Dow Chemical's award-winning "Human Element" advertising campaign has been credited with transforming the company's image from a well-known but little-understood chemical company to a company committed to improving lives everywhere by addressing global economic, social and environmental concerns. It also has been cited for contributing to a 29 percent increase in Dow's stock price within one year after its launch. The story behind this campaign demonstrates a key role for research in helping to establish corporate reputation.

Dow is the world's second-largest chemistry-based company. It ranks 38th on the Fortune 500 list and operates 150 manufacturing sites in 35 countries. Founded in Midland, Mich., in 1897, the company has a long history of product development, including relatively recent announcements of producing next-generation electric car batteries and solar shingles. However, when asked what Dow Chemical makes, most people can name only one household product: the Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner, a product it sold to S.C. Johnson Wax in 1998 (and which was called Dow Bathroom Cleaner when Dow owned it).

The areas where a company excels often aren't important to overall reputation . . . Messages rooted in research can positively impact reputation.

Dow's goal was to be the largest, most profitable and most respected chemical company in the world, but consumers generally had little idea what the company did. Its reputation centered, in part, on a product it no longer made or sold. Further, in 1999, Dow announced plans to purchase Union Carbide, a company saddled with reputation issues stemming from the 1984 Bhopal Disaster. Under those circumstances, how could Dow establish the reputation it sought?

The company turned to research, specifically Ketchum's Brandbuilder, an interactive survey of key target audiences that examines corporate reputation and compares results among competitors and "aspirational" companies. Broadly, the research found that, to improve its image, Dow needed to move away from talking about the science behind its products to talking about the personal impact of its products on consumers — to establish an emotional connection with influencers. Specifically, it found that five attributes are key drivers of Dow's reputation:

• Trustworthiness
• Ethical business practices
• Customer service
• Product/service quality
• Good place to work.

These and other Brandbuilder findings were used to develop the "Human Element" campaign. Subsequent research has shown that media exposure from the campaign has increased Dow's brand equity by more than 25 percent.

Among the key learnings from research's role in the campaign:

• The areas where a company excels often aren't important to overall reputation.
• Messages rooted research can positively impact reputation.
• Educating consumers about a company almost always leads to a stronger reputation. For Dow, respondents in India, where the tragic Bhopal gas leak incident occurred, even rate the company higher.
• Changes in communications levels can quickly impact reputation.

David Rockland is a partner of Ketchum and managing director of Ketchum Global Research Network. He is responsible for overseeing the agency's research products and services, as well as developing innovative approaches to public relations research and measurement for clients around the globe. He also serves as head of Ketchum Pleon Change, Ketchum's change management and workplace communications consulting firm.