There are six key dimensions when gauging the overall reputational strength of a

company:

1) Products & Services.

 Quality, reliability, and value are all important factors and, if you deliver them
consistently over time, you’ll slowly build a reputation with key stakeholders in line
with these qualities, but where reputation really takes off is innovation – a fresh
approach to something the likes of which haven’t been seen before and which people
can really understand the benefit of.
2) Workplace Environment.
 Even as customers, we admire and respect a company for how well it treats, develops
and supports its people. Look at tech giants like Google and Salesforce, two of the
strongest corporate reputations in the world today. Yes, they are both innovative in
what they do but it’s just as much about how they are as an employer which warrants
their formidable reputations.
3) Vision & Leadership.
 Companies with great reputations have leaders who embody and completely personify
the business. They’re a walking, talking representation of the company they run. I’ll
give you an example, who are the two people who come to mind when you think of
Microsoft or Virgin? Exactly! We become far more receptive when the leader of a
business is communicating and, if they are the personification of their own company,
then everything they say has huge influence over their company’s reputation.
4) Financial Performance.
 Weak financial performance to a potential or existing employee could provoke a
perception of instability and they could start looking elsewhere for their next role.
 Weak financial performance – little trust – bad reputation…
5) Social Responsibility.
 It’s no secret that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become the norm for many
businesses. Big or small, companies should collectively be working to benefit society
and protect the environment. This can sometimes be a hard sell to a business because
of the time and expenditure required, but it can be mutually beneficial if done the right
way.
6) Emotional Appeal.

 Regardless of how well you perform across the other dimensions, if your company
isn’t trusted, admired and/or respected then the entire corporate reputation falls to
pieces.

 Let’s look at one of the strongest corporate reputations in the world today, Apple.
They have the most loyal and adoring fans out of any other brand that’s ever existed,
and this is driven by emotional appeal. You see this with every single new product
launch. A bazillion people around the globe waiting in line at their local Apple store to
get their hands on the latest smartphone.

 How they’ve achieved this level of hysteria around the company is by creating a tribe
mentality amongst their customers. Everyone wants a sense of belonging and Apple
created a forum for this. Coupled with an ‘us vs. them’ narrative steered by one of the
most infamous leaders of all time, Steve Jobs, and it’s one of the best demonstrations
of emotional appeal in business history.