Brand your house – transparently

How does being a “house of brands” rather than a “branded house” impact your approach towards corporate reputation management?

Research released today by Weber Shandwick polled 575 executives from a spread of corporates in Brazil, China, the UK and the US. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it indicates that those of single-brand firms are significantly more likely to feel that enhancing their corporate reputation is equally important to enhancing the standing of their goods – 92% agree, versus just 75% of their counterparts at house-of-brand companies.

But could this be about to change? 79% of all those surveyed agree that buyers are increasingly checking product labels to find out which company made them, and 77% think shoppers are now doing more research into the manufacturers of the things they buy.

This Friday, during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, P&G will premier the TV broadcast of its cross-brand ‘kids’ advert to millions – highlighting the role of mums around the world and bringing to life a positive brand message for the parent company of Ariel, Fairy, Pampers, Olay and the like – brands united by ‘making mums happy’, the company says. This follows hard on the heels of the newly branded P&G Capital Clean Up campaign, calling on ‘community champions’ to transform London ahead of the Games. These social brand campaigns aren’t a sideline project – P&G’s current corporate tag line is touching lives, improving life.

We’ve recently seen similar efforts to unite house-of-brands corporate reputations from Diageo and Unilever. Like P&G, there’s a very clear theme here of demonstrating the positive social role of the brands united.

Multi-brand reputation management is increasingly important as consumers become more informed and pro-active. But it’s interesting to note that 65% of executives pursuing corporate branding strategies cite their main motivation as the “halo effect” on their goods. Carrot and stick are incentivising and necessitating greater communication about what a company stands for – but if it doesn’t stand for much, or if there are skeletons in the corporate responsibility closet, it risks being found out.

Whether a house of brands or a branded house, getting your house in order before you communicate your house’s values is key. The media, NGOs and social media are at the door. Transparency is the name of the game.