Antti Isokangas of Kotipizza: A good reputation helps attract the right people to the company
Antti Isokangas, Head of Communications and Corporate Responsibility at Kotipizza Group, sat down with T-Media to discuss reputation management at Finland’s best-known restaurant brand. Kotipizza is the largest pizza chain in the Nordic countries, with products and services designed for everyone—which is why its reputation must be managed consistently.
As a communications professional who has worked with consumer brands, Isokangas has always viewed reputation primarily through the lens of external stakeholders. According to Isokangas, many brands today are eager to generate strong opinions and tend to share their views with external stakeholders.
“There are many brands that people either love or hate, and that’s fine by them. Very few brands are meant for absolutely everyone. For a brand with a very clearly defined target audience, it’s only natural that its own target audience loves it and that others don’t have to care all that much about it,” says Antti Isokangas.
Kotipizza is, however, a unique brand: it is the largest pizza chain in the Nordic countries, and its products and services are aimed at all Finns. That is why Kotipizza cannot afford—nor does it wish—to divide public opinion.
“We’re a bit like Fazer’s blue in the sense that Kotipizza is also a rare Finnish brand intended for absolutely everyone in Finland. Our branding approach is a little different; above all, it has to be consistent.”
By "consistency in reputation management," Isokangas also means that communications should emphasize the same key points to all external and internal stakeholders.
“Back when we were still a publicly traded company, we used to say that investors and analysts eat pizza too. The messaging we created for ordinary consumers also resonated with the people whose job it was to analyze us financially and as an investment opportunity. This was a positive thing, because it made consistency easier.”
When building a reputation and a brand, you have to be able to take a good, hard look at yourself
According to Isokangas, the most important thing when building a reputation and a brand is to take a good look at yourself. It is essential to identify the starting point of the company’s reputation—that is, to get a realistic picture of what people currently think of the brand or the company.
“If you’re going to build a house, you need to know what the terrain is like,” Isokangas says.
According to Isokangas, those working on reputation and brand management may initially be surprised by what people outside the company think of it—especially if the company hasn’t monitored its public image before.
“It’s the same as when people appear on the radio or television for the first time. Afterward, they listen to or watch their own interview and are often surprised by how they sound. They aren’t used to hearing their own voice on a recording.”
Kotipizza was surprised by the results of an external survey when it assessed its reputation for the first time Reputation&Trust T-Media’s Reputation&Trust in 2018. Kotipizza’s employer image stood out clearly from the other aspects of its reputation in the survey results.
“We knew that our brand was generally in good shape, that sales had grown strongly over the years, and that our brand had been moving in the right direction in all consumer brand surveys. Still, we were surprised by just how much room for improvement there was in our employer brand. Based on this, we have spent several years working to improve our employer image. Although our employer image is still not the strongest aspect of our reputation, it has nevertheless moved in the right direction. That’s why taking a hard look at ourselves has helped us,” Isokangas explains.
“A positive internal reputation helps attract people who share the company’s values and consider meaningful precisely those things that the company has consistently promoted.”
Video: Vesa Koivunen
Text: Tuuli Pohjola
