Reputation Management: The Future of Corporate Communications and Public Relations

Reputation Management: The Future of Corporate Communication and Public Relations by Tony Langham is a guide to the importance of reputation for modern organisations.The reputation of an organisation has a direct impact on recruitment, retention, productivity, sales, and financial performance. It is the sum of organisational behaviour, communication and public opinion.Langham is the CEO of Lansons, a public relations firm he founded with Clare Parsons, his partner, in 1989.Reputation Management was published in 2019 long before the COVID-19 crisis but it is nonetheless a timely book. Organisations focused purely on financial performance have been hit hard by the crisis.Langham spotlights the importance of authenticity. He says that organisations which seek to build reputation and trust need to consider their impact on the environment and role within society. This is the shift from financial performance as the sole metric of financial performance to the triple bottom line.If an organisation exists for no other reason than to generate profit, such as a bank, it should at least be honest about it, says Langham. He’s equally critical of purpose washing whereby good works are used as a marketing tactic.Reputation Management sets out models and tools to measure and manage reputation from Langham’s own work at Lansons and organisations such as the Reputation Institute.Langham tells stories from theory and practice, introducing essays, case studies and comment from more than 80 practitioners in 27 countries around the world. He invites fresh voices from arts, business, communication, culture, media and politics. Reputation Management is worth the cover price for these stories alone. You should buy a copy for your boss.I’m grateful to Langham for reuniting Steve Earl and I. We contributed the final essay updating our book Brand Vandals in 2013, exploring the impact of social media on reputation.Reputation Management is published by Emerald Publishing as part of a series of PRCA Practice Guides.

Public Relations is about reputation management, yet there are very few books that cover the subject well.Reputation Management is a much-needed book for the industry, that is carried by an impressive line-up of star-studded authors from PR and beyond.The book positions itself well for those entering the industry, whilst also providing in-depth advice, theoretical approaches, and real-life examples of reputation management today.My advice, this is the one industry book you should read.

A fascinating guide on Reputation Management with Insightful case studies from industry leaders and helpful models and research for implementation. I especially liked the author’s thought provoking ‘Agenda for Engaging with an Unequal Society’ and I quote ‘Only a company that engages with its own community, and meets society’s expectations, can maintain a great reputation’.

I have adopted this book for Public Relations and Reputation Management modules for undergraduate study. The wide variety of contemporary case studies and the book's approach to those issues faced by organisations today brings huge relevance to this important subject area. The book is relevant internationally.

A collection of other peoples work and does not do what it says on the cover. Will be using it as a prime example of how not to approach this important issue of reputation management. Very poor value and reflect the walter mitty state of high end PR firms and a possible reason for the move to project as opposed to retained work and rhe exceptionally high churn rate if both clients and pr people. To get a pay rise they just move! My clients would be upset it I presented this tome as my approach to reputation management and corporate public relations