The Importance Of Corporate Communication In Creating A Positive Reputation

The Role of Corporate Communication in Generating a Competitive Advantage

In today’s competitive business world, corporations are facing intense competition, and they are struggling to remain relevant in the rapidly changing markets. Organisations are focused on generating a competitive advantage in the business to ensure that they are able to sustain their future growth in the industry. Effective communication throughout a workplace is an essential element which assists companies in generating a competitive advantage over their competitors and build strong relationships with their customers and employees (Abratt and Kleyn, 2012). It facilitates aligning the individual goals of employees with common organisational objectives that lead to the overall success of the company. Communication enables organisations to share their brand image and reputation in the market which is crucial for their success. However, there are many communication problems which create difficulties for most companies to implement effective communication policies in the organisation. The objective of this report is to investigate why and how managers can master the corporate communication function which can assist them in generating a competitive advantage in the market. This report will evaluate how identity, image and reputation of the company are affected based on communication and how companies can leverage effective communication to increase their profitability. 

Identity, impact and reputation are sub-function which is affected by the corporate communication practices of the company. The identity of a company is the actual manifestation of its reality conveyed through its name, motto, brand, products and services, uniforms, stationery and other tangible pieces of evidence.

The company can share its identity through corporate brands and logos which enable it to reach its target audience. The image is referred to the reflection of the organisation’s identity or how it is seen from the perspective of its stakeholders. The identity and image of the company affect its reputation in the market in either positive or negative manner. The corporations can positively influence their identity and image by relying on effective corporate communication techniques which highlight its importance. The company can shape its identity by setting an inspirational vision, careful branding and consistent self-presentation (Abratt and Kleyn, 2012). Corporate brands and logos are key factors which companies use in order to communicate their vision with stakeholders. 

In case the company did not engage with its customers, then it becomes difficult for it to convey its mission and visions to them. It becomes difficult for the company to build a loyal customer base that prefers to purchase its products and services. When positively effective the reputation of the company in the market, it is important that the corporations engage in two way communication by opening different ways through which their customers are able to reach them (Braun et al., 2018). These communication channels enable the company in ensuring that they collect market insight and relevant data about their customers which allow them to develop business strategies which considering the needs of their customers. These companies generally have a positive brand image in the market and a loyal customer base that support the operations of the company. These practices Ritz-Carlton, Harley Davidson, Amazon and Costco are some of the leading corporations that prioritise communicating with their customers in order to create a positive brand image and reputation in the market which is the key to their success (Morgan, 2018).

Identity, Image, and Reputation: Sub-factors of Corporate Communication

There are various barriers which negatively affect the ability of a company to communicate with its stakeholders that also adversely affect the identity, image and reputation of the corporations.

When it comes to communication with customers, the corporations have to ensure that they are specific and their point is clear in order to avoid negative publicity which affects their reputation. The recent case of PepsiCo’s advertising campaign is a good example in which the message of the company was not specific, and it depicted that people can stop serious social issues such as police brutality by sharing soda with each other (Grady, 2017). Due to the failure of communication, it negatively affected the reputation and image of the company which reduce its earnings. It shows that a major barrier of communication is difference in the perception of the management and customers.

Another barrier is the lack of transparency in the operations of the company which makes it difficult for the stakeholders to determine whether the corporation is taking appropriate steps towards its vision or not (Anholt, 2016). In order to create a positive reputation in the market, companies have ensured that they interact with their stakeholders to communicate their vision clearly and maintain transparency in the operations which is crucial to remove communication barriers (Agerdal-Hjermind, 2014). Slight changes in the logos and branding of companies have a significant impact on the perception of customers towards products and services of the company which creates barriers in their communication. 

There are various actions which can be taken by the corporations in order to effectively utilise the corporate communication techniques to positively influence their reputation in the market.

In order to use corporate communication to positively influence the identity, image and reputation of the company, the corporations should adopt an effective marketing campaign (Huang-Horowitz and Freberg, 2016). This campaign should cover different factors that affect the image of the company which include its branding, logos and vision. The company should align them with corporate objectives of the company to ensure that it creates a positive market reputation which is crucial to avoid miscommunication with stakeholders (Vanhamme et al., 2012). A positive reputation of the company in the market affects its sales and overall profit generation abilities as highlighted by the case of PepsiCo; therefore, the management should communicate with the audience and engage in local community development practices to ensure that the company has established a positive brand reputation.

Barriers to Effective Corporate Communication

The corporations have to understand that every minor detail matters when it comes to communicating with their audience to create a solid brand image in the market. Organisations should conduct market research before making any decisions regarding changing their branding or logos to ensure that it serves the purpose of the company. To build a positive brand identity and image in the market, the companies to focus on their marketing campaigns, logos and other factors which shapes the view of their customers. For example, companies such as McDonalds, KFC, Coca-Cola, Netflix, Target, Kellogg’s, CNN and ESPN uses red logos because red colour holds customers’ attention and it creates a sense of urgency which increases the sales of these companies (Rath, 2017). It shows that logos and branding can affect the sales of the company and it affects the way it communicates with customers. These are different ways which affect the communication between companies and its customers which eventually affect their perception towards its products and services. The companies should communicate with media whenever there is an issue that could negatively affect their brand reputation, and they should maintain honesty which will build a positive brand reputation of the corporation in the market. 

Customer engagement is a key strategy which companies should focus on while developing business strategies to ensure that they understand the demands and issues faced by customers and make necessary changes in their offerings which go a long way. This enables the company to adopt a sustainable approach in the business which is supported by positive brand reputation in the market which leads to higher success for the corporation in the industry. Mistakes are normal, and the companies should embrace whenever they made a mistake. They should apologise and start to address this problem to avoid it in the future which will positively affect the reputation of the company in the market (de Leaniz and del Bosque Rodriguez, 2016).

Conclusion

Based on the above observations, it can be concluded that corporate communication plays a crucial role in the success of a company by improving the relationships between corporations and their stakeholders. The identity, image and reputation of the corporations are positively affected by strong communication strategy. It enables them to share their mission and vision with the customers and create a positive reputation in the market which positively affects their sales. Different barriers that hinder the effectiveness of corporate communication is identified as well which include difference in perception, market research, miscommunication and others. Various recommendations are given in this report which can assist companies in improving their corporate communication strategies such as engagement with customers, use of effective logos and branding, honesty in operations, focus on reputation and others. Compliance with these policies will enable the companies in ensuring that they create a positive image and reputation in the market which will allow them to generate a competitive advantage in the market and sustain their future growth even in adverse market conditions. 

References

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Agerdal-Hjermind, A. (2014) Organizational blogging: a case study of a corporate weblog from an employee perspective. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19(1), pp.34-51.

Anholt, S. (2016) Places: Identity, image and reputation. New York City: Springer.

Braun, E., Eshuis, J., Klijn, E.H. and Zenker, S. (2018) Improving place reputation: Do an open place brand process and an identity-image match pay off?. Cities, 80, pp.22-28.

de Leaniz, P.M.G. and del Bosque Rodríguez, I.R. (2016) Corporate image and reputation as drivers of customer loyalty. Corporate Reputation Review, 19(2), pp.166-178.

Grady, C. (2017) Pepsi has pulled its controversial ad suggesting you can solve police brutality with soda. [Online] Available at: https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/5/15186216/pepsi-ad-kendall-jenner-black-lives-matter-controversy [Accessed 07/01/2019].

Huang-Horowitz, N.C. and Freberg, K. (2016) Bridging organizational identity and reputation messages online: a conceptual model. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 21(2), pp.195-212.

Morgan, B. (2018) The 10 Most Customer-Obsessed Companies In 2018. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2018/02/15/the-10-most-customer-obsessed-companies-in-2018/#3f4da8e56ba1 [Accessed 07/01/2019].

Rath, J. (2017) How these 23 brands are using colors in their logos to influence their customers. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/How-these-23-brands-are-using-colors-in-their-logos-to-influence-their-customers/articleshow/57751221.cms [Accessed 07/01/2019].

Vanhamme, J., Lindgreen, A., Reast, J. and Van Popering, N. (2012) To do well by doing good: Improving corporate image through cause-related marketing. Journal of business ethics, 109(3), pp.259-274.