By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Dec. 5, GNA – Dr Abena A. Yeboah-Banin, PhD, Lecturer at the University of Ghana, has called on businesses, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to aim to project an image that aligns with the reputation they seek.
The Lecturer said after projecting their image, they needed to consistently work towards cementing that reputation.
“Bottomline, brands cannot sit on the fence and allow a reputation to emerge by chance,” she said.
Dr Yeboah-Banin was speaking at the Stratcomm Africa Brand Reputation Week 2022 panel discussion in Accra on the theme: “Building a strong brand reputation for business success.”
She said the event held a lot of potential for changing the face of business in Ghana.
She said the theme was both timely and founded on truth, the truth that it takes a strong brand reputation to assure sustainable business success.
Dr Yeboah-Banin said brands simply could not afford the ‘I do not care’ attitude because it would impact negatively on their reputation.
She said a bad reputation would cost any brand and “it can cost them their customers, good employees and their very survival.”
“In contrast, a good reputation means people feel they can trust you and so become loyal to your products,” he added.
She urged businesses not to make claims in public that they would fail to respond to or use internal systems and resources to support.
“Also, brands must remember that every touch point between themselves and stakeholders is a potential reputation building/damaging opportunity. Treat each with care and seriousness,” she said.
The Lecturer called on businesses to build their brand identity by defining what they want to be known for and communicating it clearly, both internally and externally, establish and manage their online presence to give them the opportunity to communicate to their customers.
She also urged them to build visibility, engaging stakeholders as well as monitoring conversations about them and actively court feedback, listen and respond to them.
She commended the Management and staff of Stratcomm Africa for the initiative to support SMEs communicate strategically to their consumers.
Mrs Mawuena Trebarh, the Chief Business Strategist at the Inspire Africa Consult, said starting, maintaining and growing a small business required detailed and extensive preparation.
She said creating a business plan could help determine the steps necessary to achieve the business’ goals.
“A business plan is a required document for potential financiers and it helps you organize your ideas and set timelines to deliver,” she said.
Mrs Trebarh said the plan helped the business to be prepared for the unique challenges of operating as an SME in Ghana like power shortage, lack of capital, poor management skills and competencies, inadequate information, temperamental tax/ regulatory regime and corruption.
Ms Esther Cobbah, CEO of Stratcomm Africa, said it was painful to see that brands did not see Communications as critical to their business.
She said Ghana could be way above its current development, if only governments had invested in strategic Communications.
Ms Cobbah said brands needed to invest heavily in professionals to help them draft messages, while they communicate to their consumers.
“A lot of SMEs are not growing because they have failed to invest in proper strategic Communications,” she added.
Stratcomm Africa introduced the Annual Brand Reputation Week and Awards celebration for Small and Medium Enterprises to benefit from their professional expertise of Strategic Communications.
Through the initiative, Stratcomm Africa will provide an opportunity for these SMEs, individuals and organisations to deepen their appreciation of effective communication approaches for brand enhancement for growth and development.
GNA