Corporate reputation &
CEO communications
Globalised markets, multi-channel real-time information, interest groups that are increasingly networked: the demands of corporate communication have grown enormously in recent years. The core task remains managing a dialogue with all stakeholders in order to protect the company’s reputation. However, this task is becoming an increasingly important competitive factor.
We help companies leverage communication to enhance their reputation, and hence secure their long-term commercial success. We work with our clients to devise and implement communication strategies based on the company’s overall strategy, while consolidating its reputation in the long term. Clients benefit from our many years of experience in integrated positioning and topic development, as well as our profound understanding of opinion-forming processes and stakeholder needs.
Contact an expert
Biography
Folker Dries is a Managing Partner at Hering Schuppener and works out of the offices in Frankfurt and Duesseldorf. He focuses on advising clients particularly on issues relating to corporate and CEO positioning and financial communications. Folker is also Hering Schuppener's media trainer. Prior to moving into consultancy, he spent 17 years working as a business journalist; in his last role, he was the Financial Editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in Frankfurt. Before that, he was the newspaper’s Wall Street correspondent in New York. He started out in journalism at the Börsen-Zeitung as a correspondent in Munich, London and New York. Folker holds a diploma in economics. He studied at the University of Würzburg.Biography
Christopher Storck works in the Düsseldorf office and heads the Communication Performance Management division. He advises corporate clients in finding, formulating and communicating strategies, building and protecting corporate reputation, organizational development, managing and shaping communication departments. Parallel to that Christopher is professor for strategy and communication management at the Quadriga University in Berlin. He is also a steering committee member at the Communication Controlling task force of the International Controller Association and serves as a scientific advisor to the German professional associations of press officers and compliance managers. Christopher is a certified business coach of the EBS University for Business and Law in Wiesbaden.Biography
Jan Hiesserich advises clients mainly on M&A, CEO reputation and on corporate strategy mandates. He works in the Frankfurt office. Previously, Jan advised international clients on numerous M&A and financial communications mandates, working from the London and Madrid offices of the leading consultancy firms Maitland and Llorente & Cuenca. Jan is the author of the book “Der CEO-Navigator” (Campus, 2013) and co-author of the book “Der CEO im Fokus” (Campus, 2015). He studied international relations, political science, finance and leadership at the Wharton and Harvard Business School and at the universities of Bonn, Prague and Warwick.
Communications strategy
In an age of volatility and disruption, companies need to give their stakeholders a clear orientation. Lucidly formulated objectives, a viable strategy and – first and foremost – convincing communication have never been more important than they are today.
CEO positioning
The CEO is often the public face for the entire company. And the trend towards conflating a company’s track record and reputation with its chief executive’s every move continues apace. More than ever before, executives find themselves in the spotlight, under close observation by the media and the public.
Corporate communications
Companies can no longer achieve long-term commercial success solely by mastering value creation and positioning themselves successfully in the market. Familiarity with the various stakeholder groups, understanding their needs, and being able to enlist their cooperation by means of effective corporate communications have become equally important success factors.
Communications controlling
No company can create sustained value on its own. It needs the support of its employees and customers, suppliers and subcontractors, investors and politicians. The contribution made by sound communications is to convince these stakeholders that their interests coincide with those of the company. Measuring and documenting this contribution helps companies appreciate the strategic value of communication and to embed it within their own management systems.