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Since 2012, Cohn & Wolfe has studied authenticity as a guiding principle and business practice. Each year, our research reveals more insight on the strategic power of authenticity and its unique opportunity to build reputation.
Cohn & Wolfe has discovered a huge authenticity gap in the eyes of global consumers. With 75 percent of consumers surveyed in 14 markets believing that companies are not open and transparent, it’s clear that brands have a credibility problem.
Our 2016 findings reveal that cynicism towards brands is highest among Western European countries, while high growth / low per capita GDP countries recognize authenticity in brands the most.
Across global markets, approximately one in five consumers finds brands “Open and Honest.” At 23 percent, the US places just above the global average. In Western Europe, a mere 5 percent of consumers in Sweden consider companies “Open and Honest,” while the UK, France, Germany and Spain all match the same low level at 7 percent.
Brazil, while generally higher than Western Europe, is still lower than the US at 19 percent.
Even in China and Indonesia, where consumers are least pessimistic about brand authenticity, only about a third of the population (36 percent and 35 percent, respectively) consider companies “Open and Honest.”
The opportunity for businesses to close this gap is staggering....
Last summer, PR giant Edelman became the focus of negative media attention when it became known that the agency was open to representing so-called "climate deniers." A perception of environmental callousness was furthered when an internal email from Edelman somehow reached the Climate Investigations Center, in which the firm's then-CEO and U.S. president Mark Hass said it was not necessary that he comment on the agency's stance on which clients it will or won't take.
Suddenly, a full-scale attack was launched against Edelman by many media outlets, painting the firm as a greedy organization that prioritized profits over principle. The episode sparked a months-long PR crisis for Edelman (no, the irony was not lost) and involved firm chairman Richard Edelman issuing a statement confirming the agency's commitment to climate-change science, and dismissing Hass. Like most crises, this one passed over—but it was not easily forgotten by the agency....
These six goals can be game changers for businesses and are all attributes that can be reinforced through the strategic use of social media.
One of the most valuable aspects of a solid social media engagement strategy and online presence is having the ability to build trust with consumers.
We have been writing a lot about that recently, whether its in the financial industry, the world of healthcare, or any vertical for that matter.
Authenticity is key, and social media tools and platforms can help companies make authentic connections with their customers if they are used in the right way.
The 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer (from their annual global study) is out now, and it breaks down 16 specific attributes that businesses can improve on to build trust....
There are many ways in which reputation-threatening and stakeholder relationship-threatening issues can be identified. Early identification and strategic action are key to dealing with issues successfully. So having tools in place which make it easy and intuitive for a public relations professional to identify issues are a boon for reputation protection and enhancement....
Today’s generation is more obsessed with materialism and consumerism than ever before. This much, we know - it’s one of the truisms of our age, not least because of the unquestioning way the media parrots this very message on a regular basis. See, for example, the Daily Mail, July 23rd... Of course, regular readers would have spotted that the ‘study’ was conducted by savviloans.co.uk - a personal loans company, who you might argue have a strong commercial incentive to emphasise the importance of keeping up with our neighbours, and buying things we can’t afford. A quick google for ‘savviloans.co.uk press release’ finds us the source of the story - it really is that simple.... [Ah yes, churnalism. Arghhhhh - JD]
Does the public relations industry have a trust and reputation issue? Lord Bell, head of Bell Pottinger, thinks so, saying that PR has become a lightning rod of mistrust. ...Lord Bell sees “no solution to [the] issue,” of public relations’ reputation challenges, he tells The Holmes Report’s Arun Sudhaman, believing that “We [have] become the lightning rod for that mistrust. It is something we have to learn to live with. That makes us an easy target for the media.” Lord Bell would know. As we have pointed out in this blog and in other forums, he and his firm have a way of attracting unwanted attention. Last March, PRSA wrote in The London Evening Standard that Lord Bell’s assertion that “everyone is entitled to representation so long as it does not involve doing anything illegal” should be placed in further context — that a public relations professional’s work also must not involve doing anything unethical....
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The 'Reputation Complex' is a moving combination of various reputational factors, components and drivers that are linked in a close and complicated way. This combination brings with it, for all organizations, equal risks and opportunities – the first to be managed and the second to be exploited in the right manner.
MSLGROUP's SVP and Chief Strategy Officer, Pascal Beculer shares his thoughts on the fast transformation of Reputation Management, everywhere in the world, and what it means for our clients and for us....
No, we're not talking about Apple or Amazon or Big Data or the Marketing Cloud or Programmatic Buying.
Chevy’s Rikk Wilde “looked down at his notes often, spoke haltingly and explained to the pitcher that he'd like the Colorado” —Marketing Daily’s Karl Greenberg has the skinny today on its new “inner truck guy” conventional campaign — “because it has ‘class-winning and leading, you know, technology and stuff,’” James R. Healey reports in USA Today.
“The nervous Wilde was assured this morning he still has a job,” Greg Gardner and Alisa Priddle reported in the Detroit Free Press last evening. “And in fact he appears to have garnered millions in free publicity for the Chevrolet brand, which has received at least $2.4 million in media exposure from the unconventional presentation, according to Front Row Analytics. Bloomberg reports that is six times more than the $392,000 it would have brought in with a more polished performance.
”It did not take long for #technologyandstuff to pop up on Twitter with GM president North America Mark Reuss (@GMdudeinNA posting, “It's what I've been saying for years.....#technologyandstuff,” Gardner and Priddle report....
Reviews are no joke over at Yelp headquarters. The local discovery platform averages 108 million monthly unique visitors who visit the service to discover businesses and make spending choices.
Most of these visitors also take a gander at the consumer reviews left on business pages. After all, user-generated content has proven to be a big influencer in consumers’ purchasing decisions. For this reason, Yelp is expanding its review functionality to mobile devices and heating up its battle against fraudulent reviews....
Felix Baumgartner-and the Red Bull logo--in training. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) Ask an ad guy: In this cynical, media-soaked age it's tough to get anyone's attention anymore. What it takes to really break through: authenticity. ...In the apex of the age of consumerism, we’re just drowning in pitches to buy. Then comes today, with Red Bull. Yeah, as one friend just said to me, “I thought it was just some stunt,” — and it was. But what a stunt. Jumping from a balloon in near-space to fall more than 23 miles while breaking the sound barrier, risking his life, setting records, Heroic Stuff! The Right Stuff! And all brought to you by Red Bull. In this new age of attempted authenticity (just act natural! CEOs Tweeting! People Like my new product!) they just absolutely killed it by being absolutely, totally, truly, over-the-top authentic. They backed a guy in an insanely risky, old-school kind of venture that was elegantly simple in its principles (go higher than anyone else, jump, live) yet so hair-raisingly sophisticated in its execution (pressure suit, capsule, hours of countdown, etc.) that it grabbed the world’s attention and kept a good part of it on pins and needles for a week, and talking about their brand. Why’d we watch, why’d we care? ‘Cause it was, in the words of Van Morrisson circa 1971, really, really, really, real (Lord have mercy). You can’t tell immediately how many views this live stream of the jump on their site pulled in, but over on the YouTube live stream, at the peak of coverage, there were 8 million concurrent viewers from around the world watching. The walkup videos in the months ahead of today pulled in more than 5 million views, and got shared, of course, like crazy. Red Bull hasn’t said what all this cost, and it couldn’t have been cheap, but it certainly would be in line with a couple minute spots on the Super Bowl.... [Good insight into Red Bull's marketing grand slam ~ Jeff]
While more than 77% financial industry communications professionals feel their company’s reputation will improve this year, many challenges remain, according to a survey of 150 communications executives at leading financial institutions. Chief among the issues they face: negative public perception, which was cited by nearly eight in ten (78%). This is most likely the result of the lingering aftermath of the financial meltdown in 2008, which led to “The Great Recession.” This is borne out by the fact that nearly all of our respondents (96%) said that financial services companies invited negative public perception because of their actions or inactions. I noted with interest that 74% of those we polled believe that increased regulations of the financial services industry will help their firms improve reputations and trust with customers faster....
One of the points I had hoped to emphasize in my last post was that Twitter, blogging, Facebook and Google+ offer an even more controlled communications environment than what a fastidiously prepped/messaged executive might face in a media interview.... This week, we're witness to another example of this "command(er) and control" approach to making one's POV heard in a less fettered manner. Our President participated in a Google+ Hangout....
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Interesting report by Cohn & Wolfe provides insight into consumer views of authenticity, global brands and what brands might do to close the gap in the future. Recommended reading. 9/10