A poll of 1,000 opinion leaders found radio had more influence than any other media on corporate reputation. Television came second and print third, while online languished in fourth place.
The Thought Leadership Index 2009 was compiled by corporate and public affairs consultancy TLG. Polling company Populus spoke to 1,000 chief executives and other business leaders, permanent secretaries across Whitehall and leaders in media and the public sector.
The research suggests radio owes its primacy to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, which was seen as having far more impact on a company's reputation than any other media title. BBC News at Ten and Channel 4 News were also considered highly influential.
Among print titles, the Financial Times (FT) was seen to have the most impact on a company's reputation, followed by The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Among online media, the BBC website was considered most influential, followed by the online operations of the FT and Bloomburg.
The index is now in its third year. TLG founder Malcolm Gooderham said: ‘This year, for the first time, we have surveyed the influence of different media on brand reputation. Given the prevalence of new media companies being nominated as thought leaders, it may be surprising that the overwhelming winner in the media category is old media, and almost 100 years old at that.'
However, Gooderham suggested radio's reach and appeal was enhanced by innovations such as the iPlayer.
The opinion leaders were also asked to rank organisations according to their ‘thought leadership' credentials. They ranked this year's top five thought leaders as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and GSK.
Comments