NEW YORK: More than 85% of the nation’s chief executive officers believe that public relations will become more important in the next five years, according to a new study by PRWeek.
NEW YORK: More than 85% of the nation’s chief executive officers
believe that public relations will become more important in the next
five years, according to a new study by PRWeek.
The PRWeek/Burson-Marsteller CEO Report 1999 - which polled 269 CEOs
from multi-billion dollar Fortune 500 companies to small- and
medium-size businesses with revenues of less than dollars 1 billion -
also revealed that 85.5% of CEOs believe that effective management of
corporate reputation affects stock performance. And in the largest
companies (those with revenues in excess of dollars 5 billion), nine out
of every 10 CEOs correlate a company’s reputation to the bottom line,
while 100% agree that PR will increasingly become more important.
CEOs are also taking the lead in hiring their top PR personnel, with 85%
of respondents now hand-picking their heads of corporate
communications.
The CEOs were also asked about the Internet and what impact it has in
managing corporate reputation. Not surprisingly, 65% of the CEOs from
smaller companies (under dollars 1 billion) believe the Internet has an
important role, while only 54% of CEOs from the larger ones (over
dollars 5 billion) believe in the importance of new media in reputation
management.
The CEO respondents were also asked to name their peers who most and
least skillfully managed the reputation of their companies over the last
12 months. The executives, who cast their votes prior to the recent
Microsoft court ruling, paradoxically cited Microsoft chief Bill Gates
as the CEO who did both the best and worst job at managing his company’s
image (see story, p.3).
’The anti-trust trial has damaged Microsoft’s reputation but not its
financial performance or market position, and CEOs envy both,’ said
PRWeek editor-in-chief Adam Leyland. ’Plus, several CEOs mentioned his
establishment of a billion-dollar charity trust and his appearances on
popular daytime shows.’
- Full Report and Analysis, p25.
