Corporate image strategies adopted by major media houses in Kenya
Abstract
"Corporate image" was once
an
advertising jargon but
today
is
a common phrase
referring to a company's reputation. Distant are the times when it was supposed that
―a good product speaks for itself‖. W
ith the abundance of products from
the Western
world, the managerial challenge, it see
ms, has become that of differentiating similar
products; of creating a sense of uniqueness. While it is claimed that anyone can
manufacture a product; the real route to commercial success is supposed to be found
in the artful creation of images and brands.
"Image" is what the pu
blic is supposed to
see when a
corporation is mentioned. In a social and economic order that is moving
―from substance to image‖, production and proliferation of signs have become more
important than the production of material object
s. Many organizations today are
spending a lot of time, resources and effort trying to build a str
ong image for their
businesses.
This research project lies within the realm
s
of corporate image
management and strategic management; and it investigates the c
orporate image
strategies adopted by major media houses in Kenya.
The study was specifically
designed to determine, identify and evaluate the corporate image strategies adopted;
and ho
w such
strategies enhance
the image of the
organizations under study. Cr
oss
sectional survey was adopted as the research design
.
The target population of this
study was all the media companies operating in Kenya. Out of this population a
sample of four major media organizations was selected based on a previous ranking
study by
the Media Council of Kenya done
in 2013. In essence four
media
organizations were under study i.e. Royal Media Services, Nation Media Group,
Standard Media Group, and Radio Africa Group.
The study relied heavily on primary
data which was collected through
administering structured questionnaire
s
of closed
and open
-
ended questions; developed in line with the objectives of the study. The
researcher targeted five senior level managers in each of these four organizations as
respondents, making a total of
twenty
respondents.
After data analysis,
the study
found out that corporate
-
image strategies was the main contributor for achieving
competitive advantage for the four major media organizations under study. The
find
ings of the study indicated that
some of the b
est, most effective, and most
preferred and proven corporate image strategies within the media industry are:
Product Differentiation and Image Differentiation
,
Branding and Corporate
Communication
,
and
Effective Management of
Corporate Identity and Culture
.
Some
of the major challenges
identified
of strategy implementation
faced by
the
media
organizations
include:
Employee resistant to change,
Mismatch of strat
egy with
external environment,
and
Lack of training and refresher cours
es
on strategy
Implementati
on
. In addition, this research project provides a model for
an in depth
understanding about the critical importance of managing corporate image
and
reputation,
and the tangible benefits that stem from formulating and implementing
rele
vant corporate image s
trategies
Publisher
University of Nairobi