Image Credit: Jurvetson

Never have CEOs been under so much scrutiny.  Nearly half of a company’s reputation is attributable to its CEO, says the Burson-Marstellar “Building CEO Capital” report.  And ninety-two percent of business decision makers who view a CEO favorably are also likely to maintain confidence in a company, even if its share price lags.

During difficult and demanding times, a favorable CEO reputation is an insurance policy – it buys precious extra time and acts as a hedge of confidence.

Seven out of 11 industries saw their reputation decline in 2008 and 16 of the companies with the worst marks fell even further, according to the Harris Interactive Reputation QuotientTM (RQ) survey.

“What the RQ survey has shown in recent years is that companies that pay attention to enhancing their reputation see bottom line results. The companies with a good reputation have stayed near the top of the list and those with bad reputations have gotten worse,” says Robert Fronk, Senior Vice President, Senior Consultant, Reputation Strategy at Harris Interactive.
With the explosion of social media and online news, the place people are most likely to look for information about your company, and your CEO, is on the Internet. Online reputation and personal brand management is a must for CEOs today.

These are the areas  the RQ survey focus on that influence consumer behavior

* Social Responsibility
* Emotional Appeal
* Financial Performance
* Products & Services
* Vision & Thought Leadership

How does your CEO measure up? Do you have an online brand building program in place?

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