CEOs See Value in Blogging, Says Study

The results of the fifth annual 2005 PRWeek/Burson-Marsteller CEO Survey reveal that while blogs are increasingly making headlines, only seven percent of CEOs are actually blogging and many are skeptical about starting a blog themselves. Despite the low numbers, 59 percent of CEOs said blogs are useful for internal communications, and 47 percent said blogs are effective for external audiences.

CEOs surveyed recognize the benefits of blogs, including the ability to quickly communicate new ideas and news (41 percent), providing a more informal venue for communication with constituents (40 percent), and obtaining immediate feedback (36 percent). Despite these benefits, only 18 percent of CEOs plan to host a company blog over the next two years.

"Most CEOs are still in a wait-and-see mode when it comes to blogs mainly due to time limitations and concerns about what they can say publicly," said Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, Burson-Marsteller's chief knowledge & research officer worldwide and CEO reputation expert. "Even though there is greater awareness of the power of blogs today, CEOs may feel that employees expect them to be spending their time running the business, meeting customers driving growth."

CEOs Spend More Time Communicating With Employees and Customers
According to this year's survey, CEOs are spending more time communicating internally and externally with every type of constituent -- most notably employees and customers. CEOs surveyed said they are spending 47 percent more time on both internal and external communications than they were two years ago.

CEOs also noted that they are spending more time communicating "face-to-face" with employees with most saying they spend more than 41 percent of their time in this regard. CEOs now realize that attracting and retaining talent is a key competitive advantage and morale booster.

"The CEO is the company's public face for many audiences, including Wall Street, the media, shareholders, and their own employees. Effective and consistent CEO communication builds credibility and strategic alignment with internal and external audiences," said Julia Hood, PRWeek's editor-in-chief. "The real challenge for CEOs today is balancing the demand from stakeholders for responsive and timely communications."

An Expanding Role for the Executive Board
Other trends identified in this survey include the increasing role of executive boards in reputation management. In the current corporate environment, boards are under greater scrutiny for their oversight in company operations, strategy, CEO performance and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Boards are also being held financially liable for crises that result from corporate negligence or misconduct. In this year's survey, CEOs ranked their board second in importance for managing corporate reputation, up from fourth place in 2004.

About the Survey
The PRWeek survey on non-PR CEO's importance of public relations was conducted by PRWeek and research firm Millward Brown. A total of 131 U.S. CEOs completed the survey between September 12th and October 7th. Based on the sample size, the results are statistically tested at a confidence level of 90%.