The Reputation Council report 2017

Our twelfth sitting explores how 127 communications leaders across 22 countries are responding to an increasingly fractured communications landscape. This year's report examines issues ranging from the impact of Brexit, and tweets from @realDonaldTrump, to the rise of corporate activism, and the implications of Amazon’s Alexa giving Jeff Bezos a microphone into millions of living rooms. Welcome to the latest report from the Ipsos reputation council.

Our recent Ipsos Global Trends Survey of citizens around the world highlighted the relationship between the speed of change in society and the sense of insecurity people have about their future. In many ways the same issues are impacting reputation management and the corporate environment.

With the pace of change quickening, many companies are feeling challenged just to keep up. The established order is breaking down and agents for progressive change are no longer drawn solely from the public sector – companies are redefining their role within the context of the wider world and for many this can feel like strange and uncharted waters.

Given this complex and dynamic environment, we decided to ask Council members about the challenges they face in their day to day activities. We wanted to know how the modern day corporate communicator coped with this changing landscape.

We also felt members may have some interesting thoughts about corporate activism – specifically when it’s right to take a stand and the risks and rewards of doing so. Building on this theme, we explored the importance of the ‘employer brand’ and asked the Reputation Council about its role in fostering reputation improvement from the inside and out.

In current times, we seem to have constant coverage around the importance of Millennials and the way in which companies are focusing on them in their communications strategies. We wanted Council members’ perspectives on this issue. Are Millennials truly a different audience from a communications perspective? Do they really have a unique take on the world and do they behave in a way that is fundamentally distinct from anyone else?

Finally, we wanted to talk to members about one of the most important commercial issues in reputation management – equity flow. Specifically, the way in which good will or equity can flow in either direction between corporate and product brand(s) and the benefits this can bring.

We hope you find this issue of The Reputation Council report to be of interest and, as ever, would welcome any thoughts or feedback you may have.