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After a summer hiatus, I am officially back to blogging! I’m back on twitter (add me here) and I’ve got a fresh new theme for the blog. It has randomly rotating image headers, hit refresh to check it out. Let me know if you like it!

Now, on to some content. Public Relations is largely about reputation - maintaining it, improving it or establishing it. Reputation will definitely be a big theme in my studies this term, so I thought I would look at a few quick ideas about reputation and Public Relations.

1. Reputation will have substantial influence on business results.

This is probably obvious, but it’s a point worth making just to illustrate the many ways reputation can aid a bottom line. Financial analysts take reputation into account when valuing investment opportunities, especially the reputation of those in charge. A poor reputation will have a direct impact on share price or the valuation of an organization.

It can hurt sales at the consumer level as well. Reputation for quality (or lack thereof) can make or break a company. The auto industry is a perfect example; Toyota and Honda continually sell more vehicles than their American competitors here in Canada, despite higher price tags. A Toyota or Honda will keep its value for years, based primarily on a reputation for longevity and quality. Meanwhile, American car companies like GM and Chrysler are struggling to survive, and their poor reputation isn’t helping any.

Reputation also plays a large role in recruiting. Attracting talented employees, and retaining them, is a key focus of successful organizations. Reputation goes a long way when recruiting. A recent study by Hill & Knowlton found that “three out of four MBA students say that corporate reputation plays an extremely or very important role when considering where to work.” (reference)

So it’s important, we get it, but how do we define it? I still favour Marcel Lebrun’s explanation, though I’m substituting Brand for Reputation here:

2. Reputation is the sum of conversations about your organization.

Reputation will include all elements of your company, not just what is churned out by the Marketing or PR departments. Nike, for example, is constantly creating stunning advertisements and sponsors some of the greatest athletes around the world. It also frequently invests in charitable organizations and supports many youth programs. However, part of their reputation still includes South East Asian children working in sweatshops. Why? There is a public perception that Nike makes products that way. Is it true? I don’t know, but the truth of it is irrelevant. What people believe shapes reputation, and reputation shapes business results.

So how can we manage reputation? I’ll be learning a lot more about this in the coming months, which I’ll be sure to post, but in the meantime here are some initial ideas:

• Listen

Knowing your own reputation is a crucial step. Identifying the gap between your self perception and your reputation will immediately identify where the work needs to be done.

• Engage your stakeholders

This can be done in any number of ways. Reputation is essentially the flow of stories about your organization, so communication and dialogue are vital allies.

• Invest in and inform your employees

Every single employee of an organization is a flag bearer for the organization’s reputation. Investing in employees not only improves performance, but also reputation. Communicating to and through employees keeps positive stories circulating. Keep employees out of the loop and you’re at the mercy of the rumour mill. 

• Listen again

Reputation is always changing, so keep that ear to the ground!

So there’s a quick rundown of reputation and its importance. It’s a good primer for the detailed analysis I’ll have to be doing in the next few months. If you have any comments or would like to further the discussion, please leave a comment below! Thanks for reading!