1.1.1 Corporate Branding
Hatch and Shultz, (2000) define corporate brand as sign, symbol, name or the combination of all these items to differentiate an organization from another. A corporate branding helps the corporation and the management to create a unique position in the marketing place of an organization and its brands towards competitors. The organization engages goods or services will be a part of the organization identity and the organization will be considered as a brand.
Dealers must use marketing to realize several goals at the same time. First, they want to promote new products to consumers so consumers know these products are available through the organization. Second, they need to advertise worth so consumers believe they are getting their money’s value. But the main objective of marketing is to generate a corporate branding, a solid uniqueness that has the facility to twig in the minds of users regardless of the product or situation.
Corporate branding is a specific style of naming, which seeks to link the name of the firm with the overall advertising efforts in the attention of the user. When Corporate Branding is effective, and the consumers hear or see the name of the organization, they will associate it with an exclusive value and confident experience. No matter what the business offers, the corporate brand is always an impact.
When done effectively, corporate branding makes marketing much easier for organizations. For example, organization that has a solid corporate brand can simply announce its name on sponsored products and that name will directly induce an affirmative reaction in the consumer, without a list of product descriptions or a brochure stating the latest service the business has. Eventually, organizations can charge higher prices just because they are the ones labeling a product.
A strong brand is when building and maintaining perceptions in the mind of customers for example: “Microsoft, Disney, CNN,” the most famous firms in the world is what consumers will expect.
Within marketing, Corporate Branding can increase the organization’s visibility, recognition and reputation in ways not fully appreciated by product-brand thinking. The Corporate Brand contributes not only to customer-based images, but to the images formed and held by all the organization’s stakeholders.
An organization can define its brand that is the visual combination to ensure that all entities are working together to obtain the image, but the image and reputation is what pubic see and it goes beyond organization’s control.
Branding is basically what appeals to consumers, and is the way a firm’s products and services are proposed to audiences; reputation however, is the public awareness of the firm’s corporate activities which incorporates community relations and corporate social responsibility. It is what the organization is doing to look after its triple bottom line – the people, the profit and the planet.
Figure I: Framework for Corporate Branding
Source: (The ICFAI Journal of Brand Management Vol-V, No 1, pp.24)
1.1.2 Corporate Reputation
Argenti, (1998); Balmer and Grayzer, (2003) define reputation as the combination of identity and corporate brand that the organization is responsible of but the image results from the stakeholders and customers and their view so the organization doesn’t control it. But to be reputed the organization must manage between all these facts to proceed.
Several combined factors play a role to build for an organization its reputation, its image and its identity and performance. Scholars relate the corporate reputation with other variables such as “commercial performance employee and customer satisfaction”.
Corporate reputation is the commitment of the organization toward its customers, employees, overall its stakeholders and the reputation explains the performance of the organization, it is the image of an organization through years and it is integrated on its identity and programs.
Corporate reputation is when stakeholders behave toward an organization as employees’ retention customer commitment. Top management sees corporate reputation as a valuable asset. It attracts good staff, retains customers and encourages the investment.
An organization desires a reputation that encourages both consumers and qualified workers to choose its organization over its competitors.
To stay competitive the organization tries to maintain its corporate reputation to achieve its goals. Some of large organizations’ example “Arthur Anderson” learned hard lessons about how a bad reputation harms employee and customer loyalty.
Not only logos and names are the most important elements of an advertisement that reflect a reputation. Kitchen and Shultz, (2001) define:
- Identity is that “ what the organization is “consist on a organization that defines its employees clients and market
- Desired identity “ what the organization says it is” it should know itself before worrying about what others are saying to them, and this is what gives organization its competitive advantage
- Image “what the customers think it is” an organization is seen from different point of views from stakeholders. The objective is to prove who you are in the market to answer their questions.
Financial statements do not accurately reflect the value of an organization’s intangible assets such as customer relationships, talent, innovation, patents and reputation. Intangible assets such as reputation are now central to organization attractiveness and effectiveness. Alan Greenspan, (2012) says: “In today’s world, where ideas are increasingly displacing the physical in the production of economic value, competition for reputation becomes a significant driving force, propelling our economy forward.”
The value of a good reputation lasts to propagate generally because of the competitive advantage and market distinction it delivers higher sales generated by satisfied customers and their referrals; relationships with the right strategic and business partners; ability to attract, develop and retain the best talent; benefit of the doubt by stakeholders if crisis strikes; spread of positive word of mouth; potential to raise capital and share price; and in some cases, the option to charge premium prices. Dutton et al; Gioa and Thomas (1996) explain that the key benefits of a good corporate reputation can be found in:
- Customer preference in doing business with an organization while other firms’ products and services are available at a similar cost and quality;
- The ability to charge a first-class for products and services;
- Stakeholder support for an organization in times of storm;
Although reputation is an intangible concept, research universally shows that a good reputation obviously raises corporate value and offers continuous advantage. A business can achieve its objectives more easily if it has a good reputation among its stakeholders, especially key stakeholders such as its largest customers, opinion leaders in the business community, suppliers and current and potential employees (Lloyd 1990, 182).
Figure II: Sample of International Reputation
Source: (Barnett ET al.2006 p.33)