CEO Echo for June 2024: 47% more CEO mentions

Last month, the .companion CEO metrics bot found 47% more CEO mentions than the average of the previous months. Overall, 48% of mentions captured by the CEO Echo were generated by editorial online content, while social media generated 52%. In June, CEO Echo content saw engagement rise by 135%.
52% of all CEO mentions were related to financial news, meaning they simply referred to company figures that are often required to be disclosed by law. In contrast, the context of 48% of mentions was linked to corporate agendas. Overall, the tonality of mentions was equally positive and negative.

Total Digital Footprint: Theodor Weimer, Deutsche Börse CEO, dominates with 13% CEO Echo coverage

What role does a CEO play in a company’s overall corporate messaging, whether voluntary or involuntary? The CEO Footprint aims to answer this question.
In June, Theodor Weimer, CEO of Deutsche Börse, received the highest amount of media coverage. His share of voice totalled 12,6%, the largest footprint of all top board members. In second place was Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair Holdings, with 9,7%, and Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, took the third spot with 5,1% share of all mentions. 82% of conversations around Weimer’s echo were not related to company financials, and thus were above average for agenda-driving topics and content. 4% of the Deutsche Börse CEO’s echo came from editorial media and 96% from social media. Content that mentioned Weimer generated 7 interactions (clicks, shares, likes) per mention. This shows that audiences are somewhat indifferent and made Weimer the 41th most engaged CEO in the ranking. In total, mentions for Theodor Weimer were more often negative than positive. We can assume this had a corresponding impact on his overall reputation.

Communication Excellence: Reckitt Benckiser’s CEO, Kris Licht, takes the number 1 spot

Two common goals widely shared by media teams are communicating key messages and building a favourable reputation, both of which rely heavily on editorial mentions. The Communication Excellence ranking analyses and aggregates media volume (removing financial report listings).
Kris Licht, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, was ranked first in June. Outside of the paywall, 100% of his digital echo discussed the CEO in stories beyond financial figures. Stories generated 5 engagements per mention, signifying readers are interested. Furthermore, coverage was significantly more positive than negative. As a result, the response to Reckitt Benckiser’s CEO received 3,3 points. Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO of Sony came in second place with a score of 2,2 and Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, took third place with a Communication Excellence score of 1,5.

Social Excellence: Kris Licht, Reckitt Benckiser’s CEO, wins first place

Simply having a social media profile is not enough. If you want to have an impact on opinion leaders outside of editorial offices or on consumers and digital elites who are not easily accessible through the mass media, you have to be mentioned frequently on social media. The Social Excellence Index answers whether a company’s attempts at this have been successful.
Last month, Kris Licht, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, topped the ranking with a Social Excellence score of 3,0 points. 100% of the conversation came from social media and his engagement was somewhat indifferent with 5 interactions per mention. Moreover, the sentiments of his mentions were 100% positive, meaning Licht was ahead of runners-up Jakob Stausholm, CEO of Rio Tinto Group, with 2,7 points and lorent Menegaux, CEO of Michelin, who placed third with 2,1 points.

Responsibility Excellence: Wolfgang Marzin, CEO of Messe Frankfurt, has the highest number of mentions surrounding social responsibility

The .companion metrics bot also determines whether CEOs appear in the digital media echo as leaders in the context of the UN’s sustainable development goals, e.g. in the context of social responsibility or climate and environmental protection. Our Responsibility Index shows how well this has been achieved. For this index, the metrics bot only analyses mentions related to this topic.
In June, Wolfgang Marzin, CEO of Messe Frankfurt, saluted us from first place in the responsibility ranking, with 65% of Messe Frankfurt CEO’s mentions related to social responsibility topics. His engagement rate was 25 which can be considered highly interested. The tonality of media conversations was more positive than negative. Overall, Marzin’s Responsibility Index came to 4,4. Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, followed in second place with 2,8 points, and Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO of Sartorius, in third place with 2,8 points.

Investor Excellence: R Mupita, CEO of MTN Group, takes the number 1 spot for the financial echo

CEO mentions in the context of balance sheet figures offer little scope for setting content-related agendas but are crucial for building investor confidence. In this environment, the metrics bot determines which CEOs were mentioned from a financial standpoint, forming an index for investor communication.
In June, the .companion metrics bot identified MTN Group‘s CEO, R Mupita, as the top communicator for investors after he achieved 12,0 points. 68% of his mentions were related to the financial environment, which is 20,9 times this month’s average. His readership was highly interested, indicated by an engagement rate of 160, and he experienced more positive than negative comments. He is followed in second and third place by Calvo Mawela, CEO of MultiChoice Group, with 4,1 points and Jakob Stausholm, CEO of Rio Tinto Group (4,0 points).

Source information and notes on methodology: