My parents, like most, always had a repertoire of sayings that they used to keep their wayward children moving in the right direction. My father used to frequently say: “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” My mother had a similar one: “You are who you hang out with.” Like many kids, I had my good friends and I had my share of not-so-good friends. Sometimes the latter were a bit more stimulating, which likely led to my parents’ concern.

Fast forward many years and the concept still holds, this time in business. No company is an island: many organizations rely on business partners for sales, distribution, marketing, integration, etc. These are our business “friends” and they are a reflection on/of our company. It doesn’t matter if we’re a large multinational or a regional non-profit.

When they add value, it’s brand harmony; when they don’t it’s brand dissonance, which can cause customers to walk. Unfortunately, there is reluctance to mute this dissonance until it’s too late. Why? Trepidation, perceived risk, ignorance. Remember: your bad corporate friends make you look bad. Period.

Many years ago I started what eventually became a large, cutting-edge, worldwide IT services firm. Some early, successful projects with E*TRADE put us on the map and helped us establish a solid and strong brand. We subsequently added some great partners such as Cisco and did great things with them around the world. Our brand became even stronger.

Then came a new “friend,” Enron. We partnered with them to use their infrastructure as a foundation for what was to become one the world’s most powerful and advanced video-on-demand networks. Today, we take video-on-demand for granted, but since we were doing one of the first large-scale networks, it was a challenge. Blockbuster, the video rental rock star, was also in the the mix as the content provider. This had all the characteristics to be one of the greatest IT projects of all time. Unfortunately, Enron was not a good business friend and they were making us look bad – to Blockbuster, to Cisco, and to the many other organizations associated with the project.

We tried to turn them into a good partner, but remember, before their fall, Enron was occupying Mount Olympus. They were business gods and had the hubris to go with it, not to mention they were jeopardizing the project. Blockbuster was screaming. Cisco was screaming. Our employees were screaming from abuse. We had to make a decision and we did: we walked. We walked away from an incredible opportunity. We had to.  We did it for our employees, our other partners, and our brand. The dissonance was deafening, but it was the right thing to do.

All organizations should take regular inventory of their partnerships and listen for brand dissonance. If something doesn’t seem right, don’t tune it out. Take action or the market certainly will. You are who you hang with. My parents were right.

Rob

So if brand is so important, why are we seeing some of the strongest ones tumble? Because brands are incredibly fragile. Just look at Tiger Woods and Toyota as recent examples. The fallout is not just to the brand-owners but to those who derive ancillary benefit. Tiger Woods’ sponsors are leaving because the brand actually has negative value and it impacts them. Personally, I love watching Tiger play and I enjoy hopping into my Toyota SUV and driving through the New England snow. I’m disheartened by both recent events.

The brand equity ascent is slow and arduous; the descent is fast and dangerous. Paraphrasing a former business partner of mine:

If you’re not careful, you can go from a hero to a has-been in heartbeat.

How true. Is it more challenging these days to protect a brand? Absolutely. The velocity of communications and the acceleration effects of social media leave little time to react.  And remember: bad news is like gasoline and good news is like water – all it takes is one strike of a match.

Is there a cure? Not entirely, but integrity sure goes a long way. Not just integrity from the start (Tiger Woods) but also integrity when dealing with and addressing problems as they arise (Toyota). We’ll see how they (and many others) try to regain their brand equity. Much, however, depends on whether those of us who benefit will remain loyal.

Rob Ciampa