Trends & Tactics …

Harris Interactive's latest Reputation Quotient Survey
established new records - a fourth consecutive No. 1 spot for
Johnson & Johnson and a lowest-ever recorded reputation
quotient for Enron.

The bad news: 48 percent of respondents said the reputation of
corporate America declined "a lot," and another 31 percent said it
declined somewhat. The good news: Most of those respondents believe
there is hope for corporate America's reputation to improve.

Tactics: Study the reputation tactics of the leading
companies:

  1. Johnson & Johnson
  2. Harley Davidson
  3. Coca-Cola
  4. UPS
  5. General Mills
  6. Maytag
  7. Eastman Kodak
  8. Home Depot
  9. Dell
  10. 3M

In particular, Harley Davidson, General Mills and Eastman Kodak
were not among those ranked last year, and their tactics - i.e.
Harley's consistent positioning of the company as a purveyor of
rip-roarin' good times - could be applied to your own
organization.

There's a lesson in the losers, too: Enron lost the community's
trust. Make sure you are committed to your communities and that
your PR proves it again and again.