RMA holds first Corporate Reputation Seminar

On Tuesday 3 November, RMA held its first Corporate Reputations Seminar, the inaugural edition of an event now scheduled to occur every two years (the next one will be in the fourth quarter of 2011).

Held at M Hotel in Singapore’s Central Business District, the seminar was specifically designed as a practical alternative to common end-of-year shindigs, at which firms wine and dine clients in evenings of high bonhomie but ultimately low corporate value.

The title, Corporate Reputation in Uncertain Times, was apt given the current economic climate (although the Lion Republic is now officially out of recession).

The headline news from the seminar was that Singapore companies had managed to strengthen their corporate reputation amid the financial crisis, even overtaking some of their foreign rivals. The results of a national survey, commissioned by RMA and conducted only weeks before the seminar, which polled Singaporeans on their perceptions of organisations across various industries, were revealed after an opening address by PN Balji, outspoken former editor of the TODAY newspaper, currently director of the Asian Journalism Fellowship at Nanyang Technological University.

Of the industries under the spotlight, banking came out worst, then life insurance.

US-based financial institutions were hit hard, reflected by Citibank’s drop in ranking from second to fifth place, since 2008’s similar survey, in the banking category. Local Singaporean bank DBS retained primary position, despite involvement in problems associated with the sale of structured products.

RMA CEO John Lim, who presented the results, attributed this to three reasons. “First, I think they have embarked on a fairly aggressive campaign nationwide. Second, they have been publicising quite widely their corporate philanthropy and CSR programmes. Third, and most important, they are prepared to acknowledge that things were done wrong and can be done better.”

Among life insurers, Great Eastern Life ranked highest – rising from second place last year – boosted by its initiative to buy back structured products from investors. Although USA’s AIA suffered a major fall, from first place to fourth, this was not as bad as expected given recent history. Strong branding was cited as the reason for its relative endurance.

While NTUC Income topped the general insurance category, Shell scored highest in the petrol/energy category and SingTel was top in telecommunications.

“There's a marked difference in the factors that respondents indicated that influenced their perceptions. They placed greater emphasis on companies who are not just prepared to tell them things but also to demonstrate that they're honest, that they're willing to walk the talk, and most important, admit culpability when things have not gone as planned,” said Mr Lim.

A key lesson from some of the presentations was, for many, the power of social media and how businesses should attempt to utilise it as a pro-active tool to engage with new and existing customers. The sheer scale of the bloggersphere was made clear through examples of news spreading far quicker online than through traditional media streams.

Another lesson lay in the importance of personal branding. Stereotypical it may be, but first impressions do count and are the hardest to change. Everyone has a unique brand personality and the key to it is being likeable. Every time a person speaks or acts, they are effectively – or not effectively, if they are not careful – marketing their brand.

Seminar Contents

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