Posts Tagged ‘Research’

While I am on the subject of the corporate brand, I thought I would mention another interesting group of findings from our research. We asked consumers several questions on what influences them when it comes to company perceptions. They report that among other things, the importance of awards/recognition (63% of consumers mention) as well as leadership communications (59% of consumers mention) are influential.  As expected, word of mouth ranks at the top of the influence list, regardless of region.  Clearly, despite the fire hose of information aimed at us every day, some things are getting across when it comes to distinguishing companies from one another and influencing our decisions to buy some products over others easier. Recognition of companies for doing good or just simply doing well is making a dent after all these years. And leadership communications seems to matter to consumers if CEOs are talking about something that matters. Figuring out what resonates with the public is the hard part for communicators although jobs and education would be two good starts.  And a third good start would be the safety of our natural resources.  One additional factoid to add for a Sunday in January: In Brazil, awards and leadership communications are even more influential than what consumers in the U.S., U.K. and China say in our study. Brazilian consumers seem to be more receptive to what leaders say in Brazil. Will have to figure out why. Perhaps the connection between the economy and business is more direct than in the U.S. and U.K and China while we are at it.  More to come on this challenging subject of the interdependence between the corporate brand and product brand.   [caption id="attachment_2464" align="alignleft" width="460" caption="Weber Shandwick, The Company Behind the Brand: In Reputation We Trust"][/caption]                    

 This week we launched our excellent survey on what it takes to socialize a brand. It is among top marketing and communications executives in companies around the world. One of the drivers of world class social brands is being ever so careful about the assaults on a brand's reputation.  We learned in the survey conducted with Forbes Insights that executives of world class social brand companies are 35% more likely than the average global company to report that their brand experienced an online crisis in the past year that affected its reputation. These social champions who have dealt with a recent online crisis are no stranger to the risks of the hyper-connected world — two-thirds (66%) report that they deal with negative online commentary on a daily basis (vs. 51% of total global companies). The latter point was good news to me although perhaps not so for companies. The reason I say that is because I often get asked about how often companies experience reputation crises and I quickly respond "daily." Our research reveals that nearly two-thirds of socially aware companies are dealing with reputation threats and its just the tip of the iceberg. Just this week we saw Netflix and RIM in the news -- some self-inflicted and some not.  If you want to read more about the blackberry crisis and my comments, go here. These types of online crises will only increase as the world gets smaller, more people go online and more are eager to share their opinion about brands.  Being vigilant is the job of everyone. Lets not fool ourselves -- we all have to play cop.

Globalization. Everything is different and everything is the same. In an interview with the Dean of Harvard Business School, Nitrin Nohria noted: "When I came to Harvard Business School in the 1980s, the vast majority of people were interested in studying America, because this is where they hoped to have job opportunities. As late as 1988, when I joined, less than 5% of our case [studies] were outside of the United States. Last year more than a third of our cases were global." Similarly, Fortune's Most Admired Companies survey used to be broken into the America's Most Admired and World's Most Admired lists as if they were two different beasts. Fortune now combines them into one big list of the World's Most Admired and rightfully so. As we are seeing with the ups and downs of the stock market, we are all interconnected. The reputation of UBS or Sony or Procter & Gamble matters the world over. Global everything is on my mind because I am off to Asia to give a speech on reputation and how to build it, safeguard it and defend it. I've been catching up on how reputation plays out in Asia Pacific so that I can be a bit more relevant to my audience. As I am preparing, an article I found struck me as a good example of how things are the same and yet different. As a keen observer on how reputations get damaged in a crisis, I am always on the lookout for estimates of that damage.  A recent article provided me with some valuable information on how Chinese companies perform when scandal touches them. Scandal plays out slightly differently in China and on their balance sheets than it does in the US and Europe/EMEA. An academic study examined hundreds of scandals linked to companies traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 1997 and 2005. Revelations of financial fraud and various other similar crimes, such as embezzlement and kickbacks, definitely impacted share price as it does in the US.  The researchers found, however, that to really create a cataclysmic collapse of a company's stock among Chinese companies, there had to be an additional element. "The study found that companies caught up in mere accounting scandals saw their shares drop by an average of 8.8% over the six months on either side of the incident. In those involving the bribery of government officials or theft of state assets, on the other hand, the stock fell by almost a third." As they conclude, "In China and other less developed markets....business is done on the basis of political and social relationships, not numbers."  Companies are all impacted by financial scandal but if you undermine the government in China or any of its officials, expect that your financial damage will be compounded by losing discounted financing, access to trusted suppliers, loss of customers, land acquisitions and other benefits that can come with good government relations. Thus, being on good terms with government is critical to success in China. In many ways, this is also becoming the norm in the US as government plays a more visible hand in business affairs.

For the second year in a row, about two-thirds, or 65% of Americans say that civility is a major problem, according to our annual Civility in America poll by Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate in partnership with KRC Research.  The timing for this survey is pretty right on. I just read that presidential candidate Jon Huntsman pledges that there will be a climate of civility in the race to the top if it is up to him.  You would think he spoke to us first!   If you read the results regarding perceptions on civility when it comes to politics, you will quickly see that the presidential race could literally depend on the civility factor. The perceived lack of civility in the United States has far-reaching implications for the reputation of the USA with 91 percent saying that incivility has negative consequences for the nation. Those polled said that incivility in government is harming America’s future; that incivility in American life is harming our standing in the world; and that incivility prevents the country from moving forward. About half of the respondents (49 percent) said that the U.S. was among the most civil countries in the world. The 2011 online survey was conducted in May among 1,000 American adults to assess attitudes towards civility online, in the workforce, in the classroom and in politics. Check out the executive summary. We have our work cut out for us.

Harris Interactive just released their annual RQ (reputation quotient) survey among the U.S. public.  This is year 12 for the Harris RQ – that’s a long time and underscores the value that this kind of research brings.  Harris conducts the survey among  consumers on what they call the most visible companies in the US along with others that represent major industries. The study starts by asking people to nominate or name the companies that stand out as having the best and worst reputations overall.  The most nominated companies form the core group asked about. For this reason, one usually finds that those companies that have been in the headlines for reputational scandals are measured.  Besides the usual ranking of who’s on first and who’s struck out, Harris identifies several trends: 

• Among their “elite” reputation winners (i.e. most highly regarded), two reputation drivers stand out – “looks like a company that has high ethical standards” and “tends to outperform its competitors.” Again, this underscores the importance of speaking up and being an industry leader.
• How companies communicate also drives reputation according to Harris – communicating Sincerely, Accurately and Consistently correlates highly with positive reputation. Transparency and empathy count.
• An additional theme that Harris highlights is that those companies that “support the infrastrucuture” of Americans’ lives at work and at home also drives positive corporate perceptions.  This means that companies that help people get their jobs done easily at home and at work tend to be esteemed.  Interesting notion.
• All the major industry sectors saw year over year reputation improvements -- particularly automotive.

Of course, there are always clouds and rays of light in any silver lining. And here it is….66% say that the reputation of corporate America is not good but there’s hope for improvement. This figure has not moved much from the 65% who said the same thing last year. So I’d say a solid thumbs down with cautious optimism. However, 22% say the reputation of corporate America is good with room for improvement (up four percentage points from last year).  Not so terrible. A miniscule 1% says corporate America’s reputation is great and can’t get any better (same as last year).  I sure would like to find out more about them to see what they are thinking or or if they are living in the clouds! Thankfully only 12% of the American public say corporate America’s reputation is terrible and there is little that can be done about it.  That’s pretty definitive. So all in all, hope is alive for corporate America and for those of us in the reputation management arena, it is in our hands.

How rewarding can the job of CEO be afterall?  Research Buy Tamiflu (Roche) Without Prescription, by NYSEEuroNext and ORC asked global CEOs this very question and they were not asking about compensation. That's a whole other subject, Chicago, Illinois. Houston, Texas. El Paso, Texas. Washington, D.C. Seattle, Washington, Turns out that 50% of CEOs in 2010 say that the job is more rewarding now vs. three years ago.  This is a nice lift from one year ago in 2009 when 38% said it was more rewarding.  Apparently 2008 was a better year since 60% of CEOs said it was more rewarding than three years earlier, Tamiflu (Roche) from canadian pharmacy. Rx free Tamiflu (Roche), The bounce back in 2010, however, Detroit, Michigan, San Jose, California, 125mg, 150mg, 200mg, 250mg,  is heartening considering how tough the job has become and how bad the economy has been altogether. Alas, lets not overlook that one out of two CEOs this year are not chiming in that the job is more rewarding vs, Buy Tamiflu (Roche) Without Prescription. three years ago.  One of the reasons may be that a full 97% or just about every CEO says that the job is more time-consuming that it was three years ago and this high figure has not changed over the past five years, 1000mg, 2000mg. Where can i find Tamiflu (Roche) online, No matter what year, the CEO job never ends just because it is the weekend or post dinner hours, purchase Tamiflu (Roche) online. Australia, uk, us, usa, The world has been turned on its head and the job is undeniably 24/7.

Interestingly, purchase Tamiflu (Roche) online no prescription, Tamiflu (Roche) coupon, non-US CEOs see the job as more rewarding than US CEOs (62% vs. Buy Tamiflu (Roche) Without Prescription, 40%), a pattern that has held for five years. What do non-US CEOs know that US CEOs don't know about enjoying their lives. Perhaps they worry less about their reputations but I don't think that is the case, buy Tamiflu (Roche) without prescription. Tamiflu (Roche) price, Perhaps non-US CEOs don't jump online every minute to read all the uncivil comments that are written about them by dissatisfied customers or former employees. Or perhaps non-US CEOs have more time off on vacation to recharge their batteries and unwind.  Since more non-US CEOs have separate chairmen, New York. Los Angeles, California, Köpa Tamiflu (Roche) online, Osta Tamiflu (Roche) online, Jotta Tamiflu (Roche) verkossa, perhaps they get to share some of the responsibility of leadership which makes the job nore rewarding vs. here in the US where the trend is still predominantly CEOs and chairmen being one and the same, 400mg, 450mg, 500mg, 625mg. 5mg, 50mg, 75mg, 100mg, Would require deeper analysis but is a thought.

Let's hope that 2011 shows a continued trend to adding some more enjoyment into the job -- especially because CEO leadership does impact us all, Tamiflu (Roche) in cats, dogs, children, man, woman, men, women, Tamiflu (Roche) withdrawal, snort, alcohol iteraction, one way or the other. We certainly don't need strung out leaders at the helm, where can i order Tamiflu (Roche) without prescription. Kjøpe Tamiflu (Roche) online, bestill Tamiflu (Roche) online, [Not sure why I chose a hammock as my graphic but I thought that perhaps CEOs need to kick back alittle in August]. Fort Worth, Texas. Denver, Colorado. Buy Tamiflu (Roche) without a prescription. Where can i find Tamiflu (Roche) online. Where can i buy cheapest Tamiflu (Roche) online. Order Tamiflu (Roche) online overnight delivery no prescription. 0.4mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, 2.5mg. Where can i buy Tamiflu (Roche) online. Buy no prescription Tamiflu (Roche) online. Acheter en ligne Tamiflu (Roche), acheter Tamiflu (Roche) bon marché. Buy cheap Tamiflu (Roche) no rx. San Diego, California. Dallas, Texas. San Antonio, Texas. Online buy Tamiflu (Roche) without a prescription. Købe Tamiflu (Roche) online, αγοράζουν online Tamiflu (Roche). Buy cheap Tamiflu (Roche). Buy Tamiflu (Roche) online no prescription. Indianapolis, Indiana, San Francisco, California. Tamiflu (Roche) FDA approveds. 1000mg, 2000mg. Boston, Massachusetts. Charlotte, Carolina. Buy Tamiflu (Roche) no prescription. Buy Tamiflu (Roche) from canada. 650mg, 800mg, 875mg, 900mg. Detroit, Michigan, San Jose, California. Australia, uk, us, usa. Austin, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee. Tamiflu (Roche) over the counter. Tamiflu (Roche) for sale. Order Tamiflu (Roche) from mexican pharmacy. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Phoenix, Arizona. Japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal. 125mg, 150mg, 200mg, 250mg. Farmacia Tamiflu (Roche) baratos, Tamiflu (Roche) online kaufen. Jacksonville, Florida, Columbus, Ohio. Rx free Tamiflu (Roche). Reasons to buy Tamiflu (Roche) online. Nashville-Davidson, Tennessee. Portland, Oregon. Chicago, Illinois. Houston, Texas. Online buying Tamiflu (Roche) hcl. Tamiflu (Roche) from canadian pharmacy. Tamiflu (Roche) samples. Purchase Tamiflu (Roche) online no prescription. Order Tamiflu (Roche) online c.o.d. Buy generic Tamiflu (Roche).

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  The USA earned the top spot as the world’s highest-ranking country brand for the first time in the fifth annual Country Brand Index (CBI) from Weber Shandwick and sister agency FutureBrand Buy Cimetidine Without Prescription, . The USA rose from its previous third place spot one year earlier to snatch the top honor, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Las Vegas, Nevada. Cimetidine coupon, Although the USA did not win the 2016 Olympics honor via its Chicago bid, in the CBI beauty contest, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Phoenix, Arizona, Cimetidine FDA approveds, the USA beat out all other countries.  As I expected, the Obama presidential effect of hope and optimism played a major role in the ranking.  As it is with CEOs, japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal, Cimetidine trusted pharmacy, Obama has become the face of the nation. The same influences that were at work in Obama's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize undoubtedly helped lift the reputational tide in favor of the USA in this widely publicized country brand ranking, buy Cimetidine without a prescription. Buy cheap Cimetidine no rx, The top 10 country brand reputations are:

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  Heyman Associates recently conducted a survey among 550 corporate communications executives and some human resources professionals -- “Is Your Company Talking to You?” A large 71% said that they are getting the amount of information they want about their company’s current economic situation. Also the person doing the most talking was the CEO (81%). This is good news because our research at Weber Shandwick found last October that 71% of people felt that their company's leadership should be communicating more about current economic problems and 54% had not heard from company leaders at all on the impact of the financial crisis on their company.  Luckily, things have changed on the communications front for most people.

 

What interested me was that a majority said that they would like increased informal in-person communication.  Nearly two-thirds (65%) wanted increased informal in-person communication while one-half (50%) preferred increased formal in-person meetings. These figures are quite high compared to the less than one-third (31%) who desire increased formal written materials.  There is always a segment who does not want to get too close to management or consider their communications a waste of time. This reminds me of the day that I was at the offices of a truly notable company and heard that an employee emailed the CEO asking to be taken off the CEO’s mailing list because he did not want his inbox clogged with messages he never read. Wow. Wonder where this person is today.

 

Reputations today can be simply built on going back to the basics such as good internal communications. Having an employee base that supports the company’s initiatives is critical. A work force where the CEO communicates in-person, face to face or face to face(s) goes far in developing loyalty, familiarity and support. I endorse as much face-to-face as possible in this fragile reputation world.

  Reputation management has grown exceedingly complex as technology penetrates corporate corridors and transforms steel-framed monoliths into glass houses. In light of these unprecendented changes, Weber Shandwick asked global business leaders how they were managing their company reputations online and offline. If you go to www.online-reputations.com, you can read about the research which we conducted in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).  The survey is titled "Risky Business: Reputations Online." After 9-11, I investigated how companies used their Web sites to inform people about what was happening and stay in touch as the world stood still.  In 2001, most companies performed poorly in communicating to customers, vendors and employees about the tragic events. Web sites were referred to as brochureware and were fairly limited at the time. Today, CEOs and business leaders have so many more tools at their disposal. The USAirways Jet that went down in the Hudson River just weeks ago was Twittered just moments after the plane safely glided into chilly waters. Today some CEOs and business leaders host blogs explaining their points of view and allowing them to respond to criticism or suggestions. The new American president--CEO of America Inc.-- uses social media effectively and it played a big role in his win for the White House. In fact, yesterday I received an email from President Obama's team asking for my support in passing the stimulus package! Back in 2002 when the dot com explosion burst and recession followed, we did not have many of the tools we have today to manage reputation. The economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 is the first time that a recession is hovering over us and Web 2.0 is widely accessible to boost or destroy reputations. Alas, times are different and the rules are now being rewritten on how to manage reputation and particularly online. Leaders must embrace and endorse all the tools they can to communicate with their stakeholders and most importantly, to listen for early warning signs, spark conversation with customers, accept transparency and advocate their positions. In our research, global business leaders told us that after the quality of their products and services, the top drivers of reputation were leadership credibility, transparency and positive word of mouth. Reputations cannot be built, enhanced or defended today without deep consideration for how a company behaves online and its willingness to engage all stakeholders. The Age of Reputation has arrived and it matters not whether it is online or offline.