Image and Reputation - two misunderstood siblings that need better management

Published 2003

Image and reputation are closely related. In fact, like many sets of siblings, some people have trouble telling which is which. And like many siblings, they don’t always get along well together, because they both crave attention.

There’s a tendency for image to get a lot more attention than reputation. And in the ‘high flying 90’s’, the allure of ‘image’ with little or no attention on reputation, proved the undoing of some.

Senior management, and especially those in marketing, often do not fully appreciate the differences between image and reputation. PR pros need to help them understand the differences, so that brand marketing and corporate communication efforts work more harmoniously and build to a common goal.

To start with, here are a few aspects that help explain the differences:

IMAGE	REPUTATION
Is built You have to create and promote an image. It is very much something you build to show others.	Is earned A reputation is something you gain over time through your actions. It is very much what people see in you.
Is a cost You pay to create it and you pay to project it. And the more image-conscious your market, the more it may cost.	Is an asset Because it has to be earned, reputation is an asset. Build a strong reputation and it will help see you through tough times.
Is fast Because image is a relatively independent sibling, you are able to change to satisfy market trends with great speed.	Is careful Reputation has a more complex structure, being a combination of people, actions and who it builds relationships with.
Is opportunistic Image will change, often quite quickly, to take advantage of market trends. Image is competitive by nature.	Is industrious Reputation appears more self-assured. Reputation devotes its efforts to bringing stability to the parent company.

As you can see, a key factor with image is recognising that a brand or corporate image is a tactical tool. Reputation on the other hand is strategic - you decide what you want to be known for and constantly work towards building that reputation.

The significant aspect of reputations is that they develop from the actions of the company, how it relates to business and geographic communities, how it attains its successes, who it chooses to employ at the very top and who it chooses to form alliances with.

Young companies often have difficulties with coming to terms with reputation - and this is understandable. Their need is for instant awareness and sales, so they are very image focussed. And this is a very large danger for such companies.

As an example, it can be argued that OneTel was a company 100% focussed on image. Huge advertising and promotional campaigns were mounted to push an image-drive company. There appeared to no thought of, or investment in, reputation. At the end of the day there was no substance behind the image - and it must be remembered that the company had around 4 years in which to define and start building a reputation.

Another telco, Telstra, is an example of a company that does understand reputation. While its products are out there often selling very much on image, the company itself places considerable importance on continually building and managing its reputation.

Look at how it has handled the issue of its performance in the ‘bush’. 10 years ago you could imagine that the answer to poor services would have been addressed with a jingoistic television commercial linking to traditional country emotions through a jingle sung by a fair-dinkum aussie male and supported by a chorus of children. It would have been a ‘paid for’ image campaign.

Telstra is now more mature and aware than that. The company decided to set up a special division to proactively address its rural shortcomings and work with its customers. Traditional image communication to this audience continued, but it was supported in a more meaningful way. That was a clever, and meaningful, blend of image and reputation.

Obviously the tools employed to promote an image and build a reputation are quite different - but they are complementary and one goes with the other. Here are a few examples of the types of activities that are employed by both:

Typical Image Tools	Typical Reputation Tools
Advertising Promotions Direct mail Competitions	Corporate Social Responsibility programs Strategic sponsorships Media outreach Internal corporate counsel

So what can you do to make the most of the relationship between your image and reputations? Here’s a short list of questions that should get you started:

Image

• Can we define the image we are projecting?
• Who are we aiming it at?
• Is the image still relevant or should it be skewed to reflect current trends and values?
• Who is custodian of the image… is it marketing, product managers or the advertising department?
• Is this the most appropriate custodian?
• What is our image currently costing is to project?
• Do we know the return we are getting on this?

Reputation

• What is our current reputation?
• Does it change with stakeholder audience?
• Did we plan for this reputation or did it develop along with the business?
• Do we wish to alter our reputation and, if so, to what?
• How long will that take and what tools do we have to make it happen?
• What will be the cost and the expected return of doing this?
• Have we seen our reputation linked to any individual’s profile such as the CEO or a high-profile board member?

Both

• Is our CEO aware of the relationship between image and reputation?
• Are our image and reputation compatible?
• Which one is stronger… and should it be?
• Do the different image and reputation custodians work closely together or do they see themselves as competitors for the CEO’s ear?

Conclusion

In the corporate family, image and reputation are two very different siblings. And in today’s more aware and questioning society, it’s important that companies achieve not just a balance between the two, but are also more careful in how they manage the relationship between them.

There is no doubt that PR, with its ability to think and plan strategically, must take a more active role in promoting the importance of reputation. But to do this, both those advising on PR and the corporate and marketing executives within companies need to be fully aware of how the two siblings - image and reputation - are linked and why they need to be managed in tandem.

Note:  The author of this article is a senior Sydney-based independent corporate PR consultant who helps PR Managers better manage their PR Department  and review or select a PR agency. As well he provides specialist corporate PR and communications advice where issues and change are impacting on an organisation. He also blogs regularly in PR and communication topics similar to the one covered in this article.