MARKETING: Study: The Company Behind The Brand More Important Than Ever

Publicado el por N.B // REDACCIÓN (autor)

 (photo: )

What happens in a world where, thanks to changing market dynamics and social media, customers have greater visibility into a brand’s parent company, policies, corporate behaviors, leadership shortcomings, and more? Given greater transparency into inner-workings of business, my employer, Weber Shandwick, recently looked into how corporate reputation impacts brand preference today and to what extent. Between October and November 2011, we polled both senior executives and consumers from the United States, United Kingdom, China and Brazil to determine their opinions on the issue. Following are a few highlights released this morning from the report, “The Company Behind the Brand: In Reputation We Trust:”

The stuff we buy is a big part of daily conversation 

A majority of consumer respondents (69%) say they frequently or regularly discuss how they feel about a product they bought. Not surprisingly these conversations hold major sway in perception of reputation and future purchase behavior. We found word-of-mouth remains the leading source of influence when it comes to opinion of a company (88%), whether the genesis is online or offline. A subset (83%) cited online reviews as very or somewhat influential on consumer opinion about companies. Advertising (56%) lagged pointing to more limited impact of traditional image-building campaigns.

Corporate likability can be a big liability

Consumers (70%) said they will avoid buying a product if they don’t like the company that makes it. They now consider themselves rightful investors in the companies they choose to support. We found consumers (67%) increasingly check product labels to see who the company is behind the product. They want to know where their money is going and who they are supporting when buying their goods.

Smoke and mirrors is for magicians, not marketers 

Consumers get annoyed (61%) when they can’t identify the parent company of the brand being considered. We found people want to know who makes the product, the values they embody and how well they treat employees. We also uncovered how they also react if visibility is limited. Respondents (56%) hesitate to buy products if they can’t tell who makes them.

Surprising consumers on the maker of the mark can be a show-stopper

A good percentage of customers (40%) stop buying products when there is a disconnect or lack of integrity between corporate and product brands. So you get the picture, right? Corporate and product brands will increasingly become inseparable as markets become more transparent. Executives understand the stakes. A vast majority (87%) polled believe that a strong corporate reputation is just as important as product brands. The convergence of brand and corporate reputation revealed in the study signals a new era of marketing communications; and a big issue for leaders used to doing business through more compartmentalized means.

Try to read more information: blogs.forbes.com/chrisperry