Reputation
management - Reputation
Touch Points
Smart Companies
Use Numerous Resources
to Measure Reputation
PRWeek, January 17, 2005 By John N. Frank
Corporate America knows that its customers - whether consumers, government agencies,
or other businesses
- want to know
more about it now
than they used
to. Corporate scandals,
a slow economy,
and increasing
global competition
have seen to that.
It's a phenomenon
proven by countless
surveys, which
consistently show
that people care
about the reputations
of those they do
business with.
As a result, 'many more companies (today) are becoming interested in managing
their reputation,'
says Leslie Gaines-Ross,
chief knowledge
and research officer
with Burson-Marsteller.
'Companies realize
reputation is a
very competitive
asset.'
Indeed,
with almost every
product space overcrowded
with new competition
today, 'there's
more of a trend
for companies to
look for other
ways they can build
brand loyalty,'
says Peter Morrissey,
president of Morrissey & Co. in Boston. 'Typical branding programs aren't working; there's too much clutter
out there.'
While
branding and traditional
PR have tried to
build product awareness,
reputation-building
efforts today work
to establish what
companies stand
for, Morrissey
explains. The expectation
is that a solid
reputation will
translate into
sales and customer
loyalty.
As
companies get more
serious about reputation
management, they
want to know what
they're getting
for the dollars
spent in that area.
That's making measurement
of reputation-building
increasingly important.
Those
on the cutting
edge are finding
new ways to measure
the effectiveness
of their reputation-management
efforts.
The
measurement tools
being used extend
beyond traditional
media monitoring
to media analysis,
customer surveys,
investor surveys,
website feedback,
the number of speaking
opportunities offered
to company senior
executives, and
a variety of other
approaches, says
Gaines-Ross. 'It
is not just custom
research anymore,'
she says of reputation
measurement.
Focusing
b-to-b efforts
The approaches
to measurement
vary depending
on the type of
business involved.
Companies that
deal with consumers
are emphasizing
consumer surveys
and better media-monitoring
techniques. Corporations
in the b-to-b space are not as concerned
with media as they
are with their
distinct customer
segments. Reputation-management
measurement is
much more focused
in the b-to-b world,
say those doing
it.
At
ITT Industries,
for example, measuring
media exposure
takes a back seat
to more customer-centric
efforts, says Tom
Martin, SVP, corporate
relations.
The
company competes
in the water-treatment
technology and
aerospace industries,
highly specialized
fields with very
clearly defined
target audiences.
It's
found that reputation-building
efforts work best
when centered on
events, such as
trade shows where
20,000 to 30,000
customers gather.
To measure how
effective its efforts
are, ITT conducts
customer surveys
before and after
shows, asking questions
about the quality
of its products
and whether it
is viewed as a
tech leader, Martin
explains. It has
found positive
impressions of
the company can
climb 10% to 12%
at such shows because
of reputation-building
efforts that include
having key executives
speak at such events.
Sun
Microsystems, in
measuring its reputation-building
efforts, has found
a difference between
what matters to
the press and to
customers, says
Randy Burgess,
Sun's brand intelligence
manager.
Using
Biz360 to analyze
media coverage
and how key influencers
perceive the company,
Sun has found that
favorable media
stories about it
often revolve around
how innovative
the company is
being with new
products. But customer
surveys show that
what matters most
to customers is
value, Burgess
says.
Sun
has been working
with Biz360 and
Momentum Research
Group to develop
a reputation-measurement
model, monitoring
and measuring nine
reputation categories,
such as emotional
brand attraction,
product and service
innovation, and
vision and leadership.
'For
the past year and
a half, we have
put reputation
at the top of our
list of everything
we do in communications,'
Burgess says.
In
the past six months,
Sun has established
an internal council
of people from
various departments
who have contact
with customers.
It brings together
all the reputation
feedback the company
gets from various
sources into one
customer database,
Burgess explains,
something Sun had
never tried to
do before.
The
consumer approach
For firms in
the consumer
space,
reputation measurement
is a matter of
getting almost-constant
customer feedback.
Electric
utility Exelon
early last year
established a reputation-management
council headed
by its chief administrative
officer. The council
includes government
affairs, operations,
and communications
and IR, says Don
Kirchoffner, VP,
corporate communications,
with the Chicago-based
company.
Looking
at reputation,
the council found
the company wasn't
getting recognition
for its various
community relations
efforts, he says.
As a result, Exelon
is now trying to
get more of its
mid-level management
involved in community
activities, such
as charitable boards.
The
company had its
share of reputation
problems in the
late 1990s and
2000 after a series
of outages in the
Chicago area called
its reliability
into question.
It's been trying
to rebuild its
reputation since
then, even as it
expands into other
markets around
the country through
acquisitions.
'There's
no silver bullet
to reputation;
it's everything
you do,' Kirchoffner
says. While it
uses Delahaye to
measure and gauge
media coverage,
Exelon also relies
on a survey of
consumer utility
satisfaction done
every quarter by
an outside agency
to see how its
reputation compares
to others in its
industry.
FedEx
doesn't consider
reputation management
a subset of its
communications
efforts. Rather,
'it is our PR effort.
Our primary reason
for being is our
corporate reputation,'
says Eric Jackson,
VP, worldwide corporate
communications.
'People make buying
decisions based
on our reputation.'
FedEx
measures the impact
of the messages
it pushes out to
consumers, looks
at media coverage,
and does research
on consumer and
business customer
opinion (see sidebar).
'I
want to know what
the buying public
is thinking of
us before we go
to market,' Jackson
explains. 'We don't
look at our measurements
as a way to either
pat ourselves on
the back or slap
our hands. They're
diagnostic tools
to help us stay
ahead of the competition.'
Allstate
Insurance has found
that key components
of its reputation,
as far as policyholders
are concerned,
are how the company
handles claims
and how well it
does in maintaining
overall customer
satisfaction with
its products.
'We
know there is a
definite correlation
between both of
those and all sorts
of hard business
decisions,' such
as the likelihood
to renew a policy,
explains Peter
Debreceny, VP for
corporate relations
with Allstate.
Roughly
40% of all Allstate
communications
efforts are what
Debreceny considers
proactive reputation-management
undertakings. Measuring
the impact of those
is also a major
undertaking. 'Allstate
does a huge amount
of research on
an ongoing basis'
looking at its
reputation, he
says. The insurer
maintains its own
research center
in California to
continually measure
its reputation.
Results of the
research, which
talks to 15,000
consumers at a
time, are produced
quarterly.
Debreceny
has found it difficult
to measure the
business impact
of a particular
reputation-management
effort unless the
program is a large
one. 'Day-to-day
reputation efforts
are lost in the
wash,' he says.
But
he has been able
to measure the
impact of proactive
efforts launched
in anticipation
of negative media
coverage of such
events as how the
company operates
during a natural
disaster, like
an earthquake or
hurricane.
Allstate
does daily media
monitoring using
Biz360. Its 14
regional offices
also have communications
staffers, who monitor
local media coverage,
Debreceny notes.
Every few years,
he'll pay to use
a PR agency's reputation-management
measurement tool
as a check on his
internal surveys.
Lack
of spending
While Allstate
is willing to spend
dollars for reputation
measuring, many
companies still
are not, contends
Glenn Karwoski,
MD with Karwoski & Courage
in Minneapolis.
'I'm not aware
of any companies
in the upper Midwest
that are doing
it,' he says of
reputation measurement.
'I really think
that they are behind
the curve.'
Even
in larger markets,
measurement still
lags when it comes
to spending. 'Clients
are spending more
money on reputation
management, but
they're really
not doing it to
an extent anyone
would like to see,'
says Nick Kalm,
a founding partner
with Reputation
Partners in Chicago.
Companies like
Allstate and FedEx
'are real pros
when it comes to
PR and measurement,
but they're in
the minority,'
Kalm says.
Other
companies that
want to compete
successfully in
today's business
climate need to
catch up with these
measurement leaders.
Trying to manage
reputation without
measurement makes
no sense, says
Jackson. 'If you
don't know your
target, then why
are you shooting?'
he asks. 'We'd
never dream of
saying anything
unless we had some
sense of the audience.
We view it as probably
the most important
investment we make.'
DELIVERING
REPUTATION RESULTS
FedEx sees its
reputation-management
measurement efforts
as part of a continuous
loop that starts
and ends with its
customers, ensuring
that the company
meets customer
needs and expectations.
'Reputation management
is the bottom line for us,' says Eric
Jackson, VP of
worldwide corporate
communications.
FedEx
has been working
with Delahaye to
not only record
media coverage,
but also to look
at it in terms
of key reputation
drivers and attributes,
such as social
responsibility,
emotional appeal,
products and services,
workplace environment,
financial performance,
and visions and
leadership.
It
studies the amount
of coverage for
each of those areas
and tailors messages
in each of them
to specific channels
where they will
reach targeted
audiences, Jackson
explains. The goal:
'to say the right
things in the right
channels,' Jackson
explains.
Coverage
is analyzed in
terms of quality
and quantity, as
well as by region,
market, and media
outlet. And FedEx
coverage is compared
to that of its
competitors. The
effectiveness of
media relations
efforts is gauged
in terms of whether
the media see the
company as it wants
to be seen by its
consumer and business
audiences.
Another
measurement category
the company uses
is third-party
surveys, such as
the Harris Interactive
Poll, the Fortune
magazine list of
most admired companies,
and the Financial
Times list of most
respected companies.
'The results we
get back are a
very good diagram
to understand what
we do right,' Jackson
says.
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