How large a budget do you need to support corporate branding?

To determine budgets you need to understand and benchmark how various audiences view your corporate image. From that you will better understand which constituencies need more support and budgets can be built accordingly. We provide clients with a CoreBrand Analysis® which includes an ROI measure for various levels of advertising spending. It's a whole new way to look at budgeting.

How does the CFO in the U.S. understand corporate branding?

Traditionally the CFO has been the enemy of advertising and marketing. They were viewed as the budget cutters with no apparent understanding of the role of brand building. Helping them to see the financial impact of branding and its ROI has changed the thinking of many CFOs. Our goal in working with companies is to make the CFO the biggest brand advocate in the company. We find them ready to be convinced.

Does the country of origin affect the brand?

Yes, I'm sure it does. Everything affects the brand. All the more reason to have a corporate brand strategy and to benchmark that brand in a competitive context on a country-by-country basis.

What effect does a listing on the stock exchange have on brand and how is this different from privately held companies?

We have proven that there is value a brand provides to the stock exchange companies. But that isn't the only reason to build your corporate brand. We also know that corporate branding builds other aspects of the business which includes: revenue, cash flow, employee morale, community relations, customer loyalty and satisfaction. These are all good solid reasons for corporate branding.

How do you translate a corporate message to global markets?

Very carefully. It is a rare campaign that can run globally without adjustments in various local markets. It makes sense therefore to understand your markets around the world on a country by country basis. Our analysis will help companies to measure the clarity of message and momentum of a corporate campaign. Clarity and momentum are two key measures of successful branding. If the campaign isn't working it can be caught quickly and changed appropriately.

Many audiences believe articles but are doubtful about advertising?

Corporate branding is everything you say and do. Every communication impacts the corporate brand. We know that advertising has the single biggest influence on the corporate reputation of a company but every other form of communication also contributes to the brand. That is why it is critical for all communications to support a single key corporate brand position. We also know that when articles are written about a company they are often influenced by the company's advertising.

If a company has many entities how can they consolidate their corporate brand?

The role of a corporate branding campaign is not to replace product or division brand campaigns. It is to help key audiences understand the parent company and it's vision of leadership for the future. It may not always be appropriate for the parent company to be visible to consumers of the company's products. However, it nearly always makes sense for the parent company to be visible with other key constituencies such as shareholders, employees, government officials, vendors, etc.

Is a tagline or slogan a corporate brand?

A tagline may be the representation of a corporate brand. However, branding the corporation is more about strategy and process for building and leveraging the vision of the company and its management. A fully evolved strategy will include a tagline that represents what we call the CoreBrand. An example of this is GE's tagline, "We bring good things to life." This is meaningful in a different way to each of their key constituencies. To employees it means they can be proud of the company they work for. For stockholders it means the company is contributing positively to the economy. While GE's tagline has evolved over the years the CoreBrand of the firm has remained essentially the same for over a century.

What is the most efficient way to build a corporate brand when you have a limited budget?

Consistency in what you say and do is the most efficient way to build a brand. That way you don't need to support many and varied messages. We know that corporate advertising is the single most efficient way to get your message out to key audiences quickly. Advertising also works to support all other communications disciplines including: media relations, employee relations, investor relations, government relations, etc.

How do you consolidate branding efforts internally when companies have many entities?

We are seeing a big trend toward the appointment of chief branding officers. This is strong evidence of the consolidation developing among complex corporations. As the value of corporate branding is understood this growth toward the chief branding officer will grow.

Is it more effective for different divisions to have separate budgets, or a centrally controlled branding budget?
This is a tough question. The answer depends on the specific company and the branding issues they face. One example of effective division branding is a campaign by Amoco Chemical. They have consistently built their division brand over the years. We helped them measure the effectiveness of their campaign against competitors and division business goals like revenue. We know their campaign was highly effective and efficient. This division understood the role and the benefits of branding better than perhaps the parent company. In general I believe it is important to build the "corporation as your #1 product" but there are certainly exceptions to this rule.

How can you measure success when some divisions have strong brands, others have weak ones?

Understanding and measuring the success of complex corporations depends upon which factors you measure. The success factors you measure depend upon management's declared goals and key issues to meet those goals. It is also important to measure these success factors in a competitive context and to look at their trends over time.

(Asian Brand News, By James R. Gregory, CEO, Corporate Branding, LLC)

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