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MEXICO
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
TOP 50 MOST VALUABLE LATIN AMERICAN BRANDS 2015
THE ROLE OF
PR IN BUILDING
STRONG BRANDS
“Communicating Character”
DANIEL KARAM
President & Managing Director
H+K Strategies, Mexico
Daniel.Karam@hkstrategies.com
In a world where more information than ever
is available to consumers who use it to guide
their purchasing decisions, it has never been
harder for brands to gain – and hold – the
trust of the public.
When the public evaluates a company
it does so through three main criteria:
brand (what it says about itself),
reputation (what others say about it)
and behavior (how it acts). The lack
of any of these forces will make it
harder for the company to enjoy a solid
reputation and long-term financial
health.
These factors cannot be managed
independently and its intersection is
what we call “Character.”
Character drives perception, sales
and loyalty; character inspires people.
Building character means telling
real stories that make an emotional
connection with the public. If brands
fail to make that connection they will
lose its attention and trust.
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
Here “content” is king. Brands used
to push messages. Now they must
communicate character. A great brand
is a human story and stories are what
“communicating character” is all about.
In this new age of transparency,
consumers are hearing about brands’
reputations and learning through the
experiences of their peers, rather
than crafted brand messages through
advertising. This shows not just a
growth in interconnectedness, but also
a decline in trust in paid media.
It’s necessary to engage the public
in a broader story about a brand’s
character, sharing its specific
commitments for responsible behavior
and engaging in an honest dialogue
with consumers, who believe that
brands with strong character are
trustworthy and care about their
products and their customers.
NOW IT'S PERSONAL
They’re looking for the equivalent of
a personal connection. They want
brands to transparently communicate
their efforts to be responsible. And
as character is what defines a brand,
those who communicate it in a
consistent and authentic way cannot
only prevent crisis, but will create
stronger connections with the public
that will ultimately improve their image
and financial value.
According to the findings of
a survey conducted by H+K
Strategies, examining the impact of
communicating character on public
opinion, nine out of ten people believe
that companies need to do more
to bring their behaviors in better
alignment with their publicly stated
values. Beyond that, nearly half of
them think that companies’ behaviors
are out of alignment with the values
they publicly promote.
We must bear in mind that these
authentic stories will compete with all
the other information consumed by
the public. The brand’s character must
therefore reach people through all the
available media platforms such as
mobile devices, laptops and traditional
media channels.
In summary, leading companies need to
carefully manage brand, reputation and
behavior in order to understand that
any disharmony in these elements can
severely damage public perceptions of
their character. And beyond this, we
strongly believe that communicating
character is an important part of
playing offense in today’s business
environment, and a way to stand out
from competitors.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies is a leading
global strategic communications
consultancy, providing services to local
and multinational clients worldwide. The
firm is globally headquartered in New
York City, with 88 offices in 49 countries
- including 13 offices in the US. Led by
Global Chairman and CEO Jack Martin,
Hill+Knowlton Strategies serves as a
trusted advisor to clients, developing
and executing communications
campaigns and business strategies to
manage the impact of the public on an
organization’s reputation, brand and
bottom line.
www.hkstrategies.com
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