The INBREC Africa Chapter was launched last October in South Africa, in partnership with leading South African reputation management organisation, Vuma Reputation Management, to advance the concept of brand and reputation management among member corporates and organisations.
“INBREC's country chapters are dedicated forums for senior brand and reputation managers of successful and highly respected corporations and organizations. Members meet up to three times a year to have a high-level exchange of their experiences, share their expertise and exclusively learn from peers worldwide,” says INBREC co-founder and co-chairman, Prof Markus Renner, also a managing partner of the Branding-Institute in Switzerland and former global head of brand and reputation management of pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
Vuma Reputation Management founder and CEO Janine Hills, says the reputation of a company is key to its success, and strong company reputations ultimately build a country’s reputation.
“Research has shown that a nation’s reputation is largely shaped by the experience and perceptions of corporate brands in that country. Through the high-level forums of the INBREC Africa Chapter, member organisations are privy to the knowledge and candidly shared experiences of other global corporates, which will enable them to better manage their reputations in their respective markets, locally and globally,” she says.
The upcoming INBREC Africa Chapter event, the first of two meetings to be held this year, will be hosted in Sandton, Johannesburg by Nedbank, an INBREC Africa member. It will include a presentation by Esme Arendse, Nedbank’s executive head for group communications looking at the changing nature of strategic reputation management from a banking perspective.
Dr Petrus de Kock, general nanager of research for Brand South Africa, will address members on how Corporate SA can build its brand and reputation, and Prof Markus Renner will then share an example of a stakeholder-guided brand and reputation management strategy by one global blue chip company.
“The greatest benefit of INBREC to member organisations lies in being able to set the bar higher in the discipline of brand and reputation management, and getting top level management support and understanding of how brand and reputation impact the bottom line, for the benefit of the organisation and the country it is based in,” says Renner.
Currently there are six Chapters of INBREC, Switzerland (since 2005), Germany (since 2008), UK, Benelux, Nordics and Africa (since 2015). Among the member organizations are global corporates and product brands like ABB, Allianz, Bayer, Bosch, Diageo, ING Banking Group, Mercedes, Munich Re, McDonalds and Rolls-Royce.