Building reputation in an embattled sector

Findings from the last five years of the Ipsos Reputation Council – a global survey of senior corporate communicators – show that finance and energy have been consistently top of mind when thinking about the relative reputation challenges facing different sectors.

While this may not be surprising to many, it does serve to highlight that once a sector is seen as embattled, it can take a long time to shift perceptions. This comes across very clearly from verbatim comments where it is noted how finance and energy have become the ‘whipping boys’ and ‘easy targets’. 



This raises the important question of whether it is possible for organisations in challenged sectors to build reputation against a backdrop of persistent negativity?

Though difficult, our experience of measuring organisational reputation across a variety of stakeholders - including the public, politicians, journalists and other key influencers - shows that this is possible, with standout organisations able to sustain and even rebuild reputation while the wider sector suffers.

The single quality that unites all organisations that achieve success in such an environment is consistency  – in their message, in their behaviour and in delivering against the values they communicate. Building reputation in a challenged sector takes time and those that succeed demonstrate a recognition of this in all that they do.