Corporate communication

Vision-Culture Gap

Does the organization practise the values it promotes?

Does the organization's vision inspire all its subcultures?

Are the organization's vision and culture sufficiently differentiated from those of its competitors?

There is a potential for misalignment here when senior managers move the organization in a strategic direction that employees do not understand or support.

Culture-Image Gap

What images do stakeholders associate with the organization?

In what ways do its employees and stakeholders interact?

Do employees care what stakeholders think of the organization?

Misalignment between an organization's image and organizational culture leads to confusion amongst stakeholders about what a company stands for. For example, employees of the organization may not practice what the company preaches in its advertising, leaving a tarnished image with its stakeholders.

Image-Vision Gap

Who are the organization's stakeholders?

What do the stakeholders expect from the organization?

What do stakeholders want from the organization? - Is the organization effectively communicating its vision to its stakeholders? There is a potential for misalignment here when organizations do not sufficiently listen to their stakeholders and create strategic visions that are not aligned with what stakeholders want or expect from the company.

MEDIA RELATIONS (8)

They are a key area of corporate communications and a vital tool to create, strengthen and shape public opinion that every company should have. "If you don't get out and tell your story, someone else will and you won't like the way they tell it." - Harold Burson. There will always be someone to speak about you in a way that could damage your image, it's always better to be the one to tell the story. Media will eventually speak about us, whether we decide to cooperate or not. We can either decide to tell them our point of view or we can let them come to their conclusions. If we are able to provide them with information/interviews when asked,

it is much more likely that the resulting news coverage will project a strong and uniform corporate message and enhance the company's reputation. You can hope that at the end of the day, the story that comes out on the media will be as close as possible as your version of the story.

Media relation has no granted results, even if you do the right things. MR tries to persuade other people to tell your version of a story.

Who is involved in the process?

• companies/institutions/organizations
• Journalists, they have personal beliefs and understanding, attitudes towards you and your organization
• Media, the organization for which the journalist works
• PR agencies, they are facilitators specialized in dealing with media. They help companies to deliver the message to the right media. It is an organization specialized in protecting, strengthening or building the reputation of its clients, mainly through the media but not limiting to that (institutions, associations, public)

Production of news usually involves two levels: journalists and news routines (copy editors, etc). This distinction between journalists and news routines is important for corporate communication practitioners because it illustrates the variety of influences on the production of news content and points to the limited degree of control that journalists producing stories about organizations actually have on the whole process.

Journalists may talk to sources, cover a story but in the end not even recognize their own story when it goes to print. This is because, at the level of copy editors, there are many other people involved in the writing process that affects the story. For example, an internet blog written by an individual journalist is subject to less rigorous scrutiny and editing than an article published in a daily newspaper.

Editors decide based on multiple potential stories what is, in terms of timing and readership, the relevance of a particular story for the medium's audience. This has sometimes been

Described as media logic, which refers to the ideological frame of reference of a news organization which influences how editors and journalists see, interpret and cover political, corporate and social affairs. A logic underpins media coverage, including how material is organized, the style in which it is presented, the focus or emphasis, and the grammar and wording of an article.

NEWS COVERAGE AND CORPORATE REPUTATION

In general, media coverage of an organization can have a significant influence on the corporate reputation. Ranging from reports on annual results to investigation of corporate issues, media coverage may often have an amplifying effect on a company's reputation when good or bad news are reported.

This amplifying effect has been studied through the lens of the agenda-setting theory. It argues that the frequency with which media report on a public or political issue determines that issue's salience in the minds of the general public. In other words, the press may not be

successful to telpeople what to think, but they sure are at telling people what to think about. The public will useThe news media thus set the publicthe input from media to decide which issues are important.agenda. two levels:The agenda setting theory is based onobjects1) the of news coverage, such as political candidates, nation states or organizations.The focus is on the salience of a particular entity and the degree to which it readily comes tomind when a particular topic, such as an issue or industry is being discussed.framing,2) The news media can also influence how people think about a topic by selecting andplacing emphasis on certain attributes or associations, and ignoring others. The focus here isnot only on whether people think about a topic, but also on how they do so in terms of certainassociations or affective judgements.The second level of agenda-setting suggests that news sources reports facts and observationsMedia favourabilitybut are also influenced by feelings.

1. The overall evaluation of a firm presented in the media resulting from the streams of stories about the firm.
2. David Deephouse argues that media not only convey information, they actually make and represent reputational favorable assessment to their audiences.
3. Deephouse referred to news coverage when an organization was praised for its actions or was associated with activities that should raise its unfavorable reputation, whilst coverage referred to reporting in which an organization was neutral criticized for its actions or associated with actions that should decrease its reputation.
4. A rating identified a story that was the declarative reporting of role performance without evaluative modifiers.
5. Organizations should seek to cultivate positive evaluations by the media through releasing well-placed stories that report on organizational actions (charity) or significant newsworthy events.
6. What do media want from us?
   • News
   • Experts opinions
   • Innovation (scientific discoveries)
   • Interesting statements

There are people who build their public reputation with powerful statements, but they can also be very dangerous.

- Simplified complexity

- Numbers (fresh, new and meaningful)

- Impacts (economic, local, scientific…)

On the other hand, media often get only promotions, corporate ‘machines’ (those people who say very standardized messages and not giving interesting messages), false or useless information.

How to be relevant:

- strict deadlines:

Journalists work with very those who make them waste time will rarely get a second opportunity.

If journalists don’t obtain the information directly from us they will find a different source (even a competitor) to find the information they require. Press conferences are rarely held and only when there is major news. Its really hard for media organization to have people at press conferences.

Try to know:

- as much as you can about the journalist you’re talking to (journalist have personal lives)

- which other journalist have already

When preparing to speak about your topic, it is important to be prepared to face journalist competitors. Here are some key points to consider:

• Stay updated on the main news of the day.
• Research what the journalist you are speaking to has written in the last few days and which topics have been covered by their outlet in the past week. Show them that you appreciate their work and that you are interested.
• Utilize data to support the story you are telling. Facts, the most up-to-date graphs, future trends, calculations on operations and the marketplace, as well as examples or case studies are always interesting.
• If you don't have your own data, refer to public sources.
• If necessary, refer to certified third parties (unless it is something related to your own sales numbers).