Building on a good reputation.

Visit almost any city or major town in the world and you will be confronted by the same images, the same brand names — Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Nestle, Nike, VW.

Globalisation has arrived.

Propaganda and simple “image” is no longer enough for the world’s increasingly sophisticated consumers. They can tell what is real.

Investors and customers must be turned into enthusiastic advocates and PR is particularly well suited to the business of building loyalty and advocacy. It is called reputation management.

As Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and others have discovered, business exists with public permission and by public approval.

This is what reputation management is all about, and it goes beyond press releases about launching a new product or appointing a new executive. Historically, public relations was a skill practised by wordsmiths, to present bad news favourably. While it is still necessary to manage bad news, the function of public relations has changed rather substantially.

That bad news travels fast is even more true today. No business can escape the technological revolution and the media explosion. All those who have dealings with a business, from employees to shareholders to customers will ask: “Is this a company with which I wish to deal? What are its values? What does it stand for?”

The efficiency with which answers are communicated and demonstrated, is what sets a business apart from its competition. There are five main things affecting the future of PR:

Globalisation, which is also powering an opposite force making people value what is local and regional. That means communication has to combine global strategy with sensitivity to local impact, a fact which applies no less to national communication programmes.

Technology: The advent of the Internet is only the beginning of social transformation. It allows organisations to communicate directly with individuals, and…

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