Corporate Image Communication in the South African Dairy Industry - An Empirical Survey

This paper presents an overview of the main roleplayers in the primary and secondary sections of the South African dairy industry, as well as the results of a survey on the existing strategies of corporate image development and communication in the secondary South African dairy industry. Results of the survey indicate that basic theoretical principles are not fully applied, as well as a lack of managerial commitment towards image projection. Existing perceptions of consumers about the three main manufacurers in the secondary dairy industry point towards a specific preference for the market follower. It appears that little attention has been given to the promotion of internal image, among employees in the three market leaders in this industry, and that neither the measurement of corporate image has been implemented, nor the dimensions of corporate image been identified.