First objective Media Image Survey launched

Conceived by Idea Engineers and Media Tenor, the study is based on a rigorous, proven methodology that Media Tenor uses around the world for the analysis of media coverage. The methodology was developed in cooperation with leading academics from some of the world's top universities.

"In the past, media image has been measured in terms of advertising spend numbers or small polls and focus groups. These approaches do not give an accurate and objective reflection of media image.

"The Media Image Survey provides objective data about how well JSE listed companies are managing their media image. It provides quantifiable results that companies can use as an empirical measure of their media images," says Wadim Schreiner, managing director of Media Tenor.

Media Tenor specialises in continuous, comprehensive media content analysis and provides the methodologies and tools used in the survey to paint an accurate picture of the media image of JSE-listed companies. The system is based on a day-by-day analysis of leading print and electronic media. Contrary to other analyses, the empirical study does not utilize automated and computerized analysis techniques, it is not 'key word' based, but rather focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the media environment.

"Media coverage plays an enormous role in shaping what people think and feel about companies. The further distance there is between the reader and the company and the less experience he or she has of the company or market, the more profound the influence of the media image is on the reader's actual image of the company," says Mandy de Waal, founding partner at Idea Engineers.

De Waal says that companies with good reputations are able to charge a premium for their products and services, entice the best talent to work for them, attract investors, avoid over-regulation, lower their marketing and distribution costs and build up value for their shareholders. One of the most important ways of building a good reputation is by creating a strong media image.

"Continuous media coverage, with sustained volume and coverage, is a sure way of creating high awareness about a company in a market where customers and stakeholders have filtered out advertising clutter. More importantly, it offers a powerful way of shaping public perceptions about a company," adds De Waal.

Media Tenor surveyed the leading 21 business and mainstream media, both print and broadcast, over the 12 months, from January 1 2003 until December 31 2003 to establish which companies managed to achieve volume, quality and diversity in their press coverage, says Schreiner. During the course of the study, Media Tenor analysts examined 16 804 pieces of media coverage containing 393 041 statements on JSE companies and/or CEO's.

The media set included: Business Day, Beeld, Citizen, The Star (incorporating the Business Report), Sowetan, Pretoria News (excluding Business Report) and ThisDay; The Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, City Press, Rapport; Financial Mail, Finance Week; SABC news in Afrikaans, English, Zulu/Xhosa, Sotho, e.tv news and Business Tonight on SABC.

The aim of this survey is to identify the companies that managed to receive continuous coverage by the media in the form of independent editorial content (advertorials were excluded).

Media Tenor analysed every report in the selected media set on a daily basis to uncover mentions of JSE listed companies and/or the CEOs of those companies. A statement counted as any piece of information with at least five lines (or five seconds in case of broadcast media) with a subject, an individual topic as well as a source making the statement. For every change of subject, topic and/or source, a new statement was coded.

Throughout the analysis, Media Tenor looked at four categories: the volume of coverage; the tone of the coverage (positive, negative or neutral); share of voice; and the number of reputation factors addressed.

Media Tenor also looked at the amount of statements about the company attributed to its own spokespeople compared to comments about the company from other sources. Companies that have higher share of "voice" are generally doing a better job of managing their own media agenda than those with less share of voice.

Apart from the major category recognising media achievement for JSE listed companies, the study will look at which listed companies have achieved the best results in communications about a number of critical issues. These are corporate social investment (CSI), black economic empowerment (BEE), innovation, human (HR) resources and gender.

In addition, the industries that have collectively managed to build the best reputations and the CEOs who have managed to establish themselves as the most credible communicators will be acknowledged. 50 JSE companies have qualified as having the finest reputations, as rated by the media, in South Africa. Some of the qualifiers include: Standard Bank, Bidvest, Absa, Edcon, Sanlam, SAB Miller, Sanlam and Shoprite.

Following international scandals such as Enron, Arthur Andersen, World-Com, Martha Stewart/ImClone and local ones such as MGX and CS Holdings, it is more important than ever for companies to communicate transparently with their shareholders and customers. The Media Image Survey will let JSE-listed companies know just how well they are doing in meeting this imperative.