Building reputation

 

I don't know who you are.
I don't know your company.
I don't know your company's product.
I don't know what your company's stands for.
I don't know your company's customers.
I don't know your company's record.
I don't know your company's reputation.
Now - what was it you wanted to sell me?
 

As the publishers at McGraw-Hill advertised as far back as the 1960s, it is difficult to sell products or services that no one has ever seen or heard of. The road to a good reputation often starts with making the company and its products and services known amongst consumers. Newly founded companies or companies aspiring to conquer new markets face the key challenge of making themselves sufficiently well-known and interesting in the eyes of their stakeholders. But that alone is not enough; to seal the deal, the company also needs trust. When a company enjoys a good reputation, people are more likely to trust it and recommend its products and services to others as well.

Making a company or its products and services known amongst a selected target group is not in itself a difficult task. All it takes is knowing the target groups and their values, attitudes and use of media, and practising systematic marketing and communications. As far as reputation is concerned, the challenges most often stem from failing to deliver the promises made in different communications channels. In the words of the world’s most successful investor, Warren Buffett, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it”. This is why it is so important to build your organisation’s marketing and communications on a genuinely sustainable long-term strategy. Moreover, each employee has to be made aware of his or her own personal role in boosting or damaging the company’s reputation. Are your employees ambassadors of a good reputation?

The following are examples of the services that Pohjoisranta offers for building reputation:

  • Senior management consultancy
  • Competitor and market analyses
  • Reputation risk assessment
  • Strategic planning and message formulation
  • Corporate stories, company and investor presentations
  • Reputation strategies
  • Reputation and brand training
  • Internal marketing consultancy and support
  • Reputation and communications follow-up