“A brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” I love this quote from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos because it perfectly explains how brand reputation management is so much more than just setting up rules about the use of your company’s logo, color palette, or design system.
Your brand identity is shaped by every touchpoint. As you consider your upcoming marketing plans and your brand in the years ahead, here’s a question to consider:
What are you doing to ensure your marketing efforts enhance your brand reputation and make management easier?
Keep reading to learn more about brand reputation management, and check out some curated articles we recommend to spur your brand strategy thinking.
What is brand reputation management?
The strategic practice of managing your brand reputation refers to shaping the way a brand is perceived by your customers, partners, and other stakeholders.
It includes components such as:
- Monitoring
- Feedback management
- Crisis management
- Consistent messaging
Your brand’s image—cultivated over the years—is fragile and susceptible to even minor setbacks. The goal of managing your brand reputation is to safeguard and enhance this image in your target audience’s collective consciousness over time.
Over 88%
Edelman, 2021 (pdf)
That’s how many consumers say authenticity is important to them when they decide whether or not to support a brand
How is it different from brand building?
Brand building and brand reputation management are two crucial components of a brand’s life cycle. While they often work hand-in-hand, they serve distinct purposes.
Brand building is the process of creating and strengthening a brand’s presence, identity, and equity in the market. It includes components such as:
- Identity creation
- Positioning
- Awareness
- Emotional connections
Pro-tip: Be real! Make genuine connections and build loyalty with your target audience by making sure your marketing efforts sync up with your company’s values and communicate them transparently.
Building your brand includes tasks that help lay the foundation and set the stage for your company or organization’s brand story. Managing your brand reputation ensures that this narrative remains untarnished and continues to evolve positively over time.
Both are essential for the success and sustainability of your brand.
Additional resources
Brand management ensures your company’s image remains consistent, trustworthy, and appealing to your target audience. Dive into these articles to discover how to navigate and excel in today’s dynamic brand reputation management landscape.
Forbes: The Rise of AI Content Stirs Brand Reputation Fears
With more and more ways to use artificial intelligence to “automate and augment” creativity, Gartner predicts that 80% of marketers will deal with content authenticity issues by 2027. Learn what Patrick Kulp says about the changing landscape of branding and reputational management.
Harvard Business Review: 4 Elements of a Successful Brand Refresh
Reviving a brand’s reputation does not happen overnight. Taking shortcuts is not an option. When managed strategically, your brand can contribute to customer love and greater business success. While the story is less exciting to tell, it’s more effective in the long run.
TBH Creative: Why Brand Strategy Is Good for Business (Plus 7 Key Branding Principles)
A successfully established brand strategy not only informs your marketing and other communication efforts but also enhances audience appeal, employee engagement, and your organization’s actual value and equity in the marketplace.
Note: A version of this blog post first appeared in the Creative Edge, a monthly email with marketing news and tips from the TBH Creative team. Don’t miss the next issue.
