Each consumer now has the power to be a journalist, reviewer, and whistle blower. The prevalence of social media has made it possible to alter a brand’s reputation with a single viral post, or spark a political movement with a hashtag. This new landscape requires a strategic plasticity and careful consideration of how the public will react to an organization’s actions. Participation in social media is mandatory for a brand’s success in this highly competitive online era. Managing Public Relations and Brand Image through Social Media provides the latest research and theoretical framework necessary to find ease in the shifting public relations and reputation management worlds. It provides an overview of the tools and skills necessary to deftly sidestep public affronts and to effectively use online outlets to enhance an organization’s visibility and reputation. This publication targets policy makers, website developers, students and educators of public relations, PR and advertising professionals, and organizations who wish to better understand the effects of social media.

Brands – corporate, products, service – today are collectively defined by their customers, deriving from personal experiences and word of mouth. This book acts as a forum for examining current and future trends in corporate branding, identity, image and reputation. Recognising the complexity and plurality at the heart of the corporate branding discipline, this book fills a gap in the literature by posing a number of original research questions on the intrinsic nature of corporate branding ideas from corporate (external) and organisation (internal) identity perspectives as they relate to brand management, corporate reputation, marketing communications, social media, smart technology, experiential and sensory marketing. It incorporates current thinking and developments by both multidisciplinary academics and practitioners, combining a comprehensive theoretical foundation with practical insights. The text will serve as an important resource for the marketing, identity and brand practitioners requiring more than anecdotal evidence on the structure and operation of stakeholders communication in different geographical areas. It determines current practices and researches in diverse areas, regions and commercial and non-commercial sectors across the world. The book provides scholars, researchers and postgraduate students in business and marketing with a comprehensive treatment of the nature of relationships between companies, brands and stakeholders in different areas and regions of the world.

Tackling head-on the problem of defining and managing an organizational image, especially in a crisis, Gray offers detailed guidelines for setting up a successful image program that communicates well with an organization's constituency. Through case studies, interviews with executives, and theory, he also examines how organizations have coped with enhancing and reshaping public perceptions. Association Management James G. Gray, Jr., deals directly with the problem of defining and managing the corporate image, especially in times of crisis. While examining the concept of corporate image, he offers detailed guidelines for establishing a corporate image program that communicates effectively with a corporation's various constituencies. Blending practical business case studies, interviews with business leaders, and public communications theory, he examines how companies like Atlantic Richfield, Johnson and Johnson, Sovran Bank, and Giant Food have coped with enhancing and reshaping public perceptions. Gray considers the role of management, media relations, employee concerns, community relations, consumer concerns, external visual image symbols (vital components of a corporate image program, as well as strategies of concern to business/government relations), corporate PACs, and lobbying. He clearly defines the publics of major concern to industry and offers guidelines for managing the corporate image with these publics. Finally, he offers a means of measuring the effectiveness and success of the image-making methods and concepts he proposes. This checklist is especially useful for assessing the value of existing programs and for establishing new ones.

What determines the strength of a corporate brand? And how can it be enhanced? A corporate brand conveys a company's reputation to its audience. It is about far more than names and logos. A successful corporate brand links the corporate name to the company's distinctive qualities such as service or value. This book's fundamental premise is that organisations should use all forms of communication - be they performance of products and services, the action of employees or advertising - to build interactive relationships with their audience. It shows how successful corporate brands build and maintain both 'corporate identity' and reputation.

In a market cluttered with big and small companies competing for the consumer's attention, public image becomes more critical than ever to the success of any business. Veronica Napoles's Corporate Identity Design provides a practical tool for designing and implementing a successful, comprehensive corporate identity program. It is an invaluable resource, since fashioning a powerful and accessible identity is a company's best bet for capturing the attention of consumers. Napoles explains the difference between corporate image--how a company is actually perceived by the public--and identity--how it wants to be perceived--and shows how to close the gap between the two. In doing so, she goes beyond previous books on the subject and anticipates the needs of consumers by incorporating elements of behavioral psychology into the design process. Corporate Identity Design is not merely a picture book or an anthology of symbols, but a comprehensive, detailed examination of all factors that lead to the choice and refinement of a corporate identity. Napoles's concise, step-by-step overview looks at all phases of the corporate identity design process, including: * recognizing the need for corporate identity adjustment * selecting a basic symbol category from which to choose * deciding on and refining a chosen symbol * implementing a careful, intelligent program for phasing in the new corporate identity and ensuring its acceptance by the public. The book includes dozens of helpful illustrations, a sample design proposal, questionnnaires, design briefs, and a color chart. In addition, Napoles provides guidelines for changing a company name, including information on basic name categories and the categories and the creative process for developing and evaluating names. These and other features make Corporate Identity Design the definitive work for establishing quick and accurate image/identity relationships in the mind of the public. Design students and professionals, public relations and communications officers, and top-level management personnel will all find Corporate Identity Design a continuing resource for ideas, information, and inspiration.

Reputation is becoming an imperative business function that influences strategic decisions including the direction of a business plan and how an organization should be communicating with its stakeholders and publics. It is crucial for an organization to measure public relations outputs and outcomes as well as measuring established and developing relationships. Reputation Management Techniques in Public Relations is a critical scholarly resource that examines public relations strategies, such as employing media plans, determining communication channels, setting objectives, choosing the right promotional programs and message strategies, budgeting and assessing the overall effectiveness of a company’s public relations strategy. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as brand and customer communications, corporate social responsibility, and leadership, this book is geared towards practitioners, professionals, and scholars seeking current research on reputation management.