The corporate reputation, an intangible that generates trust

According to the report Spain Trust Barometer 2023, the expectations of companies’ roles have been growing and a greater commitment is demanded in matters of general interest. Citizens consider companies’ responses to social concerns such as climate change, the energy crisis, inequality, health, true information and employee education insufficient. Thus, when speaking of reputation, there are three factors that must be completely aligned: what the company is, what the company does, and how the company communicates. Everything must be projected to society in a coherent way.

A good reputation generates trust, which will lead to a closer relationship and commitment to these stakeholders and to a more lasting and stable relationship with the company. Reputation is an intangible value, but can undoubtedly be translated to a competitive advantage. It builds employee loyalty, attracts new customers and investors, and legitimizes the company.

At MAPFRE, we are aware of the importance of appropriately managing this value, and we know that from intangible areas, we must have the ability to transmit the real bond that exists between reputation and business. We know this is not easy in large organizations, where we sometimes work in isolation. Thus, one of our main goals is to work on reputation across the entire organization. The best way to do this is with data, tangible data, that show realities that can be measured and reported. If we can’t measure it, we can’t manage it, nor will we be able to improve it.

This is why for years, at MAPFRE we have established various mechanisms to measure the corporate reputation at a global level. We have a reputation work group on which different areas are represented: customers, personnel, operations, sustainability, safety and environment, and their representatives participate from the beginning in the process of measuring the brand’s reputation. The measurement parameters must be established jointly. As we said, the Trust Barometer Report shows us that the expectations and responsibilities of companies never stop growing; there is a need to create listening mechanisms in order to respond to them. Here, measurement plays the most important role, as the information provided to the global and country executive committees is the basis for establishing specific, more concrete actions and is key to understanding the effectiveness of some of the actions already being taken.