With apologies to Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., surprise, surprise. The
corporate scandals that have dominated the business headlines for
the last few years have started to take a toll on the nation's
journalists and are changing the way they ultimately report company
news, according to a just-released study. The Euro RSCG Magnet
Survey of Media found a growing distrust of senior executives and
other established sources of business news and reveals a
credibility crisis that spans all of corporate America and not just
those companies embroiled in crisis. According to the survey, based
on the responses from 1,875 journalists working at newspapers,
magazines and broadcast outlets nationwide, journalists are more
likely to be influenced by "consumers' experiences with a company,
the quality of that company's products or its status as an industry
innovator than by the assessments and pronouncements of its CEO."
The survey, with long-term implications for communications execs,
also found that:
- Only 14% of respondents say they are very likely to be informed
by CEOs. CEOs fell to ninth place from last year's fourth place as
the most-frequently cited sources - 46% say product quality is an absolutely critical element when
reporting on a company in general; 31% said they consider product
quality more carefully this year - About 80% said innovation is important when measuring a
company's success while 33% consider innovations more carefully and
24% believe it is the most critical element when evaluating a
company overall - 32% said they consider customer satisfaction at the companies
they cover more carefully today than they did a year ago
Meanwhile, Euro RSCG Life, the healthcare division of Euro RSCG
Worlwide, last week announced that it had acquired Esquema, one of
Spain's largest independent healthcare advertising agencies, and
Medea, an independent medical education company. Terms on both
deals were not disclosed. Called Euro RSCG life Esquema and Euro
RSCG Life Medea, respectively, the companies will offer marketing
communications to pharmaceutical companies from offices in Madrid.
Clients include Abbott, Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb & Serono
and Cinfa.