Güven Kurumları ve İtibar Yönetimi Oturumu Dr. Ayten GÖRGÜN SMITH

Media and Reputation Management

Ayten Görgün Smith Ph.D.

02.10.2012 2 Uluslararası İtibar Yönetimi Konferansı

Reputation

• R and RM have attracted a great deal of attention among O’s.

• Corporate Reputation Competitiveness, Corporate Responsibility, Cultural Representations, Risk Management, Measurement.

Entity

• Social entity: The result of social evaluation on a set of criteria.

• Distributed, socially ascribed and collective belief of a society.

• Contribution of stronger social status and influence.

• Reliant on contextual features, societal values, and environmental goals of the target domain.

I and Supra I

• It can be everywhere, spontaneous and highly efficient mechanism.

• Individual and supra-individual. At SI, it concerns groups, communities, collectives and abstract social entities. It is fundamental of social order, based upon distributed, spontaneous social control.

• R is one of many signals providing information about the likely behaviour of an individual.

Differs

• In human societies, one reputation differs in a certain contexts.

• South and north faces: The formalization of different contexts may have different influences on each others.

• Reputation values for each entity in multi-context environments.

• Given as the beliefs/opinions: Generally held about someone/something.

Multi headed

• Trust and commitment of a company’s complete universe of stakeholders- employees, vendors, customers, partners and communities.

• People factor and multi headed

Ultimation

• Widespread belief: Habit or characteristics.

• There is no exact determination of the ultimate reputation.

• R is dynamic and changes based on the person’s behaviour in social processes.

• Improve or damage his/her initial R through social interactions within the framework of new context.

Corporate Reputation

• It reflects collective views about an organization or an overall assessment of an organization by stake holders.

• The collective nature of reputation reflects an aggregate of views held by multiple stakeholders about an organization.

• OR is an objective reality for the O eventhough it is subjectively created by outside observers.

Media

• Media: Information-audio/visual devices.

• Media maelstrom

• Media (land) mine

• Media cornucopia

02.10.2012 10 Uluslararası İtibar Yönetimi Konferansı

6 dimensions

• Organizational’s culture and management

• Its products and services

• Success

• Corporate responsibility

• Public image

• Ability to change and develop

Media itself

• Win-win

• Media firms try to build a reputation for truthful reporting, and consumers’ assessments of the quality of news source depend on prior beliefs.

• Media firms’ desire to maintain a reputation for accuracy in reporting.

• Strong connection between subjects’ prior views and their assessments of information sources.

Media Environment

• Media environment, we need to answer basic questions about how they fit into society.

1. “What are we, as believers in the percepts of

PRs, Advertising, Journalism, Media Entertainment, to do?

2. What are our obligations?

3. To whom are we accountable?

4. What are the consequences of doing a good job, or a poor one?

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Media Reputation

• This definition captures such key feauters of reputation as instability, roots in multiple experiences, and the influences of environmental factors that an organization cannot control. It particularly reflects the nature of reputation as depicted in the media, which, means record public knowledge and opinions about firms and influence public knowledge and opinions about firms.

Scenario

• Communications may not ensure that every scenario will proceed so positively, especially if massive lay-offs are anticipated.

• Cogent and consistent communications can help companies can get the deal going on the right foot by exercising more control over the transaction environment and public relations.

Phenomenon

• Media reputation is a phenomenon, a collective concept connecting the firm, media workers, stakeholders, sources of news about firms, and the readers of news that develops over time through a complex social process.

• Editor revenue.

Dependency

• Dependency on media

• Delibrate, managed and planned information

• The role of PRs in the set of Management of O social ecology, conceptualisations of OR through the property of cultural selection.

• Canvassing-spreading the news

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Reputation in Media

• Rising polarization and falling trust in the news media has prompted concerns about the market’s ability to deliver credible information to the public.

• A media firm wants to build a reputation as a provider of accurate information.

Reputation in Media

• R as instability, roots in multiple experiences, and the influences of environmental factors that an organization cannot control.

• It particularly reflects the nature of reputation as depicted in the media, which, means record public knowledge and opinions about firms and influence public knowledge and opinions about firms.

Ethics

• Doing ethics.

• Matter of choosing between right and wrong/good or bad.

• Not always black and white-salt and pepper.

• Rainbow gray/We can not resolve them simply by doing/saying things.

• It deals with decision making-Good/bad/right/wrong.

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Journalism

• Gathering information-Converting into powerful new stories.

• Communication castle with centuries brickets.

• Press mission-functions

• Should not be there/should not say that

• News values (negativism)

• News writing artchitect

02.10.2012 21 Uluslararası İtibar Yönetimi Konferansı

Positive news

• Countering a negative with a positive- Generally speaking, it is strategically sound to proactively unveil customer-friendly business or social responsibility initiatives in tandem with the merger announcement.

• Positive news is a powerful tool to reinforce overall confidence in the company’s vision and minimize concerns assoicated with the merger.

Google

• Media themselves act not only as vehicles for advertising and mirrors of reality reflecting firms actions, but also as active agents shaping information through editorials and feature articles.

• Google is like an high street.

• Agenda setting.

• Public relations, corporate communications, corparate affairs, corparate relations: RM

Footprints

• More than half of adult internet users say they have used a search engine to look up their name and see what information was available about them online.

• Digital footprints.

• Privacy settings on their profile.

Media coverage

• Theoretical propositions about the influence of news coverage on CR are as follows:

• The greater the amount of media coverage, the greater the public awareness

• Attributes emphasized in media coverage become attributes the public uses to define a firm.

• The valence of media coverage, positive or negative, is reflected in corresponding public perceptions about those attributes and

• The substantive and affective attributes associated with a firm in business news coverage prime public attitudes about that firm. Thus, media coverage helps to shape an entity’s reputation by estasblishing called media reputation.

Crisis

• Well-executed communications/earliest stages/create a positive framework-generate goodwil,

• Failure: Can lead to a never-ending game of catch-up in which the tone of the news and perception of the transaction are continually set by other.

Silence

• The most effective setting is one that allows a CEO to demonstrate sincerity and face tough

questions. As the primary goal of damage control strategies is rebuilding trust and credibility among internal and external stakeholders, the willingness to communicate openly and honestly is a vital first step. Silence in the situations is definitely not golden.

In absence of communication, every action or inaction is interpreted as a message and can raise more questions than it answers.

Crisis

• Good reputation is the first line of defense in a crisis, it should not be thought of as static or indestructible.

• CR must be proactively and consistently reinforced through both words and deeds.

• There is a clear path to controlling dangerous, safeguarding reputation, and increasing the chances for a positive transaction outcome.

Collapse

• The building blocks of the corporate reputation can collapse in one second.

• Vision and values: A compilation of strategy, integrity, innovation and consistency.

• Culture, character and commodities: The totality of products and services, workplace, financials, management team, and partners.

• Community and thought leadership: A combination of philanthropy, social responsibility, and industry/category.

Word of mouth

• Positive word of mouth and goodwill for the company-the true currency of CR.

• CR as critical to achieving business goals and staying competitive.

• R plays a significant role in driving share value, influencing consumer decisions, commanding premium pricing, and attracting and retaining talent.

Syntehiss

• Synthesis of O stakeholder’s collective opinions and attitudes expressed about the O.

• It is defined as self-descriptors/identity claims for specifying-most central for the O.

• Enduring and/or most distinctive about the O.

• The role of PRs in the set of Management of O social ecology, conceptualisations of OR through the property of cultural selection.

Step 1

• Making communications a mission-critical part of the merger planning and implementation process.

• An effective communications strategy means involving communications professionals in the earliest stages of decisionmaking and allotting the resources necessary to execute a comprehensive campaign.

Step 2

• Tailoring a multi-platform external communication strategy with a defined set of goals and messages that clearly emphasizes the business proposition behind the transaction.

• Communications positioning for the merger should dovetail with business objectives, underscoring the need for early and ongoing interface btw a company’s financial, legal, communications advisers.

Detailed media plan

• The key element to a successful communications program, is a detailed media plan.

• As the universal channel for all stakeholder groups, the media could be a merger’s best friend or worst enemy- a force for equalizing the message to all constituents or alternatively heaping fuel on the fire of negative speculation.

Media function

• Understanding how the media function is vital to crafting a strategy.

• The media operate as a pack. • Setting the direction for content and tone of news

coverage across the country. • In a scenario, where senior management’s time may be

limited, it is most effective to focus on a ‘lead steer’ in the mainstream media as well as the trade organs that cover the company’s specific business sector, ensure that they hear the news firs, and provide them with ample access to executives throughout the announcement phase.

Which media

• Another important consideration is determining which media-e.g., newspapers, TV, e-mails, newsletters, Internet- are most useful in reaching various audiences and accounting for the nuances of the company’s particular industry.

• Identifying and addressing core issues directly and quickly with clients, investors, vendors,and community officials should assuage concerns and make stakeholders less susceptible to external influences, incorrect pundirtry, and competitive saying.

Step 3

• Because of the importance of employees, there must be an equally aggresive emphasis on internal communications.

• High-frequency communications are the key to successfully disarming an active employee.

• This includes sharing information as soon as possible regarding what the merger means and, perhaps more importantly, what it does not mean, while reinforcing messages through numerous channels on an ongoing basis.

Releases

• Public relations practitioners fundamentally operate as frame strategies attempting to shape media coverage – and indirectly, media reputation –through strategic framing in news subsidies like releases.

• A framing entails selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/or solution.

• However, this type of active framing also shares media space with less predictable or controlled depictions.

Antidote

• Event the most strategic and substantive communications program will not resonate or achieve its desired results if employees and management aren not preaching from the same pulpit.

• Open lines of sincere, forthright communication directly from the top engender trust and serve as the antidote, and the essence of CR.

Teambuilding

• A clearly outlined vision of benefits associated with the merger fosters a sense of organizational unity and helps employees vest in the future of the new company.

• The concept of teambuilding within a merger context is particularly crucial, because the media can promote a sense of divisiveness by harping on the often sizeable individiual compensation packages of top executives while offering sometimes ill-advised assumptions about company-wide job security.

Monitor media

• The only way to truly assess the eficacy of and make necessary adjustments to a communicatinos program is through benchmarking and measurement.

• A company should regularly monitor media coverage, investor attitudes, customer opinions, and employee feedback and fine-tune the message whenever it appears the desired messages are not going through.

News travel

• The following principles of issues management are designed to restore trust and minimize damage to reputation:

• Leveraging the media: In an era when news travels fast, the media represents a powerful force to get company positioning and messaging across quickly.

• There are several possible ways to use the media, including news conferences, one-in-one interviews, op-ed articles, and press statements.

Media coverage

• Broad media coverage of key influence group support will trickle down to all stakeholders, potentially allaying some fears and casting the transaction in a more positive light.

• Ensuring a solid integration process – The best way to minimize damage to brand and executive reputation in the long term is through a thoughtful and systematic integration process.

Human dynamic

• Developing a contingency plan.

• Managing the human dynamic is important.

• Misinformation and speculation among a company’s key constituencies, first and foremost employees, impedes sales and productivity, tarnishes reputation, and threatens the viability of the combination.

Multi-perspective

• The production of media reputation through the interaction of multi-perspectives –public relations output, media news values, type of events.

• This concept of media reputation is apt to be more disorderly and diffuse than strategic and targeted, a collective concept connecting the firm, media workers, stakeholders, sources of news about firms, and the readers of news.