Corporate Communication can include:
Investor relations Employee communication Media, public and government relations Corporate advertising and philanthropy Crisis management
What are the predominant aspects of communication as as organization?
- Identity: conduct on multiple levels + history + evolution + quality of vision
- Reputation
- Corporate brand can be a key building block for a company’s reputation
3.Corporate Brand
-Iconic brands connect to social context
- Plainly related to identity and history
- Endorsed brand: when a firms product brands (Nestle) connect to consumers more
then corporate brand (Coca Cola)
- Monolithic brand: when corporate brand resonates more then product brands
- Corporate brand extends promise that company will fulfill
4.Crisis management
Factors that affect the predominant aspects of communication as as organization?
predominant aspects: Identity Reputation Corporate Brand Crisis management
Factors that affect?
-Technology and social media
- Corporate social responsibility- growing trends with millennials
- Trust and authenticity – Warren Buffet called this most valuable asset to a
company
4 business-related communication disciplines
- Marketing: developing and implementing persuasive communication with customers
- Organizational Communication: creating + exchanging messages within network of interdependent relationships
- Public Relations: communicate with public to persuade, manage relationship and position company
- Corporate Communications: strategic communication to build and maintain image and reputation with internal/external stakeholders
4 areas of marketing communication
- Institutional Communication: deals with all stakeholders
- Marketing Communication: deals with customers
- Management Communication: deals with those involved with value chain
- Financial Communication: deals with investors
6 clusters of organizational communication
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
- Process of creating and exchanging messages within a network of interdependent relationships to cope with environmental uncertainty
- Conduit: organizations as containers/channels, communication is a tool for info
transmission - Lens: organization as eye seeking and relaying info, communication as a filtering,
reception/perception process - Linkage: organization as coordinated actions that make rules, structures,
environments, communication is social interaction and sense making - Symbol: organization is a text and communication is interpretation
- Voice: organization is chorus, communication is distortion and expression of
individual members - Discourse: organization as texts and patterns of interaction, communication is
conversation that adds action and meaning
Human communication can be broken down into four perspectives
- Mechanistic: transmission of messages across space through a channel
- Psychological: how characteristics of individual (cognition, attitudes and conceptual filters) effect communication process
- Interpretive-symbolic process: states organizational communication consists of coordinated behaviors that build socially constructed reality
- System interaction: sequences of patterned behavior
The communication aspect of an organization relies on four dimensions of interaction processes:
membership negotiation, self-structuring, activity coordination and institutional positioning.
PUBLIC RELATIONS meanings
- Communicate to public in order to persuade them
- Public relations as relationship management
- Means of position organization
Divided into: media relations, internal communications, community relations, issues management, crisis management, public affairs, financial relations and sponsorship
What is corporate communications?
- Utilization of all aspects of organizational identity (communications, symbols, behaviors) to create an attractive and realistic reputation
3 areas of corporate communications
- Management communication: planning, organizing, supervising
- Organizational Communication: PR, CSR communications, Investor relations
- Marketing Communication: promotion, sales etc.
3 Key Overlaps of Disciplines
Indivisible Phenomenon: communication crosses all sectors in varying degrees Relational Perspective: all disciplines studied adopt relationships Communication as an intangible resource
Marketing – relationships generate loyalty
Organizational – underlines knowledge creation
PR and Corporate Communications – reputation as a resource
Freeman’s Stakeholder analysis
Primary: Financiers, customers, communities, suppliers, employees
Secondary: Media, Government, Competitors, Special Interest Groups, consumer advocacy groups
Relationship between identity and reputation
Brand is customer centric – focusing on product/service that company delivers to consumers and what that commitment means to them
Reputation is company centric – credibility and respect that company has amongst employees, investors, regulators etc.
Strategic Internal Communication
- Communication Function (example: employee relations)
- Objective
- Stakeholders
- Channel
Internal Communication has 3 primary goals
- Quality and Productivity
- Brand Ambassadors
- Retention
Guidelines for internal communications
- Leadership’s message
- Prepare employees to hear message
- Model the culture
- Provide support and training
- Multiple messages in multiple ways
- Encourage 2 way communication
- Start with the end
- Budget
How to measure effectiveness of internal communications
Qualitative:
- improved attitudes and moral
- Focus groups
Quantitative:
- Productivity/Quality stats
- Turnover/Absence rates
- Compliance measures
- Satisfaction + engagement surveys
What is networking?
- Establishing connections with other people
- Developing Interpersonal skills
- Opportunities/ research
3 components of networking?
- Approach or ask
- choose a medium, practice elevator pitch, respect others time and space, be
purposeful - Reciprocate: follow up, keep notes on business cards of who you meet
- Thank: everyone likes to be thanked
- Important to thank EVERYONE who helped you land job
10 desired traits by employers
- Integrity
- Communication
- Courtesy
- Responsibility
- Interpersonal Skills
- Professionalism
- Positive Attitude
- Teamwork Skills
- Flexibility
- Work ethic
The conversation age: The opportunity for public relations. article take aways
This article talks about the opportunity that public relations present in new communication age
Rising role of customer care
Viral effect
Noise and clutter
Wining in the conversation age
PR must improve in these areas
Business Acumen- become more serious business people
- Marketing breadth – expand knowledge of marketing mix etc.
- Global perspective – more appreciative of dealing with different
cultures/geographies
Final Notes: Communications
- Strategic Alignment – campaigns are rooted in strategy
- Commitment to Accountability – understand costs of PR and cost of measuring
success
4 models of PR
Press agent/public
public info
two way asymmetric
two way symmetric
