Microsoft Earns Best Corporate Reputation in the Media, According to Delahaye Index

Elevated by news of strong revenue growth, product development and financial management, Microsoft Corp. was rated as having the best reputation among the largest U.S. companies for the second quarter of 2004, by the Delahaye Index, a quarterly assessment of how news media coverage affects corporate reputation.

Higher volumes of positive news about Microsoft’s favorable earnings, innovative products and corporate partnerships drove coverage, more than outweighing negative news about settlements and fines for wrongdoings. Microsoft knocks Wal-Mart out of the top spot following news of the latter’s workplace bias and successful community efforts to block new a Wal-Mart store from being built in Inglewood, California.

The Delahaye Index is conducted by the communications research division of Medialink Worldwide Incorporated, a global leader in providing news and media services for professional communicators.

”The Delahaye Index is driven by two catalysts for corporate reputation-building: business performance, as reflected in the quality of news, and visibility, as reflected in the volume of news coverage,” stated Delahaye Medialink CEO Mark Weiner. “As such, companies with excellent business fundamentals can be affected adversely if they do not generate sufficient visibility. Conversely, companies such as Wal-Mart, which may have less positive or less impactful media coverage, can improve their results by consistently garnering a great volume of media attention.”

Second Quarter 2004 Delahaye Index: Top Ten Companies

1. Microsoft Corporation
2. The Walt Disney Company
3. Verizon Communications
4. General Motors
5. Intel Corporation
6. The Boeing Company
7. Wal-Mart
8. Ford Motor Company
9. General Electric Company
10. Wachovia Corporation

Methodology of 2004 Delahaye Index:

Delahaye begins by gathering news from America’s most prominent national news sources. From the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to Fortune, ABC World News Tonight and Bloomberg, Delahaye captures news from all of the nation’s most influential general and business media. The 2004 Delahaye Index includes analysis of different print and broadcast news items to measure the reputations of the Top 100 U.S. companies.

Each company’s score is based on how many positive and negative reputation-driving attributes are found within each story. These attributes are classified into five dimensions: stakeholder relations, financial management, products and services, organizational integrity and organizational strength.

About Delahaye:

Delahaye Medialink (www.delahaye.com) is an international, award-winning research and analysis firm that specializes in helping clients monitor, understand and actively manage their public relations and communications programs. Through Delahaye, clients gain the market intelligence they need to improve communications effectiveness and return-on-investment. The company has domestic offices in Norwalk, Conn., Portsmouth, N.H., and Washington, with international headquarters in London and partners around the globe.

Pariah Burke writes the Design Weblog and Magazine Design Weblog for Weblogs, Inc., and is a contributing writer to the Unofficial Apple Weblog and Unofficial Microsoft Weblog.