Latest Press Releases

The word “collaboration” has been used almost as much as your favourite pair of tracksuit pants that saw you through the lockdown. The right collaborations, like your trusty track pants, can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling and be quite comforting to know that someone is supporting you and is interested in your business endeavours.

Recently I was called to help a company with some damage control as a result of negative online reviews they received. During the initial call, I did say that online reviews are generally a symptom of a larger issue. We may be able to help with the immediate containment of the situation, but, this would just be like putting a plaster over an unknown wound; we would need to dig a bit deeper and treat the root cause to avoid similar future situations.

Top CEOs across the globe tend to stick to their existing communication habits during the COVID-19 crisis. Only those who were already active on social media before the pandemic used these platforms to interact with their stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis. This is according to research by the international communication network ECCO.

Reputation Matters, a proudly African firm that focuses on reputation research, has embarked on a research study to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research focussed specifically on the impact that the pandemic had on business communication and how people have been affected on an individual, company and country level.

As more countries around the world are shifting toward a circular economy, the business community is also expected to work within the ecological boundaries. This tied with consumer demand for sustainable products and services, makes sustainability a top priority. Businesses that ignore this environmental responsibility will get called out, having a detrimental impact on their reputation.

Reputation Matters is the proud winner of the 2020 SABRE Award for Superior Achievement in Measurement and Evaluation, for the reputation research they conducted for the SA Innovation Summit. This is the third consecutive year that they achieve this prestigious Award.

Reputation Matters have launched a free ebook outlining 40 tips and tricks to manage your reputation and communication during the lockdown. Their specialist team have compiled this practical guide based on their extensive knowledge and experience that they have gained over the last 15 years.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we all know how important it is to get your information and updates from credible sources.

For the first time since the digital age, the entire world is faced with same health pandemic crisis and the same threats and fears. It’s a crisis of such magnitude that no textbook could ever have fully prepared any of us for it.

For businesses to remain functional to some degree, it is crucial to optimise the virtual office space. There have been many negative connotations to the Millennial generation, but for once, we can learn something from their communication style and preferences.

Many new developments nowadays require an environmental impact assessment (EIA), with public participation being a vital component. Reputation Matters has launched a public participation service to support environmental practitioners and developers with the public participation process.

With new measures to contain COVID-19 announced by the South African government, many employers are encouraging their workforce to work from home. Reputation Matters, a proudly African research agency, has been successfully working from a virtual office space since 2008 and shares four tips for acing it.

Looking after your health and becoming fit, is very closely linked to looking after your reputation. You need good health to get you through life, and you need a good reputation to support you through your company’s journey. Regine le Roux, founder and managing director of Reputation Matters shares four lessons for building your reputation that can be learnt from physical fitness.

In light of World Wildlife Day, taking place on Tuesday, 03 March 2020, Chris Bischoff, reputation manager and sustainability specialist at Reputation Matters, shares some important considerations of sustainable economic development to protect biodiversity and the ecological network.

The new decade is in full swing for most people. Many companies already have their communication strategies in place and are implementing them, while others are wrapping up their annual initiatives and preparing for the new financial year. Do you have a communication strategy?

As many scramble to arrange a gift or romantic evening for their partners this Friday, 14 February, Reputation Matters takes a more proactive approach to love. Chris Bischoff, reputation manager at Reputation Matters covers three ways to proactively love and take care of your reputation.

The new decade is here and with it comes an array of different marketing channels to sell products and services. In an era where you can get almost anything at the click of button, entrepreneurs are often left to wonder how they can stand out and what they can do to “sell their fish” in the new decade? As Sir Richard Branson says, entrepreneurs need to take their business to where the conversation is happening. Which channels should you use to communicate your messages and how can entrepreneurs position themselves in an ever-changing market?

“We want to empower companies to take their reputations to the next level, thereby amplifying their growth and success and, ultimately, boosting South Africa’s economy!”

Three reasons you should consider reputation mentorship

Chris Bischoff, senior stakeholder liaison at Reputation Matters, outlines three important considerations when setting targets that will take your company’s reputation to new heights in 2020

Reputation Matters, who has dominated the reputation research space with their customised reputation research tool, the Repudometer®, is excited about their new service offering that they will be launching in January 2020.

Investments in African businesses grew by almost 300% in the past year.1 The growth in business opportunities and investments proves...

The average corporate reputation score of last year’s reputation research studies conducted by Reputation Matters, a proudly African reputation research company, was 78.4%, a 2.2% decline from 2017 (80.6%).

Managing your personal reputation this time of year is twofold. 2018 may have been your year of achieving your big ambitious goals, targets or a hard-earned promotion. Don’t throw this away with a lapse in behaviour over the holiday season. Beginning the new year with a healthy reputation could be your competitive advantage in the office.

Over the last six weeks, eleven small business owners and 13 members from the Saldanha community on the West Coast attended a basic computer literacy part time course at the West Coast Business Development Centre (WCDC). The course formed part of Reputation Matters’ Awesome AfriCAN initiative and was made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship received from the Sea Harvest Foundation.

Moboom Ltd, owner of the global business directory Hotfrog, is pleased to announce the appointment of Reputation Matters to operate the Hotfrog platform in South Africa under license.

Employees play an important role in building the reputation of any organisation. Their sentiment towards the company is what they will be communicating to their nearest and dearest. This is important to consider as friends and family will have a perception of the company which is based on what employees say, rather than what a fancy advertising campaign might say. Reputation Matters, a proudly African research company specialising in reputation research, has developed its Organisational Climate Survey (OCS) research model to assess what exactly contributes to employee morale, productivity, employee motivation and behaviour, and job satisfaction. These are all crucial elements when it comes to an organisation’s reputation. By looking after your employees, you are looking after your reputation.

Graduates from the Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg communities in Hout Bay earn their Microsoft® Office Training certificates upon completion of a basic computer course at the Sijonga-Phambili Community Learning Centre in, Hout Bay.

Key role players in the waste and environmental management industries gathered at the Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg for the 24th biennial WasteCon conference and exhibition which took place from 15 to 19 October 2018. WasteCon is the flagship event of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA), and this year speakers and delegates were encouraged to engage around the conference theme of “Implementing the Waste Hierarchy”.

Revelations by former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene on his meetings with the controversial Gupta family sparked outrage among South Africans and was met with calls for his axing.

“Everything you want is because you think you will feel happier if you had it. So why don’t you go straight to feeling happy by just laughing more because laughter instantly makes you happy.” ~ Bronwyn Kilroe

Allan Goldberg, inventor of the iHarvey, is the winner of the Inventors Garage at the 2018 SABC Education SA Innovation Summit (SAIS). He walks away with bragging rights as the best inventor from the 20 finalists that participated. iHarvey is a thermo-electric generator which produces power by converting heat into electricity, powering three high quality LED lamps and charging a USB device simultaneously. The runner-up in the Inventors Garage competition is Murray Bredin with the Pivot Optimiser, an internet-of-things monitoring and control system for agricultural irrigation centre pivots and pumps. It performs local control functions and transmits all measured data to a web server. In third place is Steven Blake with BioPay, a mobile application that allows customers to pay for goods and services at the vendor or online using their fingerprints, so that it is not necessary to carry cash or bank cards.

Business, whether big or small, is under constant pressure to keep innovating and growing. The challenges for corporates in this regard are, however, markedly different from those of a small enterprise. Given the importance of venturing and the opportunities for expansion that it presents, is corporate South Africa doing so enough?

In October the IWMSA host their biennial flagship conference WasteCon2018, gathering key players involved in waste management from municipalities and government, the private sector, academics, engineers and waste pickers; all looking for ways to best tackle the waste management problem we collectively face. WasteCon2018 will take place from 15 to 19 October 2018 at Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg.

Research has proven that incentives increase survey responses. However, enticing a person to complete a survey with an incentive means you can be sure to get different answers. Whether you choose to incentivise your survey or not, data quality needs to be at the centre of this decision.

In 2014, Zip Zap created the South African Social Circus Network (SASCN) believing in unity to create change by using the circus arts. In its 5th year, the SASCN will meet in Stellenbosch at the Sisonke headquarters for a fun day on the Flying trapeze to honour the youth, celebrate diversity, and remember how Zip Zap started in 1992.

With a 100 percent Grade 12 pass rate and more than 83 percent of students able to pursue tertiary studies, the results of the LEAP Science & Maths Schools in Diepsloot, South Africa, speak for themselves.

In a space that is technical, complicated and sometimes full of 'hot air', how do you communicate clearly, truthfully and engagingly about topics such as carbon neutrality, waste management and corporate social responsibility?

On Wednesday, 09 May 2018 the 30th African Public Relations Association (APRA) Conference featuring Africa’s largest gathering of PR Practitioners gathered in Gaborone, Botswana to discuss the ethics of PR practice in Africa. Headed by the theme ‘Re-Presenting Africa” the event was highlighted by research into Africa’s reputation management and ethics as it applies to individuals, organisations and countries.

How ethical are we? Do we even care about our reputation? These are the kinds of big questions that the African Public Relations Association (APRA) seeks to answer; providing valuable insights for all leaders in Africa.

On the 20th, 21st and 22nd of April, Zip Zap performers will be taking to the stage to put on a show to thrill and delight Cape Town’s audiences at the Zip Zap Dome in the Foreshore. This time, Zip Zap brings a story of wheeling wizardry to life!

As the listeriosis outbreak hit front pages with 180 fatalities* and news spread of contaminated food being pulled from supermarket shelves, communications specialists have been keeping a close watch over how Tiger brands handles the crisis. Regine le Roux, MD of Reputation Matters, takes a closer look at crisis management and how it differs from reputation management.

The Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, announced that notices of safe recall had been issued to Enterprise Foods in Polokwane and Rainbow Chicken Limited in Sasolburg due to traces of Listeria being found at these production facilities, the announcement has caused further public concern and outcry since Sunday.

“Our workshops are designed to follow a simple yet effective and impactful process to assist each individual to identify their root causes and then supporting and enabling them to create constructive and empowering beliefs. Through the practice of constructive new beliefs and practices, an individual is able to experience results and have a positive impact on the overall business’ culture and centricity,” explains Sinclair.

In support of early childhood development (ECD) in schools, Sea Harvest in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department launched three pre-Grade R and Grade R classrooms in the Diazville community of Saldanha Bay for approximately 100 learners.

Corporate South Africa has over the past year learned many lessons in reputation management and the real value of stakeholder relationships.

Even though Christo Wiese has taken the helm as the interim CEO and is trying to stabilise the ship through the storm, Steinhoff faces the threat of becoming the biggest bankruptcy in South African corporate history (Business Times, 10 December 2017).

It’s that time of the year when many of us go a little crazy giving loads of gifts and indulging in far too much food. The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) would like to give everyone some waste-wise advice this festive season, to reduce their environmental impact by looking for ways to minimise the amount of household waste which is eventually diverted to landfill.

Help the Mustadafin Foundation put smiles on the faces of vulnerable children and orphans this festive season. “Every child deserves a happy, healthy childhood and the opportunity to build a brighter future. Let’s share the blessings by giving special educational gifts to children in need,” says Ghairunisa Johnstone-Cassiem, Director of Mustadafin Foundation.

Each piece of waste has the potential to pollute the environment in a different way, which is also the reason why there is no single suitable waste management approach to address all types of waste.

Many organisations are daunted by the idea of exposing themselves to reputation research that will give them the cold hard facts. Little do they realise that by validating their ‘gut’ feeling with numbers helps them to put SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) action plans in place to ultimately have a stronger, solid and more balanced reputation.

Leaders in the waste and environmental management industries gathered at the Buffelsdraai Regional Landfill site in KwaZulu Natal for Landfill 2017.

The most important landfill event on the calendar, Landfill 2017, takes place at Buffelsdraai Regional Landfill site in KwaZulu Natal from Wednesday 18 October to Friday 20 October 2017.

Mkhomazi Primary School in Breyton, Mpumalanga has received stationary supplies to the value of R16 000 thanks to Grade 6 English Teacher, Thembi Dlamini, who spotted Sea Harvest’s ‘Back to School’ Facebook competition.

Upcycling is a fun and creative way to transform old products and packaging into something with a new purpose.

Waste-to-energy (WtE) involves the physical, chemical and biological processes that give municipal waste a second life - as a resource that will produce renewable energy.

More than 30 students in various fields of study, ranging from musical theatre to civil engineering, received a Sea Harvest Foundation bursary during a handover event in Saldanha this past weekend.

It is not only consumers; it is all of your stakeholders who want to know what your business is doing to be socially and environmentally responsible...