Telkom AR front.qxp

38
Telkom Annual Report 2009
Sustainability review (continued)
Group communication
and brand was
infused
with a renewed
sense of purpose
bottom of global reputation studies as they
face an uphill battle to communicate with
the public. As a result of this, we embarked
on a reputation study in May 2008 to
measure and analyse attitudes and
perceptions about us amongst various
stakeholder groups. In the year under
review approximately 3,700 interviews
were conducted. It was gratifying to note
that our reputation improved significantly,
albeit from a low base. There was
increased recognition in our key areas
of products/service; leadership and
governance and a significant improvement
in the perceptions of our corporate social
investment programme.
Going forward
In the 2009/10 financial year we will
focus on developing unambiguous
stakeholder value statements that detail our
promises to our stakeholders and, equally
importantly, internal scorecards for us to
check how we live up to those promises.
Group communication and brand
Group communication and brand was
infused with a renewed sense of purpose
following the appointment of one of South
Africa’s leading communications experts,
Brenda Kali, as Group Executive
responsible for this function.
Guided by the decision to integrate and
align communication processes and
practices with Telkom’s brand position and
values system to ensure greater credibility
amongst our stakeholders, we focused on
two specifics – the management of
stakeholder relationships and reputation,
and brand and image management.