Corporate communication

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

What’s corporate communication?

Definition 1: Corporate Communication is the orchestration of all the instruments in the field of

organizational identity (communications, symbols and behaviours of organizational members) in

positive reputation

such an attractive and realistic manner as to create or maintain a for groups

interdependent

with which the organization has an relationship”

Definition 2: strategic management function

Corporate communication is a that offers a

coordination of all internal and external communication

framework for the effective with the

overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favorable reputations with stakeholder groups

upon which the organization is dependent”

Strategic management:

Broader focus:

1) the organization as a whole. Corporate communication puts its focus not on

single brands or products, its about the corporation as a whole, the values, personalities ad

objectives. all its key stakeholders

2) Task of presenting the organization to (internal and external) >

integrated approach

“Corporate” refers to the business setting in which corporate communication emerged as a

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separate function internal external

But also to the idea of “body”: unified way of looking at and communication

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disciplines and stakeholders and their integration.

Strategic objective reputation.

3) of building, maintaining and protecting the company’s The

survival of any organization is based on how stakeholders see the organization, its vital to build,

maintain and protect a good reputation.

Managerial activities

4) next to tactical skills and activities. Such as planning, coordinating

counseling CEOs and senior managers and producing and disseminating messages.

Example 1: Campari red Diaries

They try to give emphasis on their values, it’s a particular way of communicating. Attributing

importance to the brand with a ell produced movie trailer

Example 2: Apple business

They focus on the values of simplicity, sharing ideas and creativity. The video shows how to use

the products without being too direct. 1

Corporate communication Key concepts:

Mission:

Overriding purpose values

in line with the and

expectations of stakeholders. It relates to the

question ‘what business are we in today?’

Vision:

Is more about the future, what we want to become.

desired future state,

It is the the aspiration of the

organization

Corporate objectives:

They are usually set by the managements, they

more precise goals

provide for the activities of the

overall aims in

business. They are a statement of

line with the overall purpose.

Corporate strategies:

ways corporates objectives are to be

The

achieved, they are the long term plans. How we

reach our objectives?

Corporate identity:

profile and values communicated by the

The

organization, the way the company presents itself

to the public. How the organization seeks to

establish. This identity in reinforced by

communication (logos, slogans, etc.) 2

Corporate image:

immediate set of associations

Its the of an individual

in response to communications from a particular

organization in a particular moment. (if I mention apple, I

immediately associate it with a personal idea) to

investigate the image a company can check the

reviews.

Corporate reputation:

Its the collective representations of past images, after a

certain amount of time. Reputation is very specific.

Stakeholder:

Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by

the achievement of a company. they are involved in the

business of the organization, directly or indirectly.

Market:

A defined group fro whom a product is or may be in

demand (and for whom an organization creates

products)

Communication:

The tactics and media that are used, all kind of

communications activities implemented by organization

internal and externaly. Comm means using more

traditional medias (tv, papers) and digital media.

Integration:

coordinating all communications

The act of so that

consistently

the corporate identity is effectively and

communicated to external and internal groups. The

define feature of corp comm is the integrated approach,

all form of communication are carefully linked together

and coordinated. 3

Trends and developments in corporate communication:

Organizations started to realize that public relations are not enough, there was a need to

communicate informations to the public and the stakeholders.

1900s-1970s

Until the 70s there was a CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

predominance of public relations

media relation tactical

and as a Sales Sponsorship/

Direct

support. Stakeholders started to Advertising

promotions publicity

marketing

demand more information from Issues & Digital/ Employee/ CSR Comm. &

Media Event

the company: emergence of the Investor Community

Public Affairs Crisis Online Internal

Relations Management Relations Relations

Management Comm. Comm

corporate communication

function. Communication was International/

Global Comm

mainly external.

1980s-2000s

Corporate communication became vital in the organizations such as other departments in

Positioning reputation management

companies. and became important, to be present in the

strategic tool

mind of people with a very good reputation was vital. Communication became a

That period saw a powerful restructuring trend in many companies where every function in the

organization was assessed based in its accountability and contribution to the organization.

integrated department

Corporate communication became an of the previous separated

disciplines.

2000s-present identity’,

Organizations became primary concerned with ideas such s ‘corporate ‘corporate

reputation’ branding’.

and ‘corporate When individuals hold an organization in esteem, value its

advocates

reputation and decide to buy from, work for, they are more likely to become genuine

supporters.

and

The focus with engagement is not merely on shaping opinions or perceptions, but on the

transparent

organization being and acting in character in order to bring across its distinctive

identity and in a way that convince individuals to become advocates.

In the other hand, if an organization say something and then act in a different way, this lack of

transparency can cause damage to the company.

Stakeholder engagement became vital. It is not merely about sharing opinions and perspectives:

interactivity organizations must be acting in character to bring across

means that transparent

identity in an way and fostering stakeholders to become genuine

authentic advocates.

A brief history of communication

Phase 1: industrial revolution - 1930s

Any small or large organization in history has used communications, corporate communication

has always been there. But in a more modern connotation it started with the industrial revolution,

mass production and consumption. Organizations started to employ professionals

an era of

to manage communications and publicity. 4

Lippmann,

Walter in 1933, states that the development of the publicity man is a clear sign that

organizations started to realize to they needed more professionalism in order to communicate

right. public be

The approach of this first communicators can be expressed in the phrase ‘the

damned’. People were not prepared to communications from organizations and they wanted to

be entertained by them. Advertisement was very exaggerated and sometimes unethical, and

governments were not paying attention on limiting the messages. Communications was an

Activity based on publicity, promotions and selling activities. It was conducted by press agents,

on who wanted to be entertained.

promoters and propagandists and played gullible public

muckrakers

After a few years something started to change, the were investigative journalists,

people devoted to expose scandals associated with government or organisations. They helped to

raise public awareness against unethical and harmful practices. For example the monopoly of

standard Oil.

Corporations realised that these journalist were successful and they had to fight back, starting to

hiring advertising agents to promote product, to compete for the public attention and doing it

right.

Phase 2: 1930s-1980s

In these years there was an economic reform in the US and UK. There was public skepticism on

press agencies were brought in house,

organisations. All these not anymore as consultants.

professional expertise. Public

They realised they needed them all the time, starting to develop

relations and marketing emerge as two separate external communication disciplines.

Marketing market profits. Public relations

was seen as strictly related to and was different, they

all the others stakeholders,

focused on in order for them to not interfere with profits.

Phase 3: from the 80s

Companies started to integrate PR and marketing because they were seen as connected.

Kotler,

This way of thinking was shared by who sad that «there is a genuine need to develop a

new paradigm two subcultures

in which these [public relations and marketing] work most

effectively in the best interest of the organisation and the publics it serves»

Corporate communication results from the effort to integrate all forms of communication in a

company, the idea was to work more on the relationships and overlaps of PR and marketing. We

Umbrella management

call this new perspective, an function.

Models for the relationship between marketing and PR

A) before the 80s they were

separate bodies with

different objectives and

activities. Marketing deals

with markets and public

relations deals with all the

publics (excluding customers

and consumers).

B) Very common also today. The

two areas are separate but theres some overlap. [ex. MPR: use public relations tools (events)

Branded content:

for marketing reasons]. features both product related as well as general

interest content. Netflix uses the content of women inmates for ads without naming the show.

-> 5

Corporate advertising, marketing PR, corporate PR,

overlapping

Mass media advertising are examples of

between the two areas.

PR is an instrument of marketing and marketing

C) communication. An example is IMC, integrated marketing communication, where PR is

reduced to activities of product publicity and sponsorship, ignoring its wider remit in

communicating to employees, investors, communities, the media and the government.

Marketing is an instrument of PR.

D) Marketing’s role of satisfying customers is seen as only

part of a wider public relations effort to satisfy the multiple publics and stakeholders of an

organisation. An example is Strategic public relations.

no distinction corporate communication.

E) There is anymore, this is usually called

Drivers for integration: Why there was this evolution and

merging?

1. Market and environment based drivers:

several stakeholders

An organisation has (employees, investors etc.). The same individual can

be part of different groups, working for a company and investing on another. Its very important to

overlaps. communicate internally,

pay attention to these This also implies that what I must be

aligned with external communication. People now are more active, they want to know what the

greater transparency.

company does and why. They now pretend

2. Communication-based drivers:

We are bombarded today by a lot of messages, advertisement, information. Organisation want to

stand out in this confusion. Integrated communication can help with a one identity message

emerge from the clutter.

repeated and repeated to many media at their disposal,

Companies realised that they have so so many opportunities.

Traditional media really expensive

became (ads on tv), company became then to use more

social media, because they are cheaper and more effective.

3. Organisational drivers: efficient accountable,

They need to become more and communication have to show the

contribution to the company compared to its costs.

propose strategic direction

It has become important to have one and trough consolidation.

exploit the overlaps skills,

You can really between PR and marketing, you can increase the the

tools, etc.

Examples of integrated campaigns:

Safety video for AirNZ about Lord of the rings. They integrated many communication tool such as

social media, contests, advertising, etc. 6

ORGANISATION OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

CCO communication officer),

There’s usually one department directed by a (corporate under

him there are other departments under his command. Other senior managers can give very

important inputs to the

manager, he needs to listen to

them and contribute to the

final result.

Corporate communication is a

management framework to

guide and coordinate

marketing communications

and public relations. Within

this framework, coordination

and decision making take

place between practitioners

from various public relations

and marketing communication

disciplines.

Each of these disciplines may

be used separately and on their

own for public relations or marketing purposes. For this reason organisations increasingly view

and manage them together from a holistic organisational or corporate perspective with the

company’s reputation in mind. corporate communication practitioners to higher

Many organisations have promoted

positions in the organisation’s hierarchical structure. These higher positions in the organisation’s

hierarchy enable corporate communication practitioners to coordinate communication from a

strategic level in the organisation in order to build, maintain and protect the company’s reputation

with its stakeholders.

Vertical structure:

clear chain of command,

There is a very the ones a the top give orders and commands to the

divided and arranged

ones at the bottom. Task and activities are into departments. The way how

they are divided is up to the different companies.

The CCO reports directly to the CEO and the senior management team (or is even a member of

the team).

The solid vertical lines that connect the boxes on an organization chart depict this vertical

structure and the authority relationships involved. Within such vertical lines, the occupant of the

higher position has the authority to direct and control the activities of the occupant of the lower

position.

The communication department is a staff function at corporate headquarters from where it can

advise the senior decision-making team, and that the most senior communication practitioner has

a direct reporting or advisory relationship to the CEO or even a seat on the executive board.

The vertical structure divides each organization’s primary tasks into smaller tasks and activities,

with each box on an organization chart representing a position assigned to undertake a unique,

detailed portion of the company’s overall mission.

Such vertical specialization, and the spreading out of tasks over different departments, however,

requires some coordination or integration of work process. (this coordination is achieved trough

the so called horizontal structures) 7

Horizontal structure: cross-functional and lateral

In order to manage all units an sub-units in necessary to have

coordination mechanism, people need to share knowledge, contents, ideas. They have to work

across all the departments, to give guidance to all the bodies of the organisation.

mechanisms:

This system works on

- Multi-functional teams, they collect people from different areas and work together. They can

permanent task-force

be or types.

- Standardised work process, written documentation about who does what and how (flow

charts, process maps checklists).

and This mechanism institutionalises processes of

integration, thus making the organisation less dependent on certain individuals, facilitates

continuous improvements of the process of integration.

- Informal channels, ways to share knowledge and ideas such as email, phones, coffee

machines, canteen, meetings. Companies can facilitate such informal communications by

placing communication professionals physically close to one another.

- Council meetings, formal way of meetings, a place to discuss strategic communication issues

and performance evaluations. It usually consists of representative of every department who

meet to discuss the strategic issues concerning communication and review their past

performance.

- Communication guidelines, practical work procedure, design regulations (selected logos,

colors, fonts). Such guidelines may range from agreed-on work procedures (whom to contact,

formatting of messages, etc) to more general design regulations on how to apply logo types

and which colors to use.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY (6)

The process of communication strategy

1) Bringing stakeholder reputations in line with the vision of the organization, sometimes

reputation)

stakeholders have a perception of the organization (corporate far from the

desired one (vision), the perception must be close to the one wanted by the company.

2) Reinforcing existing reputations of stakeholders if broadly in line with how the organization

wants itself to be seen.

A communication strategy involves the formulation of a desired position for the organization in

terms of how it wants to be seen by its different stakeholders groups.

The paradigms of the process of strategy-making:

Rational planning mode:

1) continental make tyres. Same message for all audiences.

Objectives are set out and methodically worked out into comprehensive action plans.

Intuitive visionary:

2) or emotional level, objectives are set out and methodically worked out as

a more flexible, intuitive or visionary process. 8

Incremental emergent:

3) or ex. Ceres they use what happens to explain their personality. The

process of strategy formation is rather continuous and

iterative.

Strategy fo