The love-hate duality characterizing the relationships between corporations and the societies they operate in has undoubtedly been one of the most controversial topics of the past decades. From Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” to the regular protests that accompany each meeting of the World Trade Organization, all sorts of channels have been used to express negative feelings that stem from the enduring unfavorable perceptions of corporations’ activities: perceptions of abuse of power, greed, influence peddling and many others.
One can argue that these feelings were originally rooted in actual events and corporate behavior, thereby justifying the continuous suspicion and scrutiny corporations endure. Names such as the United Fruit Company, which operated in South America at the beginning of the century and to whom we owe the famous ‘Banana Republic’ expression, have contributed to raising the walls of defensiveness and mistrust amongst a large portion of the general public.
Further fueling public discontent towards corporations are the financial scandals — including the one shaking Société Générale, and Madoffs ripping off billions of dollars from unsuspecting investors — massive layoffs, staggering bonuses and speculative abuses. Political power plays have also contributed to fanning the fire of popular fears and insecurities, with political movements often exploiting and magnifying these insecurities to promote their agendas.
The result is people clearly, and perhaps justifiably, focus more easily on the negative impact of corporate activities, while overlooking their positive aspects. Several industries — such as banking, oil, healthcare, insurance and cement manufacturing — have thus found themselves in the line of fire of various accusations. While some of these industries are overtly accused of stealing people’s money, others are blamed for greedily over-exploiting natural resources, using their power in unethical lobbying efforts, or corrupting local governments to promote hidden agendas.
Shifting these perceptions and properly managing corporate reputations can only be done through effective communication strategies to help the general public at least see ‘shades of grey’, rather than a black and white picture. Successful communication efforts rely on carefully crafted strategic messages that shed light on the positive aspects of an organization’s activities and its specific ‘noble cause’ — whether one it supports or the positive impact its activities have on its community — while avoiding corporate propaganda through misconstruing or over-embellishing facts.
Effective communication should therefore not only showcase the company’s corporate social responsibility efforts, but should more importantly objectively emphasize the multifaceted beneficial impact of its day-to-day business: job creation and the elevation of living standards, economic stimulation, progressive contributions to the deployment of research and development efforts, the enhancement of people’s lives by selling useful products and services, etc. These benefits are dear to people’s hearts in such times of crisis, allowing companies to leverage them through communication to build positive images of their organizations.
Numerous companies — often operating in controversial sectors — have been remarkably successful in building favorable images and reputations by undertaking an effective approach to communication that objectively showcases the benefits of their operations to society. Shell’s example is extremely relevant in this respect. After suffering attacks on its image to the brink of irreversible damage, the company engaged in extensive communication efforts to inform the general public of its various environmentally friendly initiatives, highlight its strict application of principles of sustainable development in its operations, and its constant commitment to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. Shell is now seen as the eco-friendly oil producer. Similarly, the world’s leading cement manufacturer, Lafarge, succeeded in highlighting the societal benefits it can deliver by clearly demonstrating the positive impact of its research and activities on society as a whole by building homes, hospitals, schools and transportation infrastructure, besides its abidance by the highest environmental standards.
In addition to the messages conveyed, companies’ communication should build rapport and trust with stakeholders to positively predispose them towards their organizations, by promoting dialogue via two-way communication channels, demonstrating unwavering transparency and proactively listening to them. The trust factor is important as audiences have developed a resistance to positive messages as a result of years of anti-corporate conditioning. As a famous communication theorist put it, “meanings are in people, not in words.” If you keep telling a person all day long that you are acting for his/her own good while there is no pre-established trust between you, that person would, at best, politely ignore your message, or see you as a manipulator in the more probable worst-case scenario.
The economic crisis is creating several challenges that companies across many sectors are bound to face. However, by devising the appropriate communication strategies, these companies can overcome these challenges and build their image and reputation. This can be achieved by showcasing the beneficial impact that their activities have on society, an impact that the general public more than welcomes in these times. If “challenge” is a creative word for crisis, now is the time to turn it into an opportunity.
Mark Helou & Ramsay G. Najjar S2C
