The pride of British business

The way we look at corporate reputation may have changed forever in a post-London 2012 world. Sponsors like Adidas, Lloyds TSB and BT enjoyed such a positive glow of associationwith the feel-good 'Games of the people' that their marketers must be wondering how they can ever achieve such giddy heights again.

By the final closing ceremony, even the G4S debacle that preceded the event had sunk into the silent past, a relic of a media narrative that no longer seemed very relevant.

This presents a difficulty for those in the corporate reputation business. The exposure of any corporate crimes or misdemeanours over the next few months are going to be seen as a particularly sharp disappointment by a population that has eagerly grabbed its summertime reasons to be cheerful. Brits are currently, on the whole, proud of being British again. Which company is going to be unlucky enough to have to disabuse them of this?

But there is also potential comms capital for companies savvy and culturally brave enough to embrace the new national feeling. The 'Inspire a Generation' legacy offers some significant opportunities for organisations that weren't involved in the Games - particularly for any that can offer tangible support on the burning issue of youth unemployment.

On the following pages, we bring a variety of views on how not to become the organisation that brings us back down to earth with a bump.

Claire Murphy, consultant editor, PRWeek

claire.murphy@haymarket.com.