Corporate Communications Officers in World's Most Admired Companies Have Longer Tenures, Few Rivals and Report to the CEO

– New Study Underscores Critical and Evolving Role of the CCO –

– Forecasts CCOs Shifting Focus To Reputation, Social Responsibility and Social Media in 2008 –

NEW YORK, January 23, 2008 – A study released today identifies a strong correlation between a company’s corporate communications organization and the company’s ranking on Fortune magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list. Specifically, the study finds that the professional background, communications priorities, and inter-organizational relationships of the executive who leads the company’s corporate communications department – commonly referred to as the Chief Communications Officer (CCO) – are all meaningful indicators of the ability of a corporate communications organization to make a positive impact on a company’s reputation.

The survey, The Rising CCO, compares responses from communications officers in the “world’s most admired companies” with those in “contender companies” (generally, most admired companies are the most highly ranked companies in an industry on overall reputation; contender companies are ranked in the industry’s bottom half). The 141 survey participants were top corporate communications executives from Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Europe.

The survey, which was conducted by global executive search firm Spencer Stuart and global public relations firm Weber Shandwick with KRC Research, examines the changing role of today’s CCO.

"In a fast-paced and dynamic business environment, communications officers are increasingly seen as a business partner for the CEO and leadership team in the stewardship of a company’s reputation,” said George Jamison, Corporate Communications Practice Leader at Spencer Stuart. “CCOs are expected to create value and mitigate risks for the corporation by developing innovative strategies to proactively communicate with a company’s myriad stakeholders."

The research found that communications executives in the world’s most highly regarded companies have more prominent organizational status and longer tenures than their counterparts in contender companies. Additionally, approximately one-third of CCOs from the most admired companies cite corporate reputation as their number one priority for 2008, compared to fewer than one-quarter of CCOs from contender companies (34 vs. 21 percent, respectively). Contender company communications executives said they were spending more time working on product-related issues and crisis communications, while most admired CCOs said they spent more time on corporate social responsibility and building corporate reputation.

"Our research identifies how the corporate communications function can be a critical force in driving a company’s reputation in good times and bad," said Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist at Weber Shandwick and leading corporate and CEO reputation expert. "With the right organizational structure and partnership at the top, the best CCOs can significantly contribute to building shareholder value and corporate reputation."

Other key findings are:

• CCOs’ responsibilities will increasingly shift from tactical to strategic. While CCOs are carving out their role as strategic partners at the highest levels of business, they view work today as predominately tactical (58 percent tactical, 42 percent strategic). This imbalance, as reported by those surveyed, is sure to change as focus shifts from financial communications, media relations and internal communications to the broader strategic issues of environmental/social responsibility and corporate reputation. The tools used to perform their jobs will expand as well, with blogging/social media and corporate Web sites becoming increasingly important.
• CCOs hold prominent positions at the world’s largest companies. Nearly one-half surveyed report directly to the chief executive officer (48 percent) and are visible to their boards (had a median seven interactions with their board during the past year).
• CCOs and CMOs are friends and rivals. CCOs’ dynamic relationship with chief marketing officers (CMOs)–often a main rival and ally–reflects the growing influence of communications in today’s marketing mix.
• Measurement of CCO effectiveness is predominately qualitative. The vast majority of those surveyed report being measured on qualitative measures such as “positive” media coverage (75 percent) and CEOs’ “gut” feel (73 percent). They are least likely to be measured by quantitative metrics such as the number of media mentions (35 percent) and ability to control costs (32 percent).





About The Rising CCO

Research participants included 141 senior corporate communications professionals at the largest Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Europe. The survey was conducted online with KRC Research in July/August 2007 and represents the first in a series among this segment.

About Spencer Stuart

Spencer Stuart is one of the world’s leading executive search consulting firms. Privately held since 1956, Spencer Stuart applies its extensive knowledge of industries, functions and talent to advise select clients – ranging from major multinationals to emerging companies to nonprofit organizations–and address their leadership requirements. Through 51 offices in 27 countries and a broad range of practice groups, Spencer Stuart consultants focus on senior-level executive search, board director appointments, succession planning and in-depth senior executive management assessments. For more information on Spencer Stuart, please visit www.spencerstuart.com.

About Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick is one of the world's leading global public relations firms with offices in major media, business and government capitals around the world. The firm specializes in strategic marketing communications, media relations, public affairs, reputation and issues management, and offers corporate communications counseling services. Weber Shandwick also provides specialized integrated services including Web relations, advocacy advertising, market research and visual communications. Weber Shandwick received the highest client-satisfaction honors in the 2007 Agency Excellence Survey by PRWeek U.S. and in 2006, was named Large PR Firm of the Year (PR News U.S.), European Consultancy of the Year (The Holmes Report) and Network of the Year (Asia Pacific PR Awards). The firm also won the United Nations Grand Award for outstanding achievement in public relations. To learn more, please visit www.webershandwick.com. Weber Shandwick is a unit of The Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), which is one of the world's leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services companies.

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