Tag Archives: corporate responsibility

Reading Between the Lines: CR Messages in the Super Bowl Ads

Reading Between the Lines: CR Messages in the Super Bowl Ads For a long time, companies have tried to make statements with Super Bowl ads by being trendy, clever or quirky. As viewers, we’ve come to expect goofy beer spots, celebrity cameos and “arrival statements” from newcomers (remember those pets.com ads with the dog sock puppet?). Most of the Super Bowl commercials are presented with a “wink-wink-nudge-nudge” tone, so to stand out, a commercial has to have a clear, solid message coupled with compelling imagery. In a straw poll of the APCO CR team, a few of those stand-out commercials in 2012 tapped into broader themes of responsibility and shared value. Among the most notable spots (embedded below):
Posted on February 7, 2012 By Tara Greco
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Investing in American Jobs

Last week, the White House convened a group of American business leaders for its “Insourcing American Jobs” forum. I was honored to attend the forum with Hal Sirkin of the Boston Consulting Group who is one of our clients here at APCO. Hal’s study, “Made in the USA, Again,” was a big part of the forum. President Obama highlighted the study in his opening remarks and used it to jump start the forum’s discussion.
Posted on January 20, 2012 By Virtual Vantage Points
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Corporate brands must add value to society

In my previous posts, I made the case that corporate branding is out of step with the reality of the market. Why, when given the ability of companies to adapt quickly to technological change, would corporate brands be out of step? To some degree, I think companies have been forced to adapt their operations and product marketing to technology because it has hit them over the head like a sledgehammer. The market quickly makes winners and losers, but the corporate brand doesn't cry out in the same way. It is harder to diagnose the harm a brand suffers from being left behind, making it less likely to get attention. There is, however, very tangible science available that documents the value of the corporate brand and its ability to predict things like sales, customer and employee loyalty, and even market capitalization.
Posted on December 6, 2011 By Virtual Vantage Points
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It’s time for corporate brands to step up

Corporate brands need to step up. Now is the time to rethink your corporate brand in light of the new expectations and interactions it faces. Once upon a time, we could categorize stakeholders by their occupations. Today, stakeholders can create themselves by their level of advocacy, and the tools to create that advocacy have become much more democratized and scalable. Individuals can become influencers quickly and with global reach. Their advocacy may be aimed at a particular product, but as often as not, they pierce the corporate veil and go straight to the corporate brand. Why do this? Because people are smart. They understand that products don't make decisions, companies do; products don't run afoul of labor standards, companies do; and products don't have environmental problems, companies do.
Posted on November 30, 2011 By Virtual Vantage Points
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Brand comms strategies must evolve with technology

Let's talk about brands for a minute. I think this may be an area where semantics have overtaken common sense. I've read heated online exchanges about the difference between brand and reputation, but the difference when discussing corporate brands seems only one of perspective. The brand is the promise, the reputation is the success in delivering on that promise. When we talk about corporate brands, what are we really talking about? It is the promise those brands are making to a range of potential stakeholders about what they can expect from the company. With that in mind, I am always stunned when a company gives short shrift to its corporate brand under the delusion that “no one is buying the corporate brand – they're buying the products.”
Posted on November 28, 2011 By Virtual Vantage Points
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Notes from the Other Side of the One-Way Mirror: The Evolving Definition of Transparency

I'm just getting out of focus groups with opinion leaders. I've probably moderated close to 500 focus groups over the past 15 years - mostly around expectations for corporate conduct and responsibility - and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind as to what the most striking change has been in the public's view [...]
Posted on May 7, 2010 By Bryan Dumont
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