Measuring media image

One of the most important ways of building a good reputation is by creating a strong media image. Idea Engineers, Axius Publishing (publishers of Convergence magazine) and Media Tenor teamed up to launch the first annual Media Image Survey - the first comprehensive study of media coverage attracted by JSE-listed companies - the results of which were announced today. SABMiller took the top spot.

Says Mandy de Waal, founding partner at Idea Engineers: "A host of factors - including advertising, the opinions of community leaders and personal experience - influence consumers, employees and shareholders as they build up an image of a company in their minds. Unlike most of those factors, however, media image is easily measured using objective metrics."

"Media coverage plays an enormous role in shaping what people think and feel about companies. The greater the distance between the reader and a company, and the less experience he or she has of that company or market, the more profound the influence of the media image is on the reader's actual perception of the company," says de Waal.

Continuous media coverage with sustained volume 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.

In the wake of global international scandals such as Enron, Arthur Andersen, World-Com, Martha Stewart/ImClone and local ones such as MGX and CS Holdings, it has become more vital than ever for companies to communicate transparently with their shareholders and customers. In South Africa, a host of softer issues such as black economic empowerment, corporate social responsibility and human resources management have emerged as critical components of a company's reputation.

"Stakeholders, including media, employees, customers and investors, are placing increasing emphasis on factors other than financial performance and product quality in determining a company's image. Increasingly, issues such as ethics and corporate citizenship are moving onto the media agenda," says De Waal.

A good media image is created by combining a sound corporate communications strategy with a business that lives up to the values and ethics it promotes. Pure spin will not salvage a company's reputation when it runs into a crisis (and all companies encounter a crisis at some stage). However, a sustained and consistent communications strategy will allow the company to emerge from any storm with a good media and public image.