During the financial crisis of 2008, corporate America took a beating in the media, forcing many companies to reevaluate and reshape the way the public saw them.
A new focus on strategy has created the need for a chief perception officer. It is not a reactive role, but a proactive one, in which the CPO works with the CEO to assess decisions before they're made, to see how they may affect the company's reputation.
In the end, the CPO is the standard bearer for a company's image to ensure that its values and those of its customers remain in line.
