A new study from The CMO Club and Reputation Institute identifies the increased need for a reputation management system that transcends traditional tracking systems, including Net Promoter Scores, product brand tracking and advertising recalls. The report, Brand vs. Reputation, the study includes insights and analysis from over 60 CMO Club members and senior marketing leaders from top brands.
“In a world where fake news and the proliferation of brand influencers are rampant, combined with the challenges associated with information privacy, the pressure falls on the CMO to help the company determine its purpose and how to consistently deliver what’s expected, ultimately delivering on the brand promise,” said Peter Krainik, CEO and founder of The CMO Club, in a news release. “There’s a growing understanding that the corporate reputation of the organization has a measured and direct impact on the potential to enhance or inhibit sales—and as a result, many are looking at new ways to glean insight and gain competitive advantage.”
The study provides insights and analysis from senior level marketing executives on the challenges they face in how a corporation’s reputation is shaping a company’s brand image. There is also an underlying concern about the emerging realities and risks of reputation that is causing CMOs to increasingly pay more attention to what’s driving that corporate reputation, and how that links to the products and services the company sells.
The report considers survey analysis of more than 60 CMO Club members and includes discussions with six senior marketing executives from leading brands, revealing how these senior level marketing executives are managing priorities to yield an optimal corporate and integrated marketing narrative.
“A CMO has to understand the power of a company’s purpose is more than the products and brands it provides,” said Krainik. “Its power lies in why the company exists and what values it aspires to live up to. This CMO Club Solution Guide shares real life testimonials from leading senior marketing executives on ways they’re keeping this overall purpose in mind.”
The Guide reveals three key actions that can help to improve how organizations can manage their reputation and brand strategy for optimal results:
Think holistically about communications
This provides a way to better understand the integration of paid, owned, earned, and direct experience channels of communications and sheds light on finding ways to directly link the role of marketing activity to the impact on reputation.
Look at the overall brand architecture
By reviewing the whole enterprise, a CMO is better equipped to understand the untapped potential that might exist between the organization’s purpose and what is being sold.
Update current methods
There’s a growing need for CMOs to consider a reputation measurement system that transcends product brand tracking, advertising recall, or Net Promoter Scores, and strong business reasoning to understand the link between brand, reputation and sales.
“As a unique study of reputation through the lens of CMOs, this study reveals that increasing the linkage between a company’s purpose, corporate brand, and product brands can yield differentiation and significant strategic advantage in the marketplace, representing a meaningful way to out play the competition,” said Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, chief reputation officer at Reputation Institute and thought leader with the CMO Club, in the release.
