Building Reputation Capital in 2022

Reputation Capital Report 2022

We should be thinking about reputation in the same way we think about capital. In the digital age when trust can be lost in seconds it is critical to be continually growing and reassessing investments in reputation capital to promote and protect your bottom line, organisation, and stakeholders.

Sandpiper’s inaugural Reputation Capital Report looks at the forces that will shape reputation management across Asia Pacific in 2022.

The study is based on a survey of 6,000 consumers across 11 markets in Asia Pacific: Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In the study we summarise the ten most important trends and insights for reputation management in Asia Pacific in 2022 as identified by our research. We have organised these into three areas: 1. Reputation Drivers and Detractors – common features which can build or erode reputation capital, 2. Navigating Expectations – what audiences now expect from organisations and 3. Building Influence – who or what is influencing people.

The report is available to download here.

To watch our webinar with industry leaders discussing the report on YouTube, click here.

1. Multi-Dimensional Approach Needed: While some reputation drivers are stronger than others, all the drivers we studied are either very important or important to 80% of all respondents.
2. Cybersecurity in Focus: Cyber and data security has become just as important to consumers as having good quality products and services and customer experiences.
3. Employer Brand in the Great Resignation: More than half of people don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t treat employees well.
4. Mounting Pressure on Governments to Act: There is increased pressure on governments to act to solve societal challenges.
5. Citizenship Gets Scientific: It’s not enough to be a good corporate citizen, organisations need to have a credible sustainability and ESG position and targets and be disclosing metrics.
6. Classic Rules of Crisis Management Apply Everywhere: The key principles of crisis and issues management hold true – transparency, speed of response and showing empathy.
7. Navigating Fragmentation: Organisations must be equipped with multiple channels of communication, including strong social channels, to reach and engage all their audiences.
8. Rise of Experts: Experts now trump family members in terms of their level of influence, we see a general trend towards the influence of experts and government research sources.
9. Share My Values: Consumers are more likely to engage than ever before with brands that share their values, beliefs and passions.
10. Open Young Minds: Generally, younger audiences are more open to influence, as long as your narrative is based on actual experiences.

Seven practical recommendations for enhancing your reputation capital

1. Reputation is no longer one or two dimensional – you must plan and measure accordingly and embrace the multidimensional aspect of communicating reputation in 2022.
2. Develop a comprehensive communications plan for your cyber and data security, ensure cyber and data security alongside products and services and financial performance, as a key pillar of your reputation framework.
3. Ensure your ESG position relevant to your customers and include communication of your corporate and or product values in your communication strategy.
4. Technology and personalisation, better use of technology, combined with greater personalisation in your communication is essential.
5. Transparency still best, for your crisis planning, ensure your principles include the need to demonstrate you are transparent, respond fast and empathically if there is an issue or crisis.
6. Rise of experts, identify the experts that you have inside your organisation, as well as those outside who know you well. who are yours?
7. Measure, measure, measure, you have defined your strategy and your now focused on implementing your plan, we believe it is essential that you invest time and effort to develop measurements that will link your reputation capital as closely as possible with bottom line, business results.

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