Alliance articles

It's all about reputation

Heathrow Airport - 10th August 2005.

Welcome to the biggest crash course in branding the country has ever seen. (Bring a sandwich.)

In the space of a few hours, reputations were to evaporate. Brand values were rendered meaning-less. And one of the biggest brands in the world became synonymous with mud.

There were thousands of victims but the damage was far greater than the loss of a couple of days holiday or cabin attendants being stuck in Belgium when they should have been serving drinks en route to Brazil. The true cost will be paid for by the world's favourite reputation.

Reputation is everything. It's your ticket to your next sales invoice. It's what your upstart competitors covet. It's worth more than any premises you own or even your wage bill.

But it's not as simple as that.

The annoying things about your reputation
You do not own your reputation but you are responsible for it.

Even more scary, your reputation is defined by others. And what they perceive it to be becomes the truth. Even if it is based on a half-truth.

And, to make matters worse, perceptions are driven by emotions.

Emotions, not product features, drive decision making. This is why we drive the car we drive or choose to live in a certain part of town. It's why we have spouses that aren't 100% perfect.

We use reason, sometimes, to back up our judgements but we do most things because we just feel like it. We've been emotional creatures ever since we left the cave.

When we think of a company or a brand we automatically trigger a daisy chain of emotions.

Every year, UK companies spend millions trying to make sure the right emotions are part of our daisy chain.

The romance of gravy granules
Think of a famous brand of gravy granules and your mind, in a split second, may transport you to the scene (with accompanying smells) of a lovely suburban family Sunday roast. You might even find yourself mouthing the word 'Aaah'.

Think of a famous brand of olive oil based margarine and suddenly you are walking, probably in sandals, amongst the groves in the balmy heat of the Med.

Think of a famous burger joint, though, and are your emotions to do with happy scenes with friendly red-haired clowns. Or do you automatically think of things supersize?

These three bits of food for thought highlight the way love, the most powerful emotion, can turn very quickly to lack of respect, caution or distrust.

Of course, every business or its brands wants to be loved. It wants a long-term, 'til death do us part kind of relationship with its stakeholders. The reality, however, is less rosy. Because we speak of a very fickle lover who forms opinions by talking to other people behind your back and, having jumped to the wrong conclusion, punishes you by wanting nothing further to do with you.

Protecting your stable door in case the horse bolts
You may have your brand values, your what-we-stand-fors, pinned on every notice board.

You may handle complaints swiftly. You may not have a rogue accountant or a director who likes to engage in the occasional misdemeanor.

You may persuade your shareholders that all is well and may, deservedly, feel the expression 'what could possibly go wrong' popping out.

Take heed. Think of Heathrow.

At Alliance we work with our clients to put measures in place to protect brand value, by assessing what puts it at risk. For more information contact us.