Brand reputation report: one weekly page for the CEO

Short answer

A weekly reputation report for the CEO should fit on one page and answer five blocks: the week's main point in one sentence, what changed compared with last week, the three most important public posts with links, open risks and their owners, and decisions needed from leadership. Underneath sits a coverage note: which sources were checked and where the search was incomplete. The goal is not to flood the CEO with data but to show in five minutes what deserves attention.

Why charts are not a report

Many monitoring reports are a pile of charts: mention counts, a tone breakdown, a pie chart by source. The CEO looks at them and asks, "fine, so what do we do?" A chart shows what happened but not why it matters or who will do what. The value of a weekly report lies not in the numbers but in the one-sentence explanation beside them and in the list of decisions.

A five-block template

1. 11. The week's main pointOne sentence: "Delivery complaints are up for a second week; the cause is the new courier partner" — or "A quiet week; nothing needs attention". Say so plainly when the week was quiet.
2. 22. What changedTwo or three changes against last week: a new topic, a complaint group growing or shrinking, a new source. A likely cause beside each one.
3. 33. Three key postsThe week's three most important public posts: a short quote, a link, what was done. If the CEO wants to read the original, it should be one click away.
4. 44. Open risksUnresolved topics, their owners and the date of the next check.
5. 55. Decisions neededWhat leadership needs to provide: budget, a process change, approval of a public statement. If there is nothing, write "no decision needed this week".

The coverage note

Below the report there should be a two- or three-line coverage note: which sources were watched, where the search was complete, where it was partial, and which sources are not watched at all (closed groups, private messages). This prevents the wrong conclusion "nobody complained about us this week". The accurate phrasing is: "no complaints were found in the sources we watch".

Which numbers to include

• The number of posts that needed a reply, and how many were answered within the target time.
• The three most frequent complaint topics, with the number of unique authors for each.
• The number of posts comparing you with a competitor — and in whose favour.
• The number of risk topics still open.

Give the total mention count only with context: growth during a campaign week is normal; growth in a quiet week raises a question.

Numbers that mislead

Some indicators look good in a report but are useless for decisions. A tone percentage ("72% positive", say) depends heavily on the mix of sources: in a week full of repeated news, the neutral share rises. The mention count also counts shares of your own campaign. A combined score such as a "reputation index" tells nobody anything unless its calculation is explained. Such numbers are either explained or left out.

What to leave out

• A list of every single piece of praise — one example is enough.
• Customers' personal details, names and screenshots, unless they are needed.
• Small complaints that were resolved and did not recur — they stay in the daily log.
• A "nothing found" conclusion without a coverage note.

Who prepares it, and when

The report is prepared by the person who runs the daily check, because the raw material is their daily log. It should take 30–45 minutes; if it takes longer, the daily log is not being kept. The report goes out on the same day and at the same time every week — Monday morning before the leadership meeting, for example. The marketing or customer service lead gives it a five-minute check before it is sent.

Illustrative example

This is an illustrative example. An electronics retailer's weekly report opens like this: "Complaints about warranty repairs are up for a second week (from 5 to 11), all about one service centre." What changed: a new forum thread, comparisons about a competitor's discount. Three key posts with links. Open risk: the contract with the service centre — owner, the operations director. Decision needed: switch service partner or temporarily send an in-house technician. The CEO reads it in four minutes and decides at that day's meeting.

From weekly to monthly

At the end of the month, combine the four weekly reports into one page: which topics came back, which decisions were made and what came of them, which sources and terms need changing. A monthly report on competitor topics is a separate document — it has a different structure and is addressed to the marketing team.

Limitations

The report reflects only the public sources you watch; it is not a measure of all public opinion. Tone and topic labels are automatic estimates; important results should be checked by reading the text itself. Numbers in the report should not be used as the sole basis for judging employees — they are a signal of customer experience, not a measure of individual performance.

Common mistakes

• Turning the report into ten pages of charts.
• Saving the main point for the end.
• Quoting without a link — the CEO cannot check.
• Leaving the decisions block empty and sending it "for information".
• Forgetting the coverage note.

Reporting with Vexvon Monitoring

Vexvon Monitoring lets you download results with your chosen filters as a PDF report: the header shows the company, terms, date range and sources, followed by an AI summary (statistics) and each result — type, tone, reason, link and suggested reply. In the Excel export each result is one row with a status column, and a separate "Coverage" sheet shows whether the search was complete for each source. That is the raw material for the five-block page; the main point and the decisions block are written by a person. More on the Vexvon Monitoring page.

Next step

Next Monday, prepare the first report on the five-block template and ask the CEO one question: "Which decision could you make from this page?" The answer is the best way to refine the template. The daily log that feeds the report is described in daily brand mention monitoring, and the priority levels in social media response priority. Other topics are in the brand monitoring section.