In 2010, this figure was only 33 percent. However, social media is not the source of all evil: just under half (46%) of CCOs whose company had faced a crisis in the past two years stated that social media had not played a role. In only seven percent of cases was the crisis triggered there. Rather, social media enables crisis situations to be resolved (34 percent) instead of exacerbating them (22 percent). These are the results of the annual study The Rising CCO. It was conducted for the fourth time this year by Spencer Stuart and Weber Shandwick.

"The Rising CCO IV suggests that the importance of social media will continue to grow and have a huge impact on corporate communications budgets in the future," says Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist at Weber Shandwick. "It's encouraging to see that CCOs around the world are embracing these channels as an opportunity to mitigate a crisis and mitigate the threat of reputational damage."

Corporate social responsibility offers increasing support for reputation
Almost eight out of ten CCOs (76 percent) believe that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is crucial for the stability of reputation and around half (52 percent) of those surveyed state that the need for CSR communication experts is growing. Companies that have faced a crisis in the past two years attribute greater importance to CSR expertise in day-to-day business than companies that have so far remained crisis-free (82 versus 63 percent).

Regional characteristics of the global study
The priorities of senior management for communications officers vary greatly from region to region: While in North America CCOs are expected to have social media under control, in Europe the company's reputation and in APAC a solid media response are at the top of the agenda. Globally, the effectiveness of communication is primarily measured by media coverage and employee engagement. But there are also differences: In Europe, public attention and attitudes towards the company play an important role. In North America, on the other hand, great importance is attached to the opinion of the company's own CEO, while the APAC countries place greater emphasis on awards and accolades.

The Rising CCO
The Rising CCO study, now in its fourth year, examines the positions, responsibilities and opinions of CCOs in the world's largest companies. The 142 participants come from companies in the USA, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The majority of respondents work in companies listed in the Fortune Global 500. The study was conducted online between January and March 2012.