Corporate Communications

Reputation Management

Brand Journalism

Brand Experience

Impression Management

Corporate Communications Manager

The Craftsman Business Repute

The right role

© The content of this note is copy righted which must not be amended while it can be downloaded and shared for the sake of learning. For any clarity, find the authors contact in the end of this note.

Preface

Everything is changing at a right pace in this universe and if we have to measure

the exact performance of this pace change process amongst all the physical

elements of this universe then the scientific answer will be: (Performance level at

100% with absolutely zero% chance of error) which means nothing goes wrong, it

never went wrong and will never be.

Amongst all the things which exist, existed or will exist, the shadow is something

which actually doesn’t exist while every shadow is rightly placed. (Performance level

at 100% with absolutely zero% chance of error in every given situation) So if a shadow intangible yet

it does exist with such excellence then how come tangibles could go wrong. There is no way and the

only way to escape through realities is by Human wisdom because we are born free with ability to

make choices and that only a human has the ability to choose to make mistake, nothing else physical

could do that, even not a shadow which shows a true picture, every time its formed.

Being a reputation specialist and a research student of corporate communications, I am pleased to share

this learning note with the reputation management professionals. I am sure this will help you

understand things better and perform a more empowered role as a corporate communications

manager.

Crafting the Business Mirror by Shahzad Ahmad

It’s like how exactly you wish your brand to be recognized amongst the audience – How a Communications

manager can think like a brand activation expert ?

There are millions of professionals around, doing a lot of things and most of them are doing what others have

tried already. There are a very few, trying out new ideas, the simple ideas - the great ideas.

If you are a professional who is responsible to develop strategy for reputation management via brand activation

which can portray the right side of your brand then you should know one thing at first and it is to be creative,

interactive and interesting.

Can a great idea be a stupid idea ? Yes for someone who just thought of it but this idea can be an idea which has

come in your brain at first and in no one else’s. You must not discard any idea because with a little tweak any idea

can become a great idea.

You should be a great thief and should have expertise in stealing the most brilliant ideas from your brain. The

process is that you keep one question at top of your mind and keep thinking of solutions with empty brain. Just

keep thinking and you will get it.

Some people take 20 years to explore the best idea in their life while some just need 20 minutes for the same. It’s

just about how you understand the process of generating an idea and that how you plan your brain’s innovation

muscle to act.

Taking reputation management as a subject and doing research on it helps professionals understand it better. The

brand is the most valuable fixed asset of a Corporation. It’s how world knows a business, maintain a perception on

the quality and standards of a business. That’s we always see a detailed history of many years attached with many

leading brands in the world and they always advertise it and even print on their branding materials. Interestingly

brands are burning trillions of dollars on research and it’s because they want to understand their customers better,

plan their customers to understand more about their brand.

Brand Activation allows you to get your brand recognized amongst target group by setting up on ground

engagement programs.

Brand activation is a way to engage people in a manner that they can experience Brand and can perceive a good –

positive and lasting impression. (An experience, a slot of brand in mind, Brand Recall) The activation is the

execution of the marketing mix in which companies plan their marketing activities which not only help in creating

brands goodwill but also helps companies in brand research , customer feedback through which brand standing

can be gauged through marketing analytics. It’s like normally people see companies doing lot of advertising

through TV commercials, outdoors and now a day’s digital advertising but a very few organizations organize on

ground brand activation activities which allow customers to experience the brand.

What are the objectives which can be achieved through Brand Activation? The key objective is to improve the

existing brand impression by focusing on building lasting emotional connection between the brand and the

customer.

Success of activation not only helps achieving the strategic objectives of the business but it also helps increasing

the brand equity.

Wikipedia

Corporate Communication As per Wikipedia Corporate communication is the set of activities involved in managing and

orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating favourable point-of-view among

stakeholders on which the company depends.[1]

It is the messages issued by a corporate organization,

body, or institute to its audiences, such as employees, media, channel partners and the general public.

Organizations aim to communicate the same message to all its stakeholders, to

transmit coherence, credibility and ethic. Corporate Communications help organizations explain their

mission, combine its many visions and values into a cohesive message to stakeholders. The concept of

corporate communication could be seen as an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to

the organization.

Contents

[hide]

1 Methods and tactics

2 Components

o 2.1 Corporate branding

o 2.2 Corporate and organizational identity

o 2.3 Corporate responsibility

o 2.4 Corporate reputation

o 2.5 Crisis communications

o 2.6 Internal/employee communications

o 2.7 Investor relations

o 2.8 Public relations: issues management and media relations

2.8.1 Issues management

2.8.2 Media relations

2.8.3 Company/spokesperson profiling

3 References

Methods and tactics

Three principal clusters of task-planning and communication form the backbone of business and the

activity of business organizations. These include management communications, marketing

communications, and organizational communications.

Management communications are between management and its internal and external audiences. To

support management communications, organizations rely heavily on specialists in marketing

communications and organizational communications.

Marketing communications get the bulk of the budgets in most organizations, and consist of product

advertising, direct mail, personal selling, and sponsorship activities.

Organizational communications consist of specialists in public relations, public affairs, investor

relations, environmental communications, corporate advertising, and employee communications.

The responsibilities of corporate communication are:

to flesh out the profile of the "company behind the brand" (corporate branding)

to minimize discrepancies between the company's desired identity and brand features

to delegate tasks in communication

to formulate and execute effective procedures to make decisions on communication matters

to mobilize internal and external support for corporate objectives

to coordinate with international business firms

A Conference Board Study of hundreds of the US‘s largest firms showed that close to 80 percent have

corporate communication functions that include media relations, speech writing, employee

communication, corporate advertising, and community relations.[2]

The public is often represented by self-

appointed activist non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who identify themselves with a particular

issue.

Most companies have specialized groups of professionals for communicating with different audiences,

such as internal communications, marketing communications, investor relations, government relations

and public relations.[3]

Components

Corporate branding

A corporate brand is the perception of a company that unites a group of products or services for the

public under a single name, a shared visual identity, and a common set of symbols. The process of

corporate branding consists creating favorable associations and positive reputation with both internal and

external stakeholders. The purpose of a corporate branding initiative is to generate a positive halo over

the products and businesses of the company, imparting more favorable impressions of those products

and businesses.

In more general terms, research suggests that corporate branding is an appropriate strategy for

companies to implement when:

there is significant "information asymmetry" between a company and its clients;[4]

That is to say

customers are much less informed about a company's products than the company itself is;

customers perceive a high degree of risk in purchasing the products or services of the company;[5]

features of the company behind the brand would be relevant to the product or service a customer is

considering purchasing.[6]

Corporate and organizational identity

There are two approaches for identity:

Corporate identity is the reality and uniqueness of an organization, which is integrally related to its

external and internal image and reputation through corporate communication[7]

Organizational identity comprises those characteristics of an organization that its members believe

are central, distinctive and enduring. That is, organizational identity consists of those attributes that

members feel are fundamental to (central) and uniquely descriptive of (distinctive) the organization

and that persist within the organization over time (enduring)".[8]

Four types of identity can be distinguished:[9][10]

Perceived identity: The collection of attributes that are seen as typical for the ‗continuity, centrality

and uniqueness‘ of the organization in the eyes of its members.

Projected identity: The self presentations of the organization‘s attributes manifested in the implicit

and explicit signals which the organization broadcasts to internal and external target audiences

through communications and symbols.

Desired identity (also called ‘ideal’ identity): The idealized picture that top managers hold of what

the organization could evolve into under their leadership.

Applied identity: The signals that an organization broadcasts both consciously and unconsciously

through behaviors and initiatives at all levels within the organization.

Corporate responsibility[edit]

Main article: Corporate social responsibility

Corporate responsibility (often referred to as corporate social responsibility), corporate citizenship,

sustainability, and even conscious capitalism are some of the terms bandied about the news media and

corporate marketing efforts as companies jockey to win the trust and loyalty of constituents. Corporate

responsibility (CR) constitutes an organization‘s respect for society‘s interests, demonstrated by taking

ownership of the effects its activities have on key constituencies including customers, employees,

shareholders, communities, and the environment, in all parts of their operations. In short, CR prompts a

corporation to look beyond its traditional bottom line, to the social implications of its business.[11]

Corporate reputation[edit]

Main article: Reputation management

Reputations are overall assessments of organizations by their stakeholders. They are aggregate

perceptions by stakeholders of an organization's ability to fulfill their expectations, whether these

stakeholders are interested in buying the company's products, working for the company, or investing in

the company's shares. In 2000, the US-based Council of PR Firms identified seven programs developed

by either media organizations or market research firms, used by companies to assess or benchmark their

corporate reputations. Of these, only four are conducted regularly and have broad visibility: "America's

Most Admired Companies" by Fortune Magazine;

The "Brand Asset Valuator" by Young & Rubicam;

"RepTrak" by Reputation Institute.

"Best Global Brands" by Interbrand.

Crisis communications

Main article: Crisis communications

Crisis communication is sometimes considered a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is

designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its

reputation. These challenges may come in the form of an investigation from a government agency, a

criminal allegation, a media inquiry, a shareholders lawsuit, a violation of environmental regulations, or

any of a number of other scenarios involving the legal, ethical, or financial standing of the entity. The

crisis for organizations can be defined as follows:[13]

A crisis is a major catastrophe that may occur either naturally or as a result of human error,

intervention, or even malicious intent. It can include tangible devastation, such as the destruction

of lives or assets, or intangible devastation, such as the loss of an organization's credibility or

other reputational damage. The latter outcomes may be the result of management's response to

tangible devastation or the result of human error. A crisis usually has significant actual or

potential financial impact on a company, and it usually affects multiple constituencies in more

than one market.

Internal/employee communications

Main article: Internal communications

As the volume of communications grows, many companies create an employee relations (ER)

function with dedicated staff to manage the numerous media through which senior managers can

communicate among themselves and with the rest of the organization. Internal communications in the

21st century is more than the memos, publications, and broadcasts that comprise it; it‘s about

building a corporate culture on values that drive organizational excellence. ER specialists are

generally expected to fulfill one or more of the following four roles:[14]

Efficiency: Internal communication is used primarily to disseminate information about corporate

activities.

Shared meaning: Internal communication is used to build a shared understanding among

employees about corporate goals.

Connectivity: Internal communication is used mainly to clarify the connectedness of the

company's people and activities.

Satisfaction: Internal communication is used to improve job satisfaction throughout the company.

Investor relations

Main article: Investor relations

The investor relations (IR) function is used by companies which publicly trade shares on a stock

exchange. In such companies, the purpose of the IR specialist is to interface with current and

potential financial stakeholders-namely retail investors, institutional investors, and financial analysts.

Public relations: issues management and media relations]

Main article: Public relations

The role of the public relations specialist, in many ways, is to communicate with the general public in

ways that serve the interests of the company. PR therefore consists of numerous specialty areas that

convey information about the company to the public, including sponsorships, events, issues

management and media relations. When executing these types of activities, the PR Specialist must

incorporate broader corporate messages to convey the company‘s strategic positioning. This ensures

the PR activities ultimately convey messages that distinguish the company vis-à-vis its competitors

and the overall marketplace, while also communicating the company‘s value to target audiences.

Issues management

A key role of the PR specialist is to make the company better known for traits and attributes that build

the company‘s perceived distinctiveness and competitiveness with the public. In recent years, PR

specialists have become increasingly involved in helping companies manage strategic issues – public

concerns about their activities that are frequently magnified by special interest groups and NGOs.

The role of the PR specialist therefore also consists of issues management, namely the ―set of

organizational procedures, routines, personnel, and issues‖.[15]

A strategic issue is one that compels

a company to deal with it because there is ― a conflict between two or more identifiable groups over

procedural or substantive matters relating to the distribution of positions or resources‖.[16]

Media relations

To build better relationships with the media, organizations must cultivate positive relations with

influential members of the media. This task might be handled by employees within the company‘s

media relations department or handled by a public relations firm.

Company/spokesperson profiling

These "public faces" are considered authorities in their respective sector/field and ensure the

company/organization is in the limelight.

Managing content of corporate websites and/or other external touch points

Managing corporate publications - for the external world

Managing print media

References

1. ^ Riel, C.B.M. van & Fombrun, C. (2007) Essentials of Corporate Communication, Abingdon:

Routledge.

2. ^ ―Managing Corporate Communications in a Competitive Climate,‖ a Conference Board Study, by

Kathryn Troy, 1996.

3. ^ Riel, Cees B.M. van and Fombrun, Charles J. (2007) Essentials of Corporate Communication,

Abingdon: Routledge.

4. ^ Nayyar, P.R. (1990) "Information asymmetries: a source of competitive advantage for diversified

service firms", Strategic Management Journal, 11: 513-519.

5. ^ Aaker, D.A. and Myers, J.G. (1991) Advertising Management, New York: Prentice-Hall.

6. ^ Brown, T.J. and Dacin, P.A. (1997) "The company and the product: corporate associations and

consumer product responses", Journal of Marketing, 61 (1): 68-84.

7. ^ Gray, E.R. and Balmer, J.M.T. (1998) Managing Corporate Image and Corporate Reputation,

London: Long Range Planning.

8. ^ Pratt, M.G. and Foreman, P.O. (2000) "Classifiying managerial responses to multiple organizational

identities", Academy of Management Review, 25 (1): 18-42).

9. ^ Balmer, J.M.T. (1997) Corporate Identity: Past, Present and Future, International Centre for

Corporate Identity Studies, Working paper series 1997/4.

10. ^ Balmer, J.M.T. and Wilson, A. (1998) "Corporate Identity: there is more to it than meets the

eye", International Studies of Management & Organization, 28 (3): 12-31.

11. ^ Argenti, P.A. (2009) Corporate Communication, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

12. ^ Charles, F. (1996) Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image, Boston: Harvard Business

School Press.

13. ^ Argenti, P.A. (2009) Corporate Communication, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

14. ^ Krone, K., Jablin, F.M., and Putnam, L.L. (1987) "Communication theory and organizational

communication: multiple perspectives", in F.M. Jablin et al (eds), Handbook of Organizational

Communication, pp. 18-69, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

15. ^ Dutton, J. and Ottensmeyer, E. (1987) "Strategic issue management systems: forums, function and

context", Academy of Management Review, 12: 355-365.

16. ^ Cobb, B.W. and Elder, C.D. (1972) Participation in American Politics: the Dynamics of Agenda

Building, boston: Allyn and Becon

Reputation management Reputation management is the understanding or influencing of an individual's or business's reputation. It

was originally coined as a public relations term, but advancement in computing, the internet and social

media made it primarily an issue of search results. Although it is often associated with ethical grey areas,

such as astroturfing review sites, censoring negative complaints or using SEO tactics to game the

system and influence results, there are also ethical forms of reputation management, such as responding

to customer complaints, asking sites to take down incorrect information and using online feedback to

influence product development.[1][2]

Contents

[hide]

1 History

2 Concepts

3 Ethics

4 Justification

5 See also

6 References

History[edit]

The concept was initially intended to broaden public relations outside of media relations.[3]

With the rise of

the internet and social media the meaning has shifted to focus on review sites, social media and—most

prominently—the top search results on a brand or individual.[4][5]

In 2007 a study by the University of California Berkeley found that some sellers were undertaking

reputation management on eBay by selling products at a discount in exchange for positive feedback

to game the system.[6]

Concepts[edit]

Reputation management is the practice of monitoring the reputation of an individual or brand, addressing

contents which are damaging to it, and using customer feedback to get feedback or early warning signals

to reputation problems. Most of reputation management is focused on pushing down negative search

results.[7]

Reputation management may attempt to bridge the gap between how a company perceives

itself and how others view it.[8]

Some examples of websites where a company may conduct reputation management is the feedback

system on eBay,[9]

and Wikipedia. Google search results are the primary target of reputation management

efforts. Some of the tactics used by reputation management firms include the following:[10]

Improving the tagging and search engine optimization of company-published materials, such as white

papers and positive customer testimonials in order to push down negative content.[11]

Publishing original, positive websites and social media profiles, with the aim of outperforming

negative results in a search.[12]

Submitting online press releases to authoritative websites in order to promote brand presence and

suppress negative content.

Submitting legal take-down requests if someone believes they have been libeled.[13]

Getting mentions of the business or individual in third-party sites that rank highly in Google.[13]

Creating fake blogs pretending to be a different person that shares the same name in order to push

down negative search results on the actual person or brand.[13]

Using spam bots and denial-of-service attacks to force sites with damaging content off the web

entirely.[13]

Astroturfing third-party websites by creating anonymous accounts that create positive reviews or lash

out against negative ones.[13]

Proactively offering free products to prominent reviewers.[14]

Proactively responding to public criticism stemming from recent changes.[14]

Ethics[edit]

The practice of reputation management raises many ethical considerations.[13]

There is no agreement

within the industry on where to draw the line on issues of disclosure, astroturfing and censorship. Firms

have been known to hire staff to pose as bloggers on third party sites without disclosing they were paid,

and some have been criticized for asking websites to remove negative posts.[4][11]

In some instances the

act of unethical reputation management can itself be risky to the reputation of the firm, if their tactics to

hide negative information are exposed.[15]

Some firms practice ethical forms of reputation management. The Online Reputation Management

Association tries to promote ethical best practices through a certification program.[4]

Google consider

there to be nothing inherently wrong with reputation management, but they may take action on companies

using spammy or manipulative techniques to alter search results.[12]

Google even introduced a toolset in

2011 for users to monitor their online identity and request removal of unwanted content.[16]

Many firms are

selective about clients they accept. For example, they may avoid individuals that committed violent crimes

that are looking to push information about their crimes lower on search results.[13]

Justification[edit]

According to a 2010 study by Microsoft and Cross-Tab Market Research, 70 percent of companies have

rejected candidates based on the candidate's online reputation, but only 7 percent of Americans believe it

affects their job search.[17]

A survey by CareerBuilder.com found that 1 in 4 hiring managers used search

engines to screen candidates. One in 10 also checked candidates' profiles on social networking sites

such as MySpace or Facebook.[18]

According to a December 2007 survey by the Ponemon Institute, a

privacy research organization, roughly half of U.S. hiring officials use the Internet in vetting job

applications.[19]

There are cases of reputable organizations or individuals—even those with newly created websites—that

may find their brand or name listed in search engine's suggestions as scam. Such negative suggestions

which are harmful to the reputation of the organization or individual are often caused by negative contents

on personal blogs, complaint sites, scraper sites, forums and comment sections. In such cases where it is

not possible to ask for the negative contents to be taken down, experts agree that reputation

management is justifiable in this regard, and some experts advise that the proper thing to do is to push

down the visibility of such negative search engine results through proactively publishing useful, positive

information about the organizations or individuals.[20]

See also[edit]

Impression management

Online identity management

Reputation capital

Spin (public relations)

References[edit]

1. ^ Paul Harris (August 1, 2010). "Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan... and you too. Why your reputation needs an

online detox". The Observer (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved August 3, 2012.

2. ^ Bruce Sterling (August 1, 2010). "Online "Reputation Management"".Wired (magazine) Blog. Condé Nast

Publications. Retrieved August 3, 2012.

3. ^ S. Jai, Shankar (June 1, 1999). "Reputation is everything". New Straits Times (Malaysia).

4. ^ a b c John Tozzi (April 30, 2008). "Do Reputation Management Services Work?". Bloomberg

Businessweek (Bloomberg L.P.). Retrieved August 3, 2012.

5. ^ Bilton, Nick (April 4, 2011). "The Growing Business of Online Reputation Management". The New York

Times. Retrieved June 12, 2012.

6. ^ Mills, Elinor (January 11, 2007). "Study: eBay sellers gaming the reputation system?". CNET. Retrieved

July 14, 2012.

7. ^ Lieb, Rebecca (July 10, 2012). "How Your Content Strategy Is Critical For Reputation

Management". MarketingLand. Retrieved June 12, 2012.

8. ^ "MT Masterclass - Reputation management". Management Today. May 1, 2007.

9. ^ Resnick, Paul; Zeckhause, Richard (May 2, 2001). Trust among strangers in internet transactions:

Empirical analysis of eBay's reputation system. Emerald Group Publishing

Limited. CiteSeerX: 10.1.1.123.5332.

10. ^ Stephan Spencer (September 12, 2007). "DIY reputation management". CNET (CBS Interactive).

Retrieved August 3, 2012.

11. ^ a b Thomas Hoffman (February 12, 2008). "Online reputation management is hot -- but is it

ethical?". Computerworld (John Amato). Retrieved August 3, 2012.

12. ^ a b Kinzie, Susan; Ellen Nakashima (July 2, 2007). "Calling In Pros to Refine Your Google Image". The

Washington Post. Retrieved July 12, 2012.

13. ^ a b c d e f g Krazit, Tom (January 11, 2011). "A primer on online reputation management". CNET. Retrieved

July 13, 2012.

14. ^ a b Thompson, Nicholas (June 23, 2003). "More Companies Pay Heed to Their 'Word of Mouse'

Reputation". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2012.

15. ^ "Reputation management: Glitzkrieg". The Economist (Economist Group). March 10, 2011. Retrieved

August 3, 2012.

16. ^ Kessler, Sarah (June 16, 2011). "Google Launches Tool for Online Reputation Management". Mashable.

Retrieved July 13, 2012.

17. ^ Purewal, Sarah (January 11, 2011). "How to clean up your online reputation". PCWorld. Retrieved July

13, 2012.

18. ^ Cristian Lupsa (November 29, 2006). "Do you need a Web publicist?". The Christian Science Monitor.

19. ^ Ellen Nakashima (March 7, 2007). "Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web". Washington Post.

20. ^ Susan Moskwa (October 15, 2009). "Managing your reputation through search results". Google Official

Blog. Retrieved August 3, 2012.