Are brand and reputation the same?
From your organization’s logo to how your organization interacts with customers, each element shapes how the public perceives your organization. Understanding the difference between brand and reputation, why reputation matters, and how you can foster a positive reputation with your stakeholders can help your organization - and in turn you! - achieve success.
Brand vs. Reputation
While brand reputation is important, brand and reputation are two independent concepts. The branding of a company represents the “customercentric” aspect of the business, or how it represents itself to customers. This can include a product or service promised to the customer, along with what delivering that promise means. The strength of the brand is impacted by how well it keeps this promise to customers over time.
On the other hand, reputation is determined by the credibility and respect that a company has among customers, employees, investors, media and the local community. Reputation is impacted by factors such as management strength, financial stability, innovativeness, treatment of employees and handling of ethical and environmental issues.
Reputation Matters
While reputation used to be influenced primarily by customer interactions, word of mouth and information put out by the company, the growth of the digital era has created room for criticism on a higher, more shareable level. With the ability to leave instantaneous feedback through websites and social media, reputation can be influenced faster than ever before.
A positive brand reputation signifies that your company is credible, trustworthy and desirable, but a negative reputation can quickly discourage your stakeholders.
Maintaining a positive reputation can support your organization in a variety of ways including: increasing customer loyalty, building brand recognition, reducing marketing costs, attracting talented professionals, increasing employee retention and improving the overall value of your company.
Strategies to Build and Manage Reputation
Here are five ways for building and maintaining a strong reputation:
Create Your Brand Identity: Before you can build a reputation, you need to identify your target audience, what your brand stands for, and how you want to be perceived. Start with a well-defined mission and values statement, being sure to use consistent messaging across all platforms.
Identify Your Stakeholders and Engagement Strategy: Stakeholders include internal audiences (employees, shareholders and investors) as well as external audiences such as media and members of the community. Building goodwill with stakeholders helps to safeguard your reputation when (not if) a crisis occurs. Make sure you identify your various stakeholder groups, what messages they want/need to receive and how you are going to deliver those on a proactive basis.
Provide a Good Customer Experience: Understanding your customers and providing a good experience will not only encourage them to return, but will also improve company growth. On the other hand, if customers often have negative experiences, word will quickly spread through online reviews and social media. While the PR or communications team may not be directly involved in customer experience on a day-to-day basis, it’s important to stay connected in case a large issue arises that could negatively impact the brand.
Stay Active on Social Media: Social media is an invaluable tool for connecting with your customers, cultivating brand awareness and creating a following that advocates for your business. Building a strong following requires interacting with followers, initiating conversations and keeping a regular posting schedule with high-quality content.
Routinely Monitor and Utilize Data: Regularly monitoring data and conversations related to your brand can ensure you stay on top of new or evolving issues and trends. It can also ensure your brand voice and messaging is being received well by your target audience. There are a variety of programs available to assist with data monitoring, offering services such as evaluation of sentiment, tracking mentions and reviews, and even tapping into social conversations.If you’re receiving consistent feedback about an issue related to your website, social media or product, consider making changes to increase customer satisfaction and ultimately increase sales.