New York, NY, 28 June 2012: Echo Research in partnership with Reputation Dividend today launched the release of its 2012 study analyzing the value of reputation across corporate America - the findings identify a direct causal link between corporate reputation and company value as measured by market capitalization.

Highlights include:

• Corporate reputations contributing a total of $3.19 trillion to market cap in the S&P500 alone.
• The US businesses with the most valuable reputations are Apple, Exxon Mobil and Chevron with a combined worth of $645B.
• On average, 26% of market cap of companies in the study can be attributed to corporate reputation.

According to Sandra Macleod, Group CEO of Echo Research, "The importance of a strong, well structured corporate reputation has long been beyond any doubt. From Echo's over two decades of providing reputation research, we know that few CEOs would question whether or not it ranks among their company's most important assets but at the same time they would struggle to say what it's worth and more importantly, how it should be managed in order to maximize its value. We believe reputation valuation analytics fundamentally corrects that."

Reputation Contribution, a measure of the proportion of a company's market cap attributable to its reputation, averages 26% across the index of companies included in the study. Put another way, the corporate reputations of America's largest public companies are currently underpinning investor confidence in companies' ability to deliver the economic returns expected to the extent that they're generating 26% of the total shareholder value.

"Reputation value analytics provides a uniquely objective approach to identifying and measuring the value generating components of corporate reputation," states Simon Cole Founding Partner of Reputation Dividend and principle author of the study. He continues, "We believe it reveals corporate reputation's true worth and provides fresh insights into the messaging priorities that can help protect and grow shareholder value."

Reputation value analytics will help companies and the managers of their corporate reputations to:

• Prioritize communications and messaging that plays to the foundations of reputation value.
• Integrate corporate brand into any wider brand management strategy.
• Structure communications strategy for shareholder value growth.

"If management teams appreciated both the drivers of reputation and the value of this great, intangible asset, they would not manage it so lightly. But this short-sightedness is changing, not least as reputation has proven itself to be measurable, manageable and yes, clearly valuable." says Dan Soulas, Managing Director of Echo's US Office.

There are distinct winners and losers. The Reputation Contributions of individual companies ranged from as high as 58% (Apple) to as low as -39% (Sears Holdings). At the beginning of 2012 Apple's corporate reputation was potent enough to deliver as much as $217B of value to its shareholders. Conversely, Sears' reputation was such that it was destroying value to the tune of $1.3B. Clearly, corporate reputation can be both a valuable asset and a costly liability.

The Winners

The Losers

You can download the report here. For further information about the study and its implications to your company please contact:

Dan Soulas, Managing Director
Echo Research Inc.
E-mail | T: 212 901 0456 | M: +1 610 283 9831

Or

Sandra Macleod, Group CEO,
Echo Research
E-mail | T: +44 7770- 328 724

For more information about Echo Research click here and for more information about the Reputation Dividend click here