Corp Comm development

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

PHASE 1: INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - 1930s

- Any exchange of goods since beginning of humanity has required forms of

communication —> from feudal structures to industries —> persuade individuals in

society —> modern form of CC began to exist at least 200 yeas ago

- 1930s Industrial Revolution = beginning of the era of mass

—> beginning of the

production and consumption + birth of large industrial corporations —> need for:

1. professional communicators

2. more organisation to handle promotion and publicity in a strategic way

—> companies started hiring promoters, press agents and propagandists who

publicity so exaggerated that they were

PLAYED ON CREDULOUS PUBLIC (=

basically lies —> !! Today not ethical bc not respectful to the public)

—> “The public be damned” was a sort of philosophy

• MUCKRAKERS investigative journalists

There was the counter-voice of (=

committed to discover and expose the wrongdoing and corruption)

—> AIM: raise public awareness of these unethical practices (risky business)

ex: child labour, problems with wages …

!! Sometimes they succeeded in changing the legislation

—> RESPONSE of the companies: hiring journalists/professional writers to

work in communication departments to gain public approval

- BUT during this period there was also a change in economy —> markets stabilised

and declined —> professional communicators had to help their company win the

competition battle with other competitors (advertisements to promote products)

PHASE 2: 1930s - 1980s

- Time of an economic reform in the US and UK because of:

• Public scepticism towards big companies (= started to realise sth was wrong)

• Development of professional expertise in communication —> writers, publicists

and advertising agents were brought in house (= became real employees)

!! BEFORE: consultants used only when needed - NOW: constantly needed

- Public Relations Marketing SEPARATE

(PR) and (MK) emerged as (= independent)

EXTERNAL

and communication disciplines

PUBLIC RELATIONS (PB) MARKETING (MK)

public concerns/issues markets

Deals with Deals with

(!! NOT with consumers and customers) (!! Focuses on the consumer) 1

 LECTURE 2 26/09/2024

CORPORATE COMM

build company’s reputation sense, serve and satisfy the

OBJECTIVE = OBJECTIVE =

customer needs

—> provide goodwill with the public so they at a pro t

don’t interfere with pro t making —> e ectively bring products to the market

PHASE 3: 1980s - TODAY

- During 1980s many organisations started to integrate separate communication

disciplines/departments (ex: media relations, advertising) —> productive bc it o ered

organisational and managerial bene ts:

- strategic communication to “position” the organisation into the minds of di erent

stakeholder groups

- implemented coordination (e.g. council meetings, networking platforms)

- Early 1990s - early 2000s: focus on “corporate identity/reputation” —> objective:

having a favourable position in the minds of stakeholders, so that they will choose my

organisation over rivals

- Only negative side: assumption that the minds of stakeholders can be managed

and controlled —> conviction that corporate communicators can strategically

plan and design their messages so that they have a pre-determined e ect on

stakeholders’ minds —> stakeholders considered passive —> their role is only to

respond (or not) to the communicator's message

- PR and MK started to be connected and integrated under a new management

function now known as corporate communication

Kotler is a need to develop a new paradigm in which PR and MK

—> : “there

work most e ectively in the best interest of the organisation and the

publics it serves”

!! Public not exploited (as phase 1) BUT essential for the survival of the organisation

- What are the bene ts of the integration btw PR and MK?

• More organisation —> leads to: more e ectiveness, coherence and consistency

• Reduction of costs —> PR and MK are very similar departments (use the same

tools —> having them separated is like having employees doing the same things

but in two di erent departments)

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

= process of actively involving stakeholders in communication (= listening to their needs

and allowing them to have a say in decision-making) —> this includes:

- INTERACTIVITY = interacting with people, listening to their feedback

- TRANSPARENCY and AUTHENTICITY = what the companies says must coincide

with what the company does

- ADVOCACY = through all the above, make stakeholders become advocates (=

of the company

ambassadors = defenders)

- Recent years: stakeholders more active —> share their expectations/opinions +

(thanks to new media technologies) expect more interactive forms of communication

- peer-to-peer in uence +

This situation o ers challenges but also opportunities (ex:

individuals may become advocates/supporters for the organisation) —> important to

have a good reputation by engaging individual stakeholders through di erent

platforms —> NOT shaping opinions but being 'transparent' (bc if there are

discrepancies, stakeholders will organise for action and point out the lack of

'authenticity') 2

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CORPORATE COMM

MODELS OF INTEGRATION BTW PR AND MK

MODEL A: MK AND PR AS DISTINCT

MK and PR considered as distinct in their objectives and activities

- MARKETS : are created by the identi cation of a segment of the population for which a

product/service is/could be useful —> involves product or service-related communication

- PUBLICS : are seen as active —> react whenever companies make decisions that

negatively affect a group of people + demand general news related to the entire company

(not product-related information) —> important bc could interfere in the rm's pro t-making

!! B, C, D are most used (depending on sector, type of employees, big/small company)

MODEL B: OVERLAPS BETWEEN MK AND PR

MK and PR have sth in common —> during 1980s, companies concerned bc of rising

use of MPR:

costs and decreasing impact of mass media advertising —> grater

- Marketing Public Relations = the publicising of news and events related to the

launch and promotion of products/services —> involves the use of PR techniques

for marketing purposes (cost-e ective tool)

EX: Starbucks used public relations techniques such as free publicity and community

engagement campaigns to attract attention —> “My Starbucks Idea”

CORPORATE ADVERTISING = advertising more focused on company’s identity

A. and values, rather than its products and services (uses radio, TV, cinema to maintain

a good image of the company)

DIRECT MARKETING = direct communication via post, telephone, online or e-mail

B. SALES PROMOTION

to customers and prospects = tactics to engage the

and

customer (ex: discounting, coupons, free gifts, competitions, vouchers...)

MARKETING = distribution and logistics, pricing and development of products

C. CORPORATE PUBLIC RELATIONS = public relations activities towards

D. stakeholders like investors/employees/government (customers excluded) —>

includes issues management, community relations, investor relations, media

relations, internal communication and public a airs —> it includes:

MARKETING PUBLIC RELATIONS and BRANDED CONTENT = use of traditional

E. public relations tools for marketing purposes (includes product publicity and

sponsorship) 3

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LECTURE 2 26/09/2024

CORPORATE COMM

MASS MEDIA ADVERTISING = advertising focused on increasing the sales of a

F. company's products or services

EXAMPLES:

A emphasis not only on the product, but also on the company itself

—> -

Ex: P&G campaign “Thank you, Mom” (celebrates motherhood —> still

advertising the product but also the values of the company)

E branded content = content related to the product + to sth of general interest

—> -

Ex: “Orange is the new black” (advertises the series but also related to the real

problems that women face in prison, that were exposed in some articles

which drew the attention also to the series)

!! Branded content emerged in the 2010s —> it involves the generation of content on an

online marketed platform that features both product-related content as well as general

interest content

EX: LEGO YouTube channel —> involves content that features LEGO products but

—> is focused on engaging children in play and building, rather than simply

advertising its products

- There are also other ways in which marketing and public relations activities can complement

one another:

- Ex: a good company's image (created through PR), can enhance a positive perception of

the brand from the consumers (favours MK)

- Ex: PR can be useful for MK purposes bc it includes in the company’s decision-making the

viewpoints and expectations of other stakeholders besides customers 4