Advanced theory: Reputation maintenance by institutions. Business reputation of the company Emphasis on the merits of the company

In the modern world, the activities of individuals, both in business and in the segment of narrow specialization, are determined not only by the actual capabilities of a person, but also by his reputation. Due to their reputation, many people and companies achieved disproportionately greater success and levels of development than their skills allowed. This is due to the fact that when performing correctly maintaining reputation, you can discover new dimensions of trust among employers, clients, as well as investors and business partners, conquer new markets for the supply and sale of goods for personal business, and also develop and participate in social activities in every possible way. However, it should be said right away that incorrect actions aimed at preserving and raising reputation only aggravate the situation of the business and can threaten its further development.

How is reputation properly maintained?

In order to properly maintain a reputation, it is necessary to carry out a set of activities, which analysts advise to be divided into groups according to the meaning of the action, focus, and also sorted by frequency and effectiveness. To make these actions easier to understand, schemes have been developed that are taught to marketers in European educational institutions. These actions affect both the production and social spheres. The production sphere affects the complex of activities that scientists attribute to objective factors affecting the maintenance of reputation. Among them are maintaining and increasing the quality of goods, production activity, business events, as well as bringing the assortment in line with market needs. These events are called objective because they are within the power of the companies themselves or people who are interested in maintaining their reputation. These activities are fully feasible and are, in fact, part of the production cycle of a person or company, which allows you to improve your image and reputation without interrupting your work.

The second set of measures that are necessary to maintain reputation affects subjective areas, such as the personal attitude of clients and business partners towards the company, as well as sources of information about it that are not under the control of the company itself. People's opinions are formed at the cognitive level and studied by psychologists, in particular, mass psychologists and social psychologists, which requires the involvement of specialists in the process aimed at maintaining reputation. In order to correctly work with people’s attitude towards a company or person, it is necessary to initially conduct a thorough search and analysis of existing sources of information, determine what factors force people or companies to publish information, and also influence these factors.

How simpler is the process of maintaining reputation using cognitive methods?

To make it easier to understand what maintaining a reputation among the masses means, we can give an example. Let's say a TV manufacturer wants to increase or maintain the reputation of a good manufacturer, attract new customers and not lose sales markets in a crisis. She divides her correct actions into 2 parts - she does one herself, and gives the other to special companies that deal with aspects of reputation. The company independently analyzes the market, the demand for specific types of TV, and begins one way or another to make more popular brands, reducing the price of less popular ones. Thus, the required amount of goods ends up on the shelf, and unnecessary goods turn into promotional items, which attracts customers and can have a good impact on the reputation. With this approach, it is desirable to increase the technological capabilities of TV in accordance with fashion trends, and also not to forget about design.

The second aspect that affects maintaining reputation is the work of specialists, analysts and social psychologists who search and analyze the media, forums on the Internet in order to find all possible sources of information about the company. These specialists work with reviews that are positive, increasing their rating, and also bringing them to the top of the search engine lists. At the same time, negative reviews are subject to semantic analysis and pressure from similar text, which forces the search engine to perceive them as duplicate or very similar articles, and, taking care of the “diversity of the search result” from which it, in fact, feeds, eliminate them at all or move it far back. With this method, which makes maintaining reputation possible, potential clients and business partners will one way or another encounter a whole complex of positive things, on the basis of which a primary opinion will be made, which will be supplemented by those actions that are within the competence of the company. With this approach, the results can exceed all expectations, the main thing is that the second set of measures is carried out only by specialists.

Information aspects of corporate construction
According to American studies, since the mid-80s it has become obvious that a company with a good corporate reputation is significantly ahead of its competitors in sales volumes, attracting investments, hiring the best professionals and maintaining self-confidence. Today, thanks to a good reputation, it is possible to increase the likelihood of concluding optimal strategic alliances and protect the company both from attacks by the press and from the arbitrariness of officials.

Reputation or image?

The concepts of “reputation” and “image” are often confused even by experts. Let's try to clarify the difference between them.

Corporate reputation is a comprehensive perception by employees, clients, partners, competitors, the media and the public of the company’s values, mission, business strategy, products and services. Corporate reputation represents the affective or emotional response of these audiences to your organization. Since reputation is uncontrollable, it is very difficult to manipulate, and it depends on the company’s ability to:

Directly control perception;

Build strong relationships with key audiences, as well as indirectly influence rumors and bring them to the attention of stakeholders, such as analysts and journalists.

Image- this is, in essence, the impression of the company that advertising creates. Despite the fact that the image is based on the essential characteristics of the company, its products and services, it can sooner or later change.

A company needs to have a reputation that is stable and receptive to changing reality, capable of withstanding a scandal or an attack by ill-wishers. This is not something that traditionally belongs to the field of PR and advertising. Stronger infrastructure is needed to maintain reputation.

Market value of reputation

You can assess the reputation of a company by analyzing how much a third party might pay for the right to use a particular brand. Let's take the example of a fashion house. Pierre Cardin. In 1988, sales of the company's products amounted to about $2 billion. And Pierre Cardin earned $75 million from the sale of the right to use his brand.

There is another way to assess reputation. Let us take as an axiom the favorite rule of financiers: “The price of securities on the market reflects all the information about the brand, as well as the company’s prospects.” In this context, we talk about the company's reputational capital, defined as the excess market price of the company's shares, that is, the amount by which the market value of the company exceeds the liquidation value of its assets involved in production and sales. According to the study Ernst&Young 40% of the average company's market value is based on its non-financial assets and reputation.

IMC as a reputation management tool

The main factors determining a company's reputation are financial and economic indicators, attentive attitude towards employees, responsibility towards society, transparency for the media and interested audiences. Taken together, all methods of working with key audiences constitute integrated marketing communications (IMC). IMC is the process of managing all sources of information about a product/service or the company itself that are at the disposal of a client, potential investor or any other interested party.

To maintain your reputation you need:

Strict coordination and subordination of company employees.

The information policy for interaction with the outside world must be uniform in all departments, branches and divisions of the company. It must be coordinated by one person (or body) at the level of the company's top management.

The company must have a universal and uniform selection of information materials for everyone: messages should not contradict each other. Whether such unity exists can be determined only by practicing the collection of information materials in all areas. During such a check in one of the companies, it was revealed that a number of printed materials still use its old name. And at one Chicago health care company, it turned out that the marketing department was constantly creating new key messages and publishing them simply because they had nothing better to do.

Information interaction with employees

There are a number of internal audiences that directly affect reputation. “A vanguard squad that maintains a reputation” (in the words of Davis Young, president of one of the oldest PR firms Edward Howard & Co) are the company employees themselves. Management needs to develop internal policies aimed at developing their understanding of the value of the company's good name. Warren Bufe, company president Salomon Brothers, once told his employees: “If the company loses money because you make the wrong decision, I will be understanding. But if because of you the company loses its reputation, I will be merciless.”

In information interaction with employees, the key messages are: trust in the company, delegation of authority, pride in the company.

1. Trust in the company

Today, the growth of trust is promoted by:

Timely and constant communication;

Demonstrating trust in employees (for example, sharing both good and bad news);

Involving employees in resolving problem situations, finding out their opinions.

2. Delegation of authority due to the need to increase the company's response speed. Reducing the middle levels of management in organizations increases the responsibility of employees for decisions. Company IBM makes significant efforts to increase the autonomy of various levels of the corporation's structure. For example: the powers of managers have been expanded to such an extent that they are ordered to increase sales volumes “at all costs” and are paid bonuses and commissions for this.

3. Pride in the company

To form an image of an “honest” company in the minds of staff and convey key messages to them, the following intra-organizational communications are used: news sheet, newsletter for managers, annual reports of employees (analogous to an annual report for shareholders), bulletin boards, company web page on the Internet, general employee meetings.

Work with shareholders and investors

Most studies show that investors evaluate a company in terms of its profitability, stability, and debt levels, and based on this they judge its attractiveness.

1. High profits

What better predictor of a company's future than its profits? According to research, investors prefer to invest in shares of companies with a good reputation, whose income is low but stable.

2. Stability

To assess the degree of risk of investing in a particular company, you can analyze the consistency of its profits over recent years. The less stable the returns, the higher the risk. Companies that do not meet investors' expectations lose their position in the market and also partially lose their reputation.

3. Growth prospects

Rating agencies such as Moody's Standard and Poor's, help to evaluate the merits of various companies in terms of their investment attractiveness. First, analysts study balance sheets, compare the assets and liabilities of the company and its industry rivals, the dynamics of the company's shares, credit rating, study market conditions and development prospects for each industry, and take into account the political situation in the countries where the company operates. And then, based on this data, they make recommendations on the shares of a particular company.

4. Financial transparency

The company's reputation is positively affected by the prompt disclosure of all information that may affect the price of its shares. To maintain relationships with investors, a company needs to implement a comprehensive financial communications program.

Analysts require digital data and its interpretation; and the financial media - positive and negative news and sensations related to the company, as well as the announcement of financial results.

Information interaction with clients

The most important factors in maintaining a company's reputation among customers include: quality products, the primary role of the consumer, and a strong brand.

1. Maintain product awareness

The company must constantly take care to inform customers (existing and potential) about its product. For this purpose, there is such a tool as organizing special events. For example, well-known politicians and businessmen are invited to the laying of a new ship, which improves the reputation of the shipyard among consumers. Personal meetings with customers, such as invitations to dinner or presentations, allow supplying companies to get to know customers better, learn about their plans, and vice versa. Sponsorship can also support awareness of an existing product. For example, an oil company LUKoil, which produces, among other things, motor oils, is a sponsor of car racing, thereby reminding the public of its product and its high quality.

2. Communication with dealers and distributors must be supported at every stage of the product life cycle. When working with a product on the market, it is very important to monitor the correct sequence of informing target audiences about it, as well as about the company’s strategic plans. For example, information about the release of a new product must first reach dealers and distributors, and only then potential buyers. Dealers and distributors also need to be notified of the success (or failure) after a product launch, as they too have a stake in the progress of the new venture.

Companies whose products are well received by customers rely on a simple and logical strategy: they keep in touch with customers. Toll-free telephone lines mean that customers' concerns are heard and their complaints and concerns are resolved promptly. Regular customer surveys allow companies to identify sources of dissatisfaction and develop tactical solutions.

Information interaction with the public

Key messages in communications with the public include: be a good corporate citizen, work for the benefit of society, protect the environment.

Being a good corporate citizen involves a company management strategy in which managers make decisions, develop systems, and implement programs that reflect their commitment to ethical community principles. For example, the president of an oil company ARCO, spends a third of his working time supporting education, fighting drug trafficking and helping ethnic minorities. A University of California study of 156 companies found that morale and responsibility were 3 times higher among employees of companies that actively give back to the community through sponsorship and charitable initiatives.

The company must have a developed reputation management strategy and trained personnel who maintain this valuable company asset day after day.

Add a comment

Each of us understands how important it is to have an excellent reputation on the Internet, but not everyone checks it and even fewer try to maintain it. Unfortunately, statistics show that people are very willing to leave negative reviews if they don’t like something, but they very rarely leave good or neutral ones, because they are simply lazy. Since people are not robots, everyone makes mistakes at some point and sometimes this leads to a negative review on the Internet, which can affect your sales.

To bookmarks

In this article I want to talk about the reputation that comes from sites with reviews in the top 10 search results. We will not consider how to influence a company’s reputation throughout the Internet by tracking every mention on social networks and blogs, as this is a very complex topic and requires at least a team and a decent amount of money. And you can manage your reputation in search engines even alone, devoting several hours a week to this matter. There are rarely sharp jumps in search engines, and if 2-3 new reviews appear there, then for the first time for several days you may not even see them, and in some cases they may not even get into the top 10 of search results.

Some time ago, the services of SERM specialists who deal with reputation management in search engines became very popular, but not everyone wants to get involved with them, as this in some way can further tarnish the company’s reputation.

How does SERM work and why is it dangerous to do it?

So, if you don’t know, SERM specialists are engaged in improving reputation in search engines and they do this in the following ways:

They write new positive reviews and post them, most often from fake accounts, and sometimes they simply pay authors with upgraded accounts.
They look for negative reviews and try to hide them from search results. On some sites it is quite easy to remove reviews through the administration, on others with the help of lawyers, and if you can’t get rid of them, then they simply promote reviews on other sites so that the negative site disappears from the top 10.
They create the illusion of dialogues on forums and websites like “Question and Answer”, where your company is presented in the best possible light.
They inflate ratings in the most visible places, for example, in the organization card, which is shown by Yandex or Google.

It seems that everything is clear and if you order SERM, the company’s reputation will immediately become at the desired level, but not everyone wants to use their services, so why? The answer is very simple and now I will give you several arguments that stop many companies

By ordering SERM services, you are already becoming an dishonest company, because you are creating an artificial reputation for yourself and misleading potential buyers.
False reviews are written for your company, which means this can be revealed, especially if you come across an inexperienced specialist. For example, the largest platforms have long had algorithms that calculate the most active topics and check reviews. Very often they catch companies that leave reviews from the same computer, I simply register different accounts. Since they have the same IP, then without any clarification of the circumstances, the company is assigned a badge that it falsifies reviews. And this is a big fat cross on your reputation, since it is almost impossible to remove this stamp.
Dangerous ties. SERM specialists need to be chosen very carefully, because if you come across a person who is not entirely honest and very cunning. As soon as your paid package ends, he may deliberately write out several negative reviews so that you again have the need to order his services, in the end it will turn into an endless cycle. Therefore, you need to think a hundred times before contacting such people.
Not the best argument, but still some are tormented by their conscience when they order such services and it is precisely this that stops them at the last moment.

How to maintain your reputation yourself

So, I hope you understand what kind of reputation I want to tell you about and now let’s move on to tips on how to maintain it yourself, without resorting to various kinds of specialists and various promotion services.

Reputation audit. The simplest reputation audit is done like this: enter into a search engine “the name of your company” + various prefixes “reviews”, “is it worth buying”, “are they being tossed”, etc. Having done a small reputation audit in the search engine, it is best to collect the most useful sites according to the following list: - Sites with at least one negative review - Sites with the largest number of positive reviews - Sites that rank 1-3 in search results. This We will really need the list for the next steps.
Working with negativity, constant dialogue. On almost all popular review sites, you can create an official account for your company and use it to respond to any reviews. If you respond to every negative review and offer a solution to the problem, then you can at least partially restore your reputation.
Removing reviews. If there is a sharply negative review about your company that puts an end to your sales, then it is better to try to remove it. You can do this in several ways, but not the entire Internet is under your control, so you won’t be able to do anything with some publications. - Solve the problem with the client and ask him to delete the review. But on some sites, even the author of the review cannot simply delete it, so you will have to contact the administration. - Get out of the way and find a reason for the site owner to delete the review. For example, if a review contains serious insults, the administration will most likely delete it. The simplest example: in reviews no one can call you a fraudster or a criminal until the court recognizes this, which means a review with this word violates the laws of the Russian Federation. - Going to court. It's expensive, but sometimes it's worth it, especially if the review is fake. This procedure costs from 30,000 rubles and even the coolest lawyer will not give you a 100% guarantee of the success of this case.
Encourage customers to leave reviews. To avoid having to write reviews yourself, you need to look for ways to motivate customers to leave them themselves. To do this, you need to select sites that are in the top 3 search results for “company name + reviews” and come up with a bonus for which people will be happy to leave reviews there. For example, one of the online stores gives a bonus of 200-300 rubles for leaving a review about product on Yandex.Market and other sites. Agree, for 200-300 rubles it is more interesting for buyers to leave reviews than just like that, and besides, their attitude towards you may change for the better, even if not all of them were liked at first.
And finally, the simplest and most banal advice. Work honestly and engage in frequent dialogue with your clients on social media so that as early as possible what problems and difficulties your clients are facing. And remember that your reputation is not only about mistakes and failures, but also about how you got out of conflict situations. For example, Toyota made very serious mistakes, after which it seems impossible to restore its reputation, but it simply never abandoned its customers. In 2010, brakes and gas were not working correctly in Tayota cars, which is why the company decided to recall more than 8 million cars. And no one shouts around the corner that Tayota is a fraud, since they admit their mistakes and correct them publicly, apologizing 1000 times to their customers.

An organization's business reputation is its intangible asset, which can help the business or, on the contrary, harm it. Essentially, it is a collection of opinions about the organization of stakeholders - investors, consumers, analysts, employees, creditors, etc.

This concept can be characterized differently. Suppose a client plans to purchase a popular brand, but will have to pay several times more for it than all the company’s assets are worth. This difference between the final amount and the value of the assets is the company's goodwill.

A positive business reputation affects the profitability of an organization, its ability to withstand crises and competition, and maintain relationships with clients and partners. A negative business reputation of an enterprise deprives the business of these preferences and significantly reduces its value upon sale. That is why both large firms and small organizations are coming to recognize the need and manage it.

A range of services in this area of activity are provided by employees of the digital agency Artox Media Digital Group. Deep knowledge, understanding of all the nuances of the issue, the ability to easily navigate innovative solutions, well-coordinated team work allow us to guarantee the success of our campaigns.

Reputation, business reputation, image, goodwill: what is what?

The listed concepts are closely related to each other, although they should not be identified.

Reputation is a vision of the company through the eyes of ordinary users.

Business reputation of the organization– this is her “good name”, which is supported by experience and rational arguments. A synonym for the concept in foreign practice is the term goodwill (goodwill). Business reputation can be calculated: it is equal to the product of the total value of the company's assets divided by the ratio of its profitability and the average profitability of the industry minus the total value of assets. These calculations allow you to determine the appropriate price for a business when selling it.

Image- this is the image of the organization that has developed in the minds of consumers. This definition is quite subjective, since people have different information about the company, and their histories of relationships with the company are also different. The concept of “image” exists in the plane of “like or dislike”; it does not affect the deep social and economic characteristics of the organization. As an integral part of business reputation, image performs an important function: a favorable image of a company can attract new clients and partners, and a positive business reputation will force them to stay and convince them of the reliability of the organization.

What influences the formation of business reputation?

When assessing business reputation, only dry formulas are not enough - the following factors must be taken into account:

Degree of responsibility of the company. Open communication with clients and partners, timely provision of up-to-date information about a product or service, etc. help to get out of crisis situations. We help clients cope with warranty issues and reputational attacks from competitors, update existing information about the brand, and resolve conflicts in the legal field.
Ethical behavior. Often, company employees unknowingly harm the company by posting videos on YouTube or photos on Instagram. It is important to periodically monitor publicly available information on the Internet and quickly respond to situations that threaten the positive reputation of the brand.
Financial security, law abiding. A company that abandons shadow management and profit distribution schemes is less susceptible to outside pressure. Often such brands become victims of reputational attacks from competitors. Reputation management specialists identify negativity, identify extremist consumers on various platforms and react - they expose the leaders of negative opinions and connect loyal users or official representatives.
Innovation. In order to expand the range and develop new branches of production, the company needs to familiarize consumers with new products and services. In order to promote a new product, we use various PR activities - we write and publish articles on authoritative sources and in the media, create posts, groups and communities on social networks, post video content, etc. We promote this material among the target audience, involving them in constructive discussion.

Components of reputation

To effectively correct and, it is necessary to influence its external and internal components.

External elements include:

Company image, attributes that position it in the market.
Service level, quality of services provided. This category also includes the level of qualifications and skills of employees, their attitude towards the organization, which is voiced publicly.
Company position in the information environment. “Open”, public companies inspire trust among clients and avoid situations where unsubstantiated or fictitious information gets into the media. Artox Media Digital Group specialists will help you align the brand’s information field with the business goals of a specific organization.

Internal aspects– this is everything that the company discovers and regulates within itself, namely:

Corporate culture and policy. It is necessary to maintain a corporate image online: for example, maintain pages on social networks and cover events important to your company, etc.
Personnel policy. Job descriptions for company employees, rules of personal and business correspondence and other documents regulating the activities of personnel help strengthen the protection of the business reputation of your brand. For key positions, a non-disclosure agreement is signed to prove that they take their reputation seriously.
Social responsibility of the company. Communication between a brand and a consumer is a prerequisite for successful business development, and today the Internet is full of platforms for such communication. It is important to quickly respond to conflict situations related to the level of service, quality of goods, etc. For a “big” brand this may be an ordinary emergency situation, but for a “small” person it will result in a serious problem.

How and from what to protect the business reputation of an enterprise?

Creating a company’s “good name” and maintaining its status is associated with the need to increase the company’s competitiveness and attract investment. Such work requires a lot of time and effort, and its results can be negated by just one negative review of business reputation, which will receive due publicity on the Internet.

Threats can come from two sides:

Employees, clients, investors of the company, etc. Sometimes, when sharing their opinions about the service, working conditions, etc., people do not even suspect that they are providing competitors with information about the state of affairs in their organization and revealing its secrets;
“Black” PR, sabotage, is negative information about your company that is published deliberately. Such publications can compromise a brand and diminish its importance in the eyes of customers and partners.

Such negative “infusions” are carried out through thematic and news articles, reviews, posts on blogs and social networks, etc.

The work of Artox Media Digital Group specialists is to quickly detect a crisis situation and give it the desired vector - level it out. By doing it regularly, even negativity can be managed competently and effectively.

Artox Media Digital Group: reliable protection of your company's business reputation!