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Role of corporate communications in building brand and managing reputations

Reporters and Public Relations (PR) professionals play a vital role in our society, economy, and lives by facilitating the sharing of information with the public that assists with daily decision making processes. Reporters work as a watchdog, trying to uncover issues and create change by providing consumers with information that they may not otherwise discover and that can be used to form opinions, take action, or better understand a trend that is relevant to them.

PR Professionals manage communication for organizations and work with the media to reach their organization’s target audiences. Depending on the circumstances, communication with the media can be in response to an inquiry, to provide information that the public needs, or to promote the organization’s products, services, and other activities.

Management teams appreciate PR professionals because of their ability to manage relationships internally and externally to the benefit of the organization. PR professionals also earn appreciation for bringing an objective perspective to break up the positive asymmetric cultural exaggeration of best case scenarios or the most optimistic outcomes (Weick/Sutcliffe 2015).

PR Professionals work closely with their organization’s management team to develop communication strategies to manage the unexpected and conduct media training to prepare team members to speak with reporters. While news reporters work diligently to be seen as objective, the demand for stories with conflict, drama, and other elements of breaking news remains high in a competitive media environment.

In this environment, providing the wrong response can create a new crisis unintentionally. Also, reporters investigate facts and look for experts or participants to provide insight and analysis to affirm reactions to an event and to evaluate the participant’s credibility which impacts their reputation.

According to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, 76% of the trust capital of a business is driven by integrity, dependability, and purpose. Reputations are widely recognized as valuable and intangible as well as a reflection of the organization – stakeholder relationship (Combs 2019). While the media are considered a secondary stakeholder, they do have the ability to create a crisis through news stories and an organization’s relationship with this stakeholder group is very important.

Journalists appreciate crisis PR professionals because they can gather the facts, provide access to key stakeholders, and act as an internal journalist inside the organization. PR professionals must push the organization to uncover facts and gather information to effectively manage issues because it is important to get ahead of the story and to tell the story yourself. Journalists also appreciate PR professionals because we make their life easier. According to the fourth commandment of damage control, details matter and we must provide people with full disclosure of the core facts with accurate details and specificity.

In today’s business environment, PR professionals must be proactive in identifying potential issues internally to bring about a resolution before it becomes a crisis because the best way to manage a crisis is not to have one (Combs 2019). Externally, PR people must engage stakeholders in a credible and trustworthy way to ensure success.

To learn more about how Harrison Communications Company can assist you in managing your reputation and building relationships witht he media, please contact us below or directly view the menu on the top right corner of page.

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