
Workplace and employer brand
Emotional appeal
How do perceptions originate ?
Level Credibility of source
1 Own, personal experiences
2 Referrals by family, friends
3 Social networks & blogs
4 Recommendations by authorities (incl.
scientists, media)
5 Communication by own organisation
6 Mass media, commercial communications
(advertising)
Paul Stamsnijder, ´De Vent is de Tent´, 2010
Measuring reputation – RepTrak*
* Developed by the
Reputation Institute
The RepTrak™ method• Qualitative and quantitative research
• Statististical analysis links RepTrak™ attributes to ‘supportive behaviours’
• The model uncovers the reputation drivers and gives direction to reputation management
Purchase
Recommend
Crisis proof
Verbal support
Leadership
Workplace
Performance
Citizenship
Innovation
Products & Services
Governance
Reputation drivers Supportive behaviourOverall reputation score (Pulse)
I
Invest
Work
Reputation management cycle
Measure and analyse current
reputation
Set objectivesand targets forreputation &
communication
Develop the corporate story
Select reputation
themes (3 max)
Roll out themeslike a political
campaign
Reputation is not a matter of
communications alone !!!
Performance
Commu-
nications
Context
Reputation
Three determinants that may put
reputation at risk*
• Reputation is stronger than reality (over promising)
• Extent to which external opinions and expectations
change
• Quality of coordination within an organization
* Eccles et al., 2007
A final word on reputation: it comes on
foot and leaves on horseback
Warren Buffett
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5
minutes to ruin it …
.. if you think about that, you'll do things
differently.”
´If you lose money, I will be forgiving,
if you lose reputation, I will be ruthless´.
The cars
have been
recalled and
repaired
The biggest
challenge:
restoring
your trust
Summing up: the ingredients for
excellence in communications
Staff
Alignment
End
game
Accoun-tability
Stake-
holders
And what about social media ?
Sociale media have changed the
fundamentals of communications
Organisations better get used to….
The speed… ….and the tone of
voice
Social media are an extension of the
traditional media
• Tell your story via social media (blogs, podcasts, Flickr, Slideshare, LinkedIn,
Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Wikis, Yelp)
• Build a relationship with specific communities
• Collect mails, Facebook links, Twitter IDs like you collect and manage telephone
numbers
• Monitor what is said about your company and its competitors (e.g. via Google Alerts,
Google Blog search, Twitter search etc.)
• Analyse your social media exposure and compare this with the offline media
• Develop social media rules for your employees
Social media rules : act normal !
NRC 29102011
In NL, statements
in sociial media
are in the top 5 of
reasons for
dismissal
Social media
rules at
GOOGLE:
Don’t be
stupid !
www.reputationmatters.nl
Thank you for your attention !