1.
In the 1970s and 1980s, brand management
practice was directly linked to corporate identity,
especially in terms of the visual content, i.e.
logos, symbols and design in general. A new dis-
cipline, Brand Management or Branding emerged:
adjacent to the area of advertising, it was related
to strategic planning of advertising and became
popular in the 1990s.
Brands became the centre of people’s lives. However,
someyearsago,brandsturnedintoanobjectofheated
public criticism, accused of disguising companies’
true purposes, serving as a beautiful package or an
expert make-up. Brands’ credibility was questioned
and the role of reputation in determining the value
of brands became crucial.
Such is the experience of the sector’s transformation
from the 1970s until present as viewed by Terry
Tyrrell, President and Co-Founder of The Brand
Union, a UK-based consultancy specializing in
brand management. According to Terry Tyrrell,
currently reputation is the concept that really
matters to CEOs when it comes to brands.
A New Space for Brands
Coherence between what is said and what is done is the
mostimportantvalueofbrands’behaviour–itisthegolden
ruleofgoodreputation.Atthesametime,coherenceplays
an important role in synchronizing different products and
services under the corporate umbrella – a portfolio of
differentcommercialbrandsunitedbythesamecorporate
identity, an overall value proposition.
Several years ago brands expanded their role from the original area of
marketing and sales to the corporate scale, leaving behind exclusive association
with products and moving towards reflecting the company in its entirety. Today
brands are making another step forward: they still reflect the commercial and
corporate areas, but the intersection of the two areas yielded a new field: brand
as a company.
I40/2014
From Corporate Brand
to Company Brand:
Authenticity, Transparency
and Origin
Brand
Insights&Trends
This document was prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership and contains references to the speech delivered
by Terry Tyrrell, the President and Co-Founder of The Brand Union (2007), formerly Sampson Tyrrell (1976) and Enterprise IG (1996),
and a member of the Board of Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership, at the event titled Meeting the Board: The
Company Brand, held in Madrid on January 31, 2013.

2.
Insights&Trends 2
From Corporate
Brand to Company
Brand: Authenticity,
Transparency
and Origin
“Coherence
between what
is said and
what is done
is the most
important
value of
brands’
behaviour
– it is the
true golden
rule of good
reputation”.
Today positioning is based on social and emotional
values,onacloseandalmostintimaterelationshipwith
the consumer, on the vision, mission and promise, and
the social cause that a company defends by carrying
out its business activities. The size, the dimension, the
reach or the products are no longer key for successful
competition in the world of brands.
Thus, the company brand determines whether the
company’s products will be successful or not, like in
the case of Apple. This is only possible if brands are
managed from a holistic and integrated perspective,
onthefirm-widebasisandbyleveragingtheintangible
value and emotional charge of the brands instead of
focusing on the tangible and rational issues.
Apple is a good example of this philosophy: the
company’s fans are attracted by the company’s
commitment to its cause: simplicity, excellent
design and the opportunity to put into play our
creativity and talent thanks to the technologies.
Five fundamental elements of this brand are the
following:
1. Essence: people are more
important than machines.
2. Belief: a man is able to change the world.
3. Promise: making technologies
accessible to everyone.
4. Values: alternative, individual,
easy and humane.
5. Feelings: people are inspired by culture,
not systems; development of products
from within; products are easy to
handle; always think differently.
Reputation, Supporting the Brand
In 2011, Weber Shandwick published a
report based on its comprehensive study of
several big national markets: consumers are
increasingly aware of the company that stands
behind the products and compare its brand to
its reputation. Reputation contributes extra
value to products, especially in emerging
countries, by creating trust and highlighting
quality. This is especially true about situations
when reputation draws on ethical behaviour,
as well as social and labour responsibility.
Lack of coherence between these two narratives
triggers an immediate chain reaction in the mass
media and social networks: consumers feel deceived
and report the instance of deceit or fraud. If quality
points in one direction, and price in the other, if
the company promises one thing, and behaviour
indicates something else, the company will surely
face public controversy and criticism.
That’s why, in order to be successful, a company’s
brand and reputation should be based on three
fundamental and inalienable elements:
1. Authenticity: values should guide behaviours.
They should not be cosmetic, ethical or aesthetic
attributes.
Graph 1: A new brand space is emerging
Source: Terry Tyrrell, Company Brand, 2013.
Consumer
World
Corporate
World
Consumer
brands
Company
Brand
Consumer
brands

3.
Insights&Trends 3
From Corporate
Brand to Company
Brand: Authenticity,
Transparency
and Origin
“Culture
is the basic
component
and condition
for the
company’s
continuity and
sustainability
in the long
run”.
The focus shifts from private interests to common
interests, from “how I benefit from the product” to
“how it affects us”, and finally, from personal choice
to social influence.
Brand: the Seal of Authenticity
Apart from quality, authenticity becomes another key
factor in the face of today’s reality flooded with fakes
and imitations as well as unauthentic behaviours, when
actions are copied by impostors. That’s why more direct,
openandtransparentrelations,aswellasmoretransparent
communications play an increasingly important role.
Thus the product label gives way to company trust
label,helpingcompaniestomitigateanoverwhelming
scepticism of consumers. The trust label disciplines
companies as well as their suppliers. In the case of
the brand’s origin and country brand, this label may
increase or destroy the company’s value.
By implementing these techniques, a transparent
and authentic company that creates sincere
relations and trust may have a large number of
intermediaries, those who recommend and defend
its products, including employees, customers,
investors or suppliers who speak well about the
company and translate their direct good experience
into indirect experience of their contacts.
2. Transparency: openness and cooperation,
trust in one’s partners and readiness
to accept criticism and improve.
3. Origin: one’s origin is associated with guarantees
and prestige, and serves as the basis of trust.
It is also important to have an action programme,
which should include the following elements that
need to be prioritized:
• Create a solid culture rooted in the values
that a company commits to defend.
• Develop a responsible attitude
towards the environment in general
and the society in particular.
• Make sure that the interests of employees
and customers are placed above other
stakeholders, especially the shareholders.
• Understand the power held by the mass
media and social networks and the fact that
markets are driven by communication.
Thislastaspectbringsustoaninterestingconclusion:
today a good company brand transforms a consumer
from an egocentric “me” into a cooperative “we”.
Graph 2: Culture fuels brand
Source: Terry Tyrrell, Company Brand, 2013.
LONG-TERM
DIFFERENTIATION
CULTURE
BRAND
BRAND
REPUTATION
Identity
What we believe in
What we stand for
The principles that define
how we do business
How we express
ourselves in the way we
look & feel
How we act & behave
How we present our organization
and our products & services
What we do and
how we deliver it
The value we deliverThe filters for
everything we do
The relationships we form and
experiences people have of us
Values
Personality+ +
Behaviour
Structure
Performance

4.
Insights&Trends 4
From Corporate
Brand to Company
Brand: Authenticity,
Transparency
and Origin
Culture Is the Foundation of Strategy
This premise was suggested and popularised by
the U.S. guru of innovative management Gary
Hamel. Most of the business leaders in the field of
technologies agree with this statement: culture is
strategy. The case of Apple analysed earlier is a good
example. A brand today is reflection of the external
and internal culture, an ecosystem that gives rise to
passions, feelings and behaviours of people.
It is important to understand that internal culture is not
the domain of the HR department, and external culture
should not be managed by the Marketing department.
It is a basic component and condition for the company’s
continuity and sustainability in the long run. Values,
behaviours and performance create long-term
differentiation,which,whenalignedcorrectly,promotes
the experience promised by the brand.
Leading by one’s own example, transformation
symbols and leaders and shared vision are the
elements that should be incorporated by any culture
that aims to have a lasting impact. Strong cultures
generate equally strong businesses, and a strong
culture may be defined as the one that enriches and
improvespeople’slivesbydrawingonaclearpurpose,
effectively communicated and implemented.
Conclusion: Company
Brands, Global Brands
A new stage in the evolution of brands that
we discussed here is the shift from corporate
brand to company brand. This process
accelerates globalization of brands since they
are increasingly based on global values shared by
people in different cultures and countries. They
are driving the change and shaping the future
thanks to the ability to generate innovation and
anticipate trends.
A company brand today is able to combine its
origins with its future projects; to sincerely
respect and admire one’s historical heritage and
at the same time create something important
for people on the other side of the world by
sharing and realizing basic human strivings
and aspirations, by being open and transparent
with others without losing one’s authenticity
and credibility.
Without a doubt, these trends are intensified
by social networks and the rise of the digital
world as well as the fact that diversity is
perceived as something positive, an element
that should be taken into account, because
globalization means multiplicity rather than
uniformity. This is the only way to bring
large numbers of people as well as a variety
of communities and countries to identify
themselves with these brands.

5.
©2013, Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership
A foundation established by major companies aiming to excel in the management of intangible assets and facilitate promotion of strong brands
with a good reputation and a capacity to compete on the global markets. Our objective is to become the driving force, which would lead and
consolidate professional reputation management as a strategic asset, fundamental for building value of companies around the world.
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Leading by
reputation