Can CSR improve a companys reputation and brand value?
In today’s marketplace, the importance of brand image and reputation are increasingly seen as a company’s most valued asset. It is estimated, for example, that 96% of Coca Cola’s value are intangibles – reputation, knowledge and brand. For Kellogg’s this equals 97% and for American Express 84% (Interbrand 2000). Not many, but some companies have already issued figures on the contribution of CSR to their reputation. The Co-op bank was the first company to publish official figures on this issue. Analysts have calculated that Co-op’s ethical and ecological positioning has made a sizeable direct contribution to the bank’s profitability of around 20% British Telecom (BT) has also published official figures on the link between CSR and corporate reputation. The results of the study strongly suggest that CSR activities play a large role via image and reputation in maintaining and building market share in a competitive market. CSR accounts for over 25% of image and reputation impact on customer
