Focus on every single piece of communication that goes out from your corporation. It is an opportunity to build an image with your relevant public.

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 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 that you wanted to sell?

This ad run by McGraw Hill business publications several decades ago reinforces the need to build a corporate reputation. The traditional route has been advertising. Companies like GE have used this to great effect with visible campaigns like “we bring good things to life”. And yet, advertising whilst striking can also be expensive. Many companies do not have the luxury of large advertising budgets. As Lee Clow, Chairman, CCO TBWA, Worldwide said, managing brands is going to be more and more about trying to manage everything that your company does”. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the way companies are targeting the investor community and trying to build a relationship with them.

Over the last few weeks, the postman carries heavy books addressed to my wife. They are the annual reports of companies like Infosys, Wipro, Nestle, Hindustan Lever, Satyam Computers and HCL Technologies. Our household is like any typical Indian household, in the sense that, all the assets are in the name of the wife, whilst all the liabilities are in the husband’s name! (But that’s another story). And all these balance sheets are a lot better designed, lot more comprehensive; give much more information than before, which is probably why they are bulkier than ever before! Clearly there is realization amongst discerning corporates that the investor is an important target segment. As important as employees and customers.

One of the most significant discernible developments is the inclusion of the brand’s value as an important part of the whole financial reporting process - what was started as a defensive move by companies (some of which were doing badly) in the U.K. Today, most companies particularly in the software sector, include this important number in their financial reports. And whilst accountants may quibble about the subjective nature of brand valuation, there is no arguing about the need to portray the overall health and well being of a corporation. Brands have value, phenomenal value that can be far higher than the physical value of the assets than the corporation owns. A brand’s value shown along with its audited financial results will hopefully be the rule rather than the exception. And one hopes that it will not only be technology companies that do it.

In the early years, companies brought out their annual reports very correctly, if not very creatively. Since the decision makers in several companies when it came to financial statements were the accountants, they tried to spend the bare minimum that was necessary, skimping on the design and the quality of the paper. But today, there is the realization that mere parsimony is not economy. CEOs are realizing that a well brought out annual report is an opportunity to project an image. And companies like Infosys which led the way in design are finding that others are following suit. Today, if companies can play catch up in product design and technology, they certainly can catch up in aesthetics and creativity.

And yet, creativity whilst being important is not the only thing. Equally important is giving information to shareholders. Companies want to take the “transparency” and “corporate governance” platform by giving comprehensive information. The most significant change in my opinion is attitudinal. Earlier companies gave information because they “had to”. Today they give information because they “want to”. No longer can companies operate within the framework of the Indian system alone. They must conform to global standards like GAAP, if they have any intentions of making a mark in the world.

Today, a brand has multiple contact points with its targets. It could be the mass media advertising, the public relations coverage that it receives. Its point of sale material, its website, its annual reports, its promotional literature, its customer contact programmes, its style in handling complaints (even phone calls). Today we are moving into an era of what we call “total branding”. Total branding is more than the isolated mass media campaign. It’s every single thing that the company does. So can you integrate your brand message with every single piece of communication? Companies do not suffer from DK or deficiency of knowledge. We all know what is to be done. It is only DE or deficiency of execution that kills us. Are we efficiently “doing” the things that we “know” that we must be doing?

A widely circulated annual report is an opportunity to build image for publicly held companies. What about companies that are currently small and who do not need to circulate them? We had the interesting example of a company called Sasken Communication Technologies (formerly Silicon Automation Systems) sending out its report to well-wishers, analysts, suppliers etc. This leads me to an important submission; “Don’t seek out people only when you need them. Be in touch with them anyway. Communicate with them constantly”. This is a good philosophy when you consider journalists and analysts. Most people talk to them only when they need a favour, hardly a successful strategy.

So just focus on every single piece of communication that goes out from your corporation. It is an opportunity to build an image with your relevant public. Don’t treat this as a statutory requirement but as an opportunity to get noticed. An opportunity to impress. One more opportunity to build your image. As the Spice ad line says, “Never miss an opportunity”.

The author is the CEO of brand-comm.Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it \n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it "

Issue BG53 Aug05

Related Items:

---

Be first to comment this article

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.