Many organisations include reputational management as part of their daily operations, integrating its principles and tools into corporate management to a greater or lesser extent. Yet few introduce the vision of reputation into the very heart of their business strategy, making it their main asset when taking business decisions Tetra Pak is one of the few examples that can be made in this sense, which is a truly remarkable feat for an organisation whose aim, however paradoxical this may sound, is somehow to go unnoticed, at least for its own users: all those people who 460 million times a day use their recycled containers or cartons of milk, juice, shakes or tea for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This document has been prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership. It has cited, from among other sources, the speeches by Nicolas Georges Trad, Executive Partner of Reputation Institute, and Khaled Ismail, Corporate Brand Director at Tetra Pak, delivered at the 16th Global Conference “Going Global in the Reputation Economy”, organised by the Reputation Institute in Milan from 30 May to 1 June, 2012.

1. Cases
Strategy Documents
C12/2012
Reputation
Placing reputation at the
heart of business strategy:
the case of Tetra Pak
Many organisations include reputational management as part of their daily
operations, integrating its principles and tools into corporate management to a
greater or lesser extent. Yet few introduce the vision of reputation into the very
heart of their business strategy, making it their main asset when taking business
decisions
Tetra Pak is one of the few examples that can be
made in this sense, which is a truly remarkable feat
for an organisation whose aim, however paradoxical this may sound, is somehow to go unnoticed,
at least for its own users: all those people who
460 million times a day use their recycled containers or cartons of milk, juice, shakes or tea for
breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The mission pursued by this company –which has
already been trading for over 60 years and has
operations in more than 170 countries– involves
providing safe foodstuffs that are available anywhere
in the world, enabling them to be transported,
stored and consumed on a long-lasting basis.
This same long-term vision is what guides its
responsible action and conduct as a partner to
many firms that are its true customers, and which
have been trusting in it to provide the finest
solutions at any given moment, always with the
utmost care for the environment and within the
shortest possible timeframe.
Reputation for looking ahead
Tetra Pak recently implemented an international
project with its eyes set on 2020, according to
Nicolas Georges Trad, Executive Partner of
Reputation Institute, in which all the organisation’s
employees were actively involved in safeguarding
and realising the brand motto that has been linked
to its name for many years now: Protect what’s good
(foodstuffs-food safety, people-human progress and
future-environmental protection).
This project –which was undertaken in tandem with
an internal climate survey for measuring engagement
and another one on customer satisfaction to assess
loyalty–involved rolling out a strategy designed to
continue upholding and reinforcing an excellent
reputation built up over time in the sector, and
whose main starting point was the understanding of
two key factors:
1. Tetra Pak is successful when its presence goes
unnoticed by consumers because it is doing its
job well.
This document has been prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership. It has cited, from among other sources,
the speeches by Nicolas Georges Trad, Executive Partner of Reputation Institute, and Khaled Ismail, Corporate Brand Director at Tetra
Pak, delivered at the 16th Global Conference “Going Global in the Reputation Economy”, organised by the Reputation Institute in
Milan from 30 May to 1 June, 2012.

2. 2. Tetra Pak is successful when it understands
and predicts the needs of all its other
stakeholders to increasingly improve the way
it does business.
According to Khaled Ismail, Tetra Pak’s Corporate
Brand Director, the company was assessed by these
five stakeholder groups, including consumers
themselves, using Reputation Institute’s sevendimensional model, ReptrakTM. A comparative
study was made between each one of the different
dimensions at global level, between the different
countries and a contrast was also drawn between
each one of the different dimensions and countries.
As a result of this process, during the first half of 2011
Tetra Pak held meetings in its 28 main operating
countries with over 15,000 key stakeholders for the
company (from distributors through to producers,
and including opinion leaders and employees –over
22,000 all over the world). The gatherings were vital
for discovering their concerns and expectations,
and the needs and challenges they face both now
and in the immediate future.
The outcome: an action plan for reinforcing
strengths and addressing weaknesses, specifically
in each one of the 28 markets analysed, with
specification of the key indicators and priorities
over the coming five years for each area and each
one of the countries. This plan provided a better
understanding of which stakeholders really do
impact upon and shape Tetra Pak’s reputation, to
what extent and in which dimensions.
The following are Tetra Pak’s key stakeholders:
1. Consumers
2. Distributors
3. Producers
4. Employees
5. Opinion leaders
That was the project’s goal, namely, to ensure that
what the company wanted to be and how it wanted to
be perceived (ambition) were consistent with Tetra
Pak’s capacities and culture (competence), as well
as being aligned with the visions and requirements
The last one of these groups includes the
media, non-governmental organisations in
environmental matters, international regulators
and institutions, brand and reputation experts
and public opinion itself.
Graph 1: Reputation Management
Pe
r
n ce
rma
fo
Profitable
Better results than expected
Strong growth prospects
Stands behind
High quality products
Meets customer needs
hip
hi
p
h at
T
‘s Good
Offers equal opportunities
Treat its employees well
Be a great place to work
lac
e
Trust
Fair in business
Behaves ethically
Open and transparent
kp
ns
ize
Cit
Environmentally responsible
Support good causes
Society responsible
Protects food
W
Tetra
Pak
Adapts Quickly
Innovative
Improve its products
or
Feeling
Protects
vation
Well organized
Excellence management
Appealing leader
Clear vision for its future
o
Inn
Esteem
Admire
Leaders
Produc
ts/S
erv
ice
High quality service
s
“Tetra Pak
is successful
when its
presence goes
unnoticed by
consumers
because it
is doing its
job well and
predicts the
needs of all
its other
stakeholders.”
Merging ambitions, realities,
perceptions and expectations
M
Placing reputation
at the heart of
business strategy: the
case of Tetra Pak
W
Governance
Source: Reputation Institute, 2012.
Cases
2

3. of the different stakeholders (perception and
expectation); in short, to strike a balance between
what is said, what is done and what is expected.
management through to the last of the professionals
it employs, including the teams in each one of its
operating countries and in its different departments
(Marketing, Human Resources, Sales, Environment,
Communication, Operations, Finance, Operations
and R&D&i). They have all been involved in
the same way in the definition of the plan’s major
guidelines, as well as their implementation in the
form of projects and campaigns.
From vision to action: theoretical goals and practical
experiences were interconnected, thereby rendering
it possible to improve the brand’s direct interfaces
and trigger the attitudes towards the same that Tetra
Pak initially sought at the start of the project.
Furthermore, Tetra Pak’s vision regarding the
relationship between brand and reputation and
their contribution to the value creation process was
clear: they both operate in unison when helping the
company to conduct its business. Reporting plays
a key role accordingly when aligning them and
ensuring the right brand messages (sent consistently)
reach the right people (with expectations for
improving reputation) in the right places (through
relevant communication channels) and in the right
way (efficiently and sharing best practices).
1. Research: involving all stakeholders
2. Analysis: current situation
3. Identification: global and local priorities
4. Development: action plans
5. Implementation: action plans
6. Assessment: degree and efficacy
This was the path followed for aligning the pledge
of Tetra Pak’s brand identity with what it actually
delivers and its subsequent appraisal in the guise of
its reputation, closing the circle of the value chain
of intangibles for this international organisation.
Reputation Institute was the one responsible for
Yet the organisation’s approach to the design
of recycled carton packaging is both strategic
and operational: from the company’s senior
Germany
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Switzerland
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United Kingdom
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Ukraine

Russia
Korea
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17
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14
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13
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Canada
Japan
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Cares about the environment
Corporate selected
attribute - priority



Socialy responsible
Corporate selected
attribute - priority


Set industry trends
Corporate selected
attribute - priority


Protects food
Corporate selected
attribute - priority


Is a great place to work
Open and transparent
Behabes ethically
Corporate selected
attribute - priority
Clear vision for its future
Corporate selected
attribute

Adapts quickly to change
Corporate selected
attribute - priority

High quality products
Corporate selected
attribute

Treats is employess well
Corporate selected
attribute
Products respect environment
Local selected attribute
Strong and appealling leader
Local selected attribute
Well organized
Local selected attribute
High quality services
Local selected attribute
Improves its products
Local selected attribute
Fair in business
Local selected attribute
1
Support good causes
Local selected attribute
1



Local selected attribute



Corporate selected
attribute - priority
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10
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10
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9
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USA
Vietnam

Pakistan

Turkey
Australia
Graph 2: Priority areas by market
Saudi Arabia
“There is a
need to bridge
the gaps
between the
brand pledge,
the business
strategy,
stakeholders’
expectations
and their true
perceptions.”
Its main stages were as follows:
India
Placing reputation
at the heart of
business strategy: the
case of Tetra Pak

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
7
6
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5
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5
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5
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3

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3
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4
2
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1

Source: Tetra Pak, 2012.
Cases
3

4. Placing reputation
at the heart of
business strategy: the
case of Tetra Pak
recommending specific measures to Tetra Pak for
bridging the gaps between that selfsame pledge, the
business strategy, stakeholders’ expectations and
their true perceptions on the matter.
The CEO’s internal leadership
One of the key aspects behind the project’s success
was the direct involvement of the company’s
president and CEO, Dennis Jönsson, who featured
together with a selection of employees from all over
the world in a video that was used both to launch
the process and as a tool for engaging all the other
collaborators in the project and encouraging them
to actively take part in it.
Jönsson also chaired a series of cascade briefing
sessions with the different staff departments at
Tetra Pak to involve them effectively and kickstart the process for the analysis and management
of reputation in each one of the 28 key markets
selected previously.
Finally, hands-on involvement and leadership are
important when seeking to ensure that a major and farreaching process such as the one begun by Tetra Pak
reaches a successful conclusion: this is possible only
when the CEO acknowledges and accepts the value
contribution reputation makes to the business results.
Jönsson’s achievement, therefore, was to ensure the
entire organisation embraced the project as its own,
while strengthening the link between collaborators
and bringing about real change driven from within.
Conclusion: a silent reputation
Thanks to this comprehensive project, Tetra Pak
managed to uphold a silent reputation as regards its
consumers, yet at the same time maintain a solid
and robust one with all its other key stakeholders,
such as producers, distributors, employees and
opinion leaders.
The company implemented what may be considered
six essential steps for taking good strategic decisions
in matters of reputation:
1. Define the impact of the business
2. Identify stakeholder expectations
3. Establish a reputational platform
4. Define the key points of influence
5. Integrate the platform in said points
6. Implement the decision-making process
By following this roadmap, it is possible to
incorporate reputation, placing it at the heart of
decisions and the business strategy, thereby ensuring
they both tread the same path and do not head off
in different directions as occasionally happens in
some organisations.
Cases
4

5. Leading by
reputation
©2012, Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership
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the professional management of reputation as a strategic resource that guides and creates value for companies throughout the world.
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