US Reputation Survey tells it how it is published October 01 Australian media, due to its relative embryonic stage in researching and reporting on corporate health and appeal, often rank companies by financial size, rather than by reputation or favourability. Not so in the USA. One of the most reputable - FORTUNE®/Roper Corporate Reputation IndexTM - has some colourful descriptions and leaves companies no doubt as to where they stand. There are 'winners' which enjoy high favour and are likely to be highly recommended. The 'losers' score low in favour and recommendation. Then there is the 'unknown' and 'unloved' category where low familiarity and favourability rule. In a slightly better position are 'meteors' or 'cults'. These are companies that enjoy high ratings among those who know them, but whose growth is held back by low familiarity. 'Vulnerables' are companies that score low in favour, but are highly recommended because there is not much choice, nor a better alternative, in the category. And heaven help the CEO of an 'irrelevant'. These companies rank high in favour, but low in recommendations because people apparently don't know anybody who can use their products. Only slightly better is the 'fallen star' category. These rate high in familiarity, but low in public favour. The FORTUNE®/Roper Corporate Reputation IndexTM comments that "corporate reputation has become a key strategic weapon in today's management arsenal" and that the annual study "gives companies a deeper understanding of how reputation works for and against corporate performance". One wonders whether, if these non-nonsense descriptions were introduced in Australia, CEOs would suddenly start to take corporate reputation and public relations more seriously.

PR Influences Australian Public Relations Newsletter. Article: Research: US Corporate Reputation Survey tells all. Information Content: Corporate Communications, Reputation & Research