Marketing communication: principles and practice

I D E N T I T Y
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I M A G E
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A N D R E P U T A T I O N
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Reasons given for attempting to manage corporate image and identity
centre principally on trying to make clear to stakeholders what the values and
beliefs of the corporation are and how it is striving to achieve its objectives.
When managers are asked, their reasons include:
• there is general promotional value
• it encourages favourable behaviour towards the company
• there is likely to be an effect on product sales
• products can be differentiated
• shareholders and employees can be recruited
• it helps good relations with the community and government
• it influences attitudes
• it creates familiarity to foster favourability
• it reflects the company as it is
• it services corporate objectives
• it aids management decisions
• it operates as a competitive tool
• it affects attitude survey findings
When BMRB/Mintel (
Marketing Business
, 1994) asked 930 adults about their
attitudes towards corporate identity, they found the following reasons given
for promoting corporate image:
• to improve sales
• to tell people they are better than the competition
• to appeal to a new set of customers
• to tell people they have new products
• to give a caring image
• to improve people’s feelings towards them
• to encourage the purchase of shares in the company
• to look more modern/fashionable
• to counteract bad press
• to appear more international
Self-monitoring
is the process of evaluating own performance, taking
account of the likely reactions of others, especially key others, in order to
reach accommodation between the self-concept and reputation.
The problem of reputation monitoring and reputation management to
protect and enhance it requires a wide range of public relations techniques.
A damaged reputation can sometimes be repaired by reputation management
and public relations efforts. If the effect of reputation on performance is,
however, marginal, the resources required for public relations can be kept
small. Resources have to be geared to the level of threat posed by a damaged
reputation.
A realistic understanding of the corporation’s identity, the direction of its
development, its publics, and the means by which they can be informed and
influenced, is required. These requirements are separate from, but linked in