Corporate positioning towards stakeholders in Europe

An evidence-based approach

Robert Mack, CEO, Burson-Marsteller Brussels

Ukraine’s European future – obligations and opportunities

� Closer ties to the EU

� New rules at home

� New markets in Europe

� Perceptions of European stakeholders matter

EU also a new market for Ukrainian companies

� The EU is already Ukraine’s largest trading partner

� Negotiations to establish a new Free Trade Area will expand opportunities for Ukrainian business

� Companies interested in this � Companies interested in this opportunity need to consider how they will position themselves in Europe

But how is Ukraine perceived by EU stakeholders ?

International business media coverage about Ukraine in the past six months

Source: Newssift.

Some recommendations

So what to do?

Communicate: proactively, clearly and truthfully.

Three ideas to guide you

1. Use evidence-based communications to design effective and impactful strategies

2. Consider your impact on society, your Purpose & Performance 2. Consider your impact on society, your Purpose & Performance from the start

3. Integrated communications including digital is essential

Build an evidence-based communications strategy

All components of the communications program are justified by evidence, not by guess work.

1. Strategy

A scientific approach to communications, driven by data at the beginning, the middle and the end.

Development (beginning)

2. Perceptions

3. Stakeholder identification

4. Tactics

Programs are measured against organization’s objectives (sales, votes, transactions), not just tactics (media hits, reach).

Measurement

(end)

Monitoring (on-going)

(beginning)

How we used EB to drive strategy for a major airline company

Challenge

Develop a communication strategy that would address key issues faced by a major airline and position it as preferred choice amongst competition

Strategy

We used several evidence-based tools to identify key messages, key issues, key stakeholders and key tactics

� CO2 – Green audit and Media gap analysis

� Force field analysis

� Airline industry benchmarking

� Media intelligence suite

Results

� Tools showed that we needed to increase awareness of the airline’s measures to decrease fuel consumption

� The Media gap analysis helped us develop reasonable messaging

� We also extended the PR-program with green toolkit / used third party endorsement

Case: Norwegian maritime industry reputation survey

The maritime industry in Norway is a huge part of the Norwegian economy and has historically always had a big presence in Norwegian and international seas.

Innovasjon Norge wanted to identify how the Norwegian maritime industry is perceived abroad, why the industry is perceived in this manner and what the industry can do to improve

Strategy/ solution

• We conducted perceptions audit of the Norwegian maritime industry’s position/reputation among key international target groups

• Understand the target groups’ knowledge and experience with regards to a number of key variables

• And establish a basis for further strategic decisions

Result

• Norway has a long maritime tradition and is a global player offering premium products with excellent quality

The Norwegian maritime industry is sliding from traditional shipping into offshore

player offering premium products with excellent quality

• Is very expensive with insufficient focus on after-sale service

• Not as well defined as before due to many M&As and outsourcing to low-cost countries

Impact on communications strategy

The maritime sector is developing a new “brand platform” as a basis for future stakeholder relations, communications and marketing.

Consider Purpose & Performance

We are entering a period where

responsibility & company purposecompany purposecoupled with performance will be a key theme for politicians, the media, investors, NGOs, consumers and employees

Business reputation is driven mainly by Performance –but Purpose is gaining ground

Source: Burson-Marsteller Proprietary Research on Purpose & Performance, 2008.

Companies that deliver on Purpose & Performance are seen as role models and even deflect criticism

Q: Presuming a company is effective at balancing Purpose & Performance, to what extent would you...

49%

34%

43%

Follow the company in themedia

Believe in the company even ifit comes under public pressure

Trust in the company even if itsshareprice falls

58%

61%

69%

Believe it is a role model inbusiness for other companies

to follow

Believe it is a company topartner with

Recommend the company as agood employer

Strongly agree

Source: Burson-Marsteller Proprietary Research on Purpose & Performance, 2008.

Purpose & Purperformance: the Barilla case

• Question: what do stakeholders expect of us?

• Answer from an audit: more than just the basics – have a point of view on sustainable agriculture

• Action: Set up Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition in January, 2009Food and Nutrition in January, 2009

• Result: Has allowed Barilla to communicate directly on key issues and position itself more positively

Use a Purpose & Performance Diagnostics

.Benchmark the level of understanding and appreciation of a Purpose &

Performance statement amongst employees

.Compare management’s expectations and desires and also benchmark

against competitors or industry standards

..Provide qualitative and quantitative data which enables the corporation to

redesign Purpose & Performance content

.Identify the most effective ways and mediums to communicate Purpose & Performance for greatest impact to different stakeholders

TEAM

Business impact: influence on purchasing decisions

Integrate digital in everything that you do

Source: EIAA digital families survey, 2007

Start with a Digital check-up

SearchSearch BlogsBlogs | CGM| CGM

Increase visibilityProtect corporate reputationStakeholder engagementGenerate leads

Highly influentialHighly searchable

Considered a “recommendation”

SocialSocialNetworksNetworks

CorporateCorporateWebsiteWebsite

Opportunity forengagementInfluential chatter

Your side of the storyFirst impressionCritical for influencer audiencesUsed to confirm impressions

• Nestlé‘s perception in the blogosphere is driven by critical bloggers focusing on critical issues. This is especially true in connection with Water and Baby food

• Nestlé does not have its own blog, although numerous messages and topics around nutrition, health and wellness exist which could be appropriate for blogging.

• Positive coverage is mostly tied to personal experiences with Nestlé products i.e. chocolates. There is potential to encourage positive product blogging.

• There is room to take the lead: neither Migros nor Coop are

Blogs / UGM

• In contrast to Migros and Coop, Nestlé is not optimized for relevant search terms like „gesunde Ernährung“ or „Familie und Ernährung“. Thus Nestlé is largely invisible to women searching for such information

• Nestlé is not using sponsored search and is missing an opportunity to reach 39.5% of its audience looking for nutrition, health and wellness information.

• Nestlé’s online perception in connection with water is driven by NGO‘s, thus very critical. Also true for Nestlé and Baby food.

Search

Digital Check Up Findings example

What did you learn about me?

• To women and young mothers looking for healthy nutrition information, Nestlé is largely invisible.

• Nestlé is not part of Swiss women’s life, it is not perceived as a trusted advisor for nutrition, health and wellness, but as a huge, cold and distant machinery.

Governing Thought

• There is room to take the lead: neither Migros nor Coop are actively engaging in the blogosphere.

• There is a lot of influential chatter around Nestlé and its products in the biggest social networks, both positive and negative.

• Critical boycott groups are engaging more intense than pro Nestlé groups.

• Opportunities to build on: Fan pages on several products such as Nesquik, Crunch etc and a lot of employee profiles.

• Opportunities to build brand engagement via social networks are not being maximized. Competitors such as Migros are actively creeping into the social network space with targeted ads

Social Networks

• Nestlé‘s Website is perceived as an advertising platform rather than a source for corporate content or viewpoints.

• Brand content is overloading the website. It is not particularly interesting or helpful, and it does nothing to portray Nestlé as a leader in nutrition, health and wellness.

• The website has a very technical, cold and distant feel to it. It does not speak to its audiences on a personal level. No faces and too much text and PDFs, no possibilities for interaction

Website

food.

Why does it matter?Why does it matter?

nutrition, health and wellness, but as a huge, cold and distant machinery.

• To overcome this perception and leverage the opportunity to build proximity and brand loyalty, Nestlé must shift from pushing online advertising and marketing messages to creating dialogue and engagement around nutrition, health & wellness.

• This is even more important as part of its perception are already being defined by its critics alone (water, baby food).

Integrated campaign example: Bacardi responsible drinking

Situation

� Global campaign to promote responsible drinking.

� Strategy

� We created a simple video with Michael Schumacher promoting the opportunity to win a ride with Michael for high-speed laps at a world-class race-track.

� Trained local markets to run a content-seeding campaign through key influencer sites and social networking groups.networking groups.

Results

� The Digital PR campaign drove over 40% of the microsite traffic, the viral videos received several thousand views on YouTube and B-roll footage was downloaded over 600 times.

� Extensive global media coverage

Managing a Good Corporate Reputation Pays off

Global

Ability to attract & retain talented employees 89%

Ability to attract new business/partners/acquisitions 80

Increased loyalty from customers/clients 73

Confidence the company will do the right thing 50

Ability to attract new business is the second key benefit of a good corporate reputation.

Confidence the company will do the right thing 50

Ability to quickly recover from reputation problems 44

Able to withstand economic ups & downs 39

Better relations with regulators/government 38

Higher share price than competitors 31

Ability to charge premium prices 19

*Burson-Marsteller. Building CEO capital Tier 1 Report October 2005