Nine out of 10 people who responded to a recent survey about corporate communications believe corporate leadership recognizes the value of a strong corporate reputation and eight in 10 believe a strong corporate culture and value system are important, according to Michael Morley, deputy chairman of Edelman Worldwide in a statement about the new benchmark survey his company sponsored with several other organizations.
The study, "Corporate Communications Benchmark 1997," was sponsored by Edelman Worldwide, the Opinion Research Corp. and the Integrated Marketing Communications Department of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and is being touted as the first such in-depth look at the current state of strategic corporate communications.
Complete survey results, which will be released over the next three months as four separate modules, were based on responses from officials at more than 700 public companies. Among some other findings are:
- Coca-Cola, GE and IBM were cited as the most admired communicators;
- Ninety-seven percent of survey respondents indicate that their corporate communications programs place a high emphasis on an alignment with corporate business goals; and
- Financial performance was ranked by 95 percent of respondents as the most important issue corporate communicators are looking to address in the next two to three years.
(Edelman, 312/240-2685)