a report by in association with we-worldwide worked for Cadbury for ten years, working on such...

in association with

a report by

we-worldwide.com

Alex Cole has had a ringside seat at the battle for corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be a board issue at major companies and believes it is one of the defining issues of the last decade in public affairs and corporate communications.

Cole, chief corporate affairs officer at health insurer Bupa, is celebrating her 15th year in-house, which she entered in 2000 when she became public and community affairs officer at Cadbury, after working as a special adviser to Labour’s Jack Straw.

‘Corporate and social responsibility is completely different to how it was ten years ago,’ she says. ‘I was community affairs officer but nowadays when people who have got the word ‘officer’ in their title in relation to CSR, it is because they are sitting on boards or reporting into the chief executive on the subject.

‘We’ve seen the rise of the chief sustainability officer and we’ve seen the function professionalised. There’s been a maturing of the function. It’s definitely on the agenda of boards and CEOs and it’s really become an expected responsibility embedded into the business practices of organisations.

‘Ten years ago, people talked about the ultimate aim of a CSR manager or head being to do themselves out of a job because if you can get it sufficiently

embedded into an organisation, you shouldn’t need to exist. I think we’re starting to see some of that now.’

Cole worked for Cadbury for ten years, working on such unglamorous assignments as helping farmers lower the carbon emissions of their dairy cattle, before becoming global corporate affairs director and leading the chocolate-maker’s move to Fairtrade.

She helped Cadbury become one of the first British companies to have a board sub-committee on corporate social responsibility and to issue an annual CSR report.

During that period, she says she witnessed the CSR agenda increasing its focus from just environmental and community programmes to being about the full footprint of a business.

As director of corporate affairs at supermarkets group J Sainsbury, which she joined after Cadbury’s 2010 takeover by Kraft Foods, she saw another evolution of the function.

‘It was about an embedded approach, so that the people who were driving business activity also had the corporate social responsibility agenda, rather than the CSR agenda being something that got sold to them,’ she says.

‘Rather than being a lobbying unit inside the organisation, it was much more about making it part and parcel of the jobs of people leading in particular areas.

‘That’s been one of the big trends. Ten years ago, you set up CSR as a unit to lobby your own organisation internally. Now, it’s much more about capability and profile visibility of issues and activities, with the actual delivery happening within the organisation in core roles.’

Cole also sees the rise of corporate affairs as a ‘mega-theme’ embracing the combining into one of internal and external communications.

‘The idea that you can segment and target what you want to talk about to the exclusion of another audience knowing what’s going on is increasingly not the way to look at the world,’ she says.

As for the rise of digital and social media, Cole believes that an understanding of its importance is now vital for anyone in her team. ‘I wouldn’t employ anybody who didn’t read the newspapers so why would I employ somebody who doesn’t think about social media now?’ she says.

‘It started as this curious thing that needed to be managed and was slightly alien and needed special people to do. Now it has become a core capability.’

Alex ColeChief corporate affairs officerBUPA

The idea ThaT you can segmenT and TargeT whaT you wanT To Talk abouT To The exclusion of anoTher audience knowing whaT’s going on is increasingly noT The way To look aT The world

inTroducTion

Ten years ago, when CorpComms Magazine first launched, there remained some residual snobbery in the world of corporate communications that members of an in-house team were perhaps not as qualified as those who worked in the agency world. It was

the senior agency people to whom the chief executive turned for strategic advice, it was argued.

Today, few would make such a suggestion. The advent of 24/7 media, the implosion of social media and the recognition that corporate reputation is a valuable asset, that must be safeguarded like any other asset, have combined to propel the in-house communicator centre-stage within organisations.

Their inputs now shape the ways in which organisations behave and perform, whether that is through opening up a dialogue with non-governmental organisations or local communities, listening to the demands of their colleagues and customers or engaging with key influencers. They are defining the corporate narrative.

With reporting lines direct into the chief executive and, increasingly, a seat at the management or executive committee, in-house professionals are now helping to influence business strategy. Many are being called into discussions early in the process, rather than summoned when a decision has been made and told to just to ‘sell it’. They are starting to impact the bottom line.

The in-house corporate communications department is no longer seen as the poor relation to marketing, or an adjunct to human resources. Social media has brought it into the arena of customer and employee communications, and the lines of demarcation are getting fuzzy. But this is no passing fad: the functions are becoming increasingly integrated, and successful in-house communicators are already leveraging off the skills marketing bring to the party to prove their value.

who did we survey?

whaT is your TiTle?

in which secTor do you work?

director of communicationsdirector of corporate affairshead of communications head of external affairshead of media relationspr managercorporate communications managermedia relations managerother

Financial servicesindustrial retail energy Utilitiesreal estatenot-for-profitother

660+330=990+10=900+100=950+50=950+50=970+30=800+200=970+30=800+200=

570+430=830+170=980+20=980+20=970+30=950+50=950+50=770+230=

23%5%5%3%2%2%17%43%

20%3%20%3% 5%5%10%1%33%

In general, those who replied ‘other’ had similar titles and roles to those defined, but had the moniker ‘vice president’ or ‘associate’, for example.

almost 400 pr professionals responded to a surveymonkey questionnaire on the changing role of in-house communications through a series of email invitations, between august and september. of these 112 were excluded on the basis that the respondents worked in agencies, leaving 394 in-house professionals who answered all or the majority of the 32 questions posed.

meThodology

how long have you worked in-house? less than five years Five to ten years more than ten years

440+560=750+250=820+180=

Based on 281 respondents

18%25%57%

in association with

we-worldwide.com24 25Ten years of in-house communicaTions CorpCOMMS 25

almost nine out of ten respondents believe the advent of social media has had the greatest impact on their role while the arrival of a 24/7 news cycle is cited by almost seven in ten (67 per

cent) but it is fair to say that a wide range of factors have all served to make the in-house communicator’s role increasingly complex.

‘There is no doubt in my mind that my skill set is now both deeper (generated by experience) and broader (generated by the requirement to be across stakeholders, PR, social, digital, crisis planning) than I ever envisaged it would be five years ago,’ said one respondent. ‘This is actually a benefit. It means that senior management cannot afford to ignore comms as we cut across so many areas of the core business.’

‘I could elaborate on all the nine factors I have ticked,’ said one respondent, ‘but I think it is sufficient to say that the huge number of external pressures and external moving parts today, compared to ten years ago, demonstrates the far greater complexity of the role today.’

The past complacency of many chief executives and chairmen about their organisation’s reputational standing has been shaken by the financial crisis and high-profile crises, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which saw previously highly respected brands brought to their knees. Public opinion polls, reflecting consumers’ mistrust of major financial services organisations and big business, and a growing backlash against executive remuneration have all played a part in reinforcing the importance of in-house communicators. ‘Reputations can be built and destroyed in seconds so the impact of communications is apparent in all aspects of business life,’ said one respondent.

Reputation has moved up the corporate agenda. For some in-house communicators, it has become the primary focus of their role. For others, it is an essential part of their role. ‘It is now one third of my organisation’s business plan,’ said one respondent. ‘Reputation is everything – all work streams revolve around this,’ said another. ‘There is a growing understanding by boards that reputation is something to be managed and impacts on the bottom line.’

Others agree. ‘The recognition of reputational risk as a significant principal risk by both businesses and regulators has increased significantly the value placed on our activities by the more enlightened boards and executive committees. This has, in turn, led to an elevation of the importance of the role of the communications director within corporates.’

‘Comms now has a seat at the table, and is recognised as key to change and reputation – not something the

has The role of The in-house communicaTor changed much in The pasT decade?

has The role of an in-house communicaTor changed?

yes, significantly 59%

yes, somewhat 38%

at the margins 1%

not really 2%

based on 235 respondents based on 227 respondents

59+38+1+2+Aif yes, whaT has had The greaTesT impacT on The role?[tick all that apply]

The need To acT like a publisher

the news cycle has changed. Fixed deadlines have gone, never to return. Journalists are increasingly under pressure, both in terms of time and the need to produce copy, and, in some cases, with less specialist expertise in the subjects they are covering. news is global, and it is constant. media relations has changed dramatically.

‘there is no such thing as ‘out of hours’ any longer,’ said one respondent. ‘heading up comms means you are always on call, even though the call rarely comes. and there is no ‘off switch’ to email, sadly.’

‘ten years ago, our job was to deal with journalists producing newspapers, radio or tV programmes with set deadlines, and a generally narrow sphere of interest,’ said another. ‘now these media are focused on online output, filing constantly and are immediately interested in stories breaking from any market. the days are a little longer, the output is different (press releases – content creation) and pr teams in all a company’s markets need to work much more closely together.’

but the onerous demands on a journalist’s time has also brought other unexpected challenges for communicators, particularly those working in listed companies. ‘while the media are as influential as ever, the news agenda for business has got lighter,’ said one. ‘populism wins: look at the rise of reality tV and social media. business has for various reasons lost the trust it used to have so there is a far greater degree of scepticism around all we do. Journalists and mps have a much tougher job than they used to, and business has been caught up in the changes going on in their world. Ultimately it affects what we do and how we engage. the rules continue to change and we are having to sprint to keep up.

‘it is a lot easier for people to get heard but for business to get lost amidst the noise.’

some organisations are embracing these changes, and exploiting the new world of media. ‘the change in media has meant that the audience is wider and more splintered. this has challenges,’ conceded one respondent. ‘but it also means corporates can act as publishers and get their own messages out rather than just rely on the media.’

others agree. ‘new media, like social media, have made it easier to connect with audiences and make it necessary for brands to have a constant story.’ ‘it is no longer acceptable to specialise in, say, media relations. now we must be experts in all aspects of communications, including digital and campaigns.’

social media

the rise of 24/7 media

the growing importance of an internal stakeholder audience

the continuous need to deliver more with lessthe board’s increasing focus on corporate reputation

the recognition of the value of in-house communications by the board

the regulatory environment

the financial downturn

the need to justify return on investment to the board the need to be more generalist than specialist

the arrival of activist stakeholders

Globalisation

85%

67%

52%

48%

47%

42%

28%

23%

22%

22%

21%

17%

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790+210=

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780+220=

770+230=

720+280=

580+420=

530+470=

520+480=

480+520=

330+670=

150+850=

CorpComms 2726 TEN yEARS OF IN-HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS

recognising employees as a key sTakeholder audience

more than half (52 per cent) of in-house communicators now see the growing importance of an internal stakeholder audience as having a major impact on their role. keeping staff informed and up-to-date is no longer viewed as an add-on to the daily duties but as an integral part of the communications puzzle.

as one director of communications said: ‘we always used to say that our employees were our most valuable asset, but we never really treated them like that.’

budgetary constraints have highlighted the value in retaining staff while social media has afforded the opportunity for an engaging dialogue.

‘there’s more executive acceptance that a valued and engaged workforce is a highly productive one. money is always an issue but good organisational engagement does not need to come at a high cost,’ said one respondent. ‘there are more channels to communicate and engage with staff groups now. we’ve gone beyond newsletters and representative groups. in

some ways, we are almost duplicating the work done externally with the public and media but doing it with our own staff with more detailed messaging.’

another added: ‘more value is finally being placed on internal communications but while the volume of work remains incredibly high, the willingness to

invest is still low. confusing internal communications with marketing doesn’t help. there is a clear differential between what is suitable

for external and internal audiences that is often lost.’

A transformation in the way reputation management is perceived and understood is by far the most important change in corporate communications in the past decade.

That’s the view of Charlotte Lambkin, who has been corporate relations director of spirits group Diageo since January last year, having previously worked as group communications director at defence business BAE Systems.

‘Corporate communications has changed beyond all recognition in the last decade,’ she says. ‘Ten years ago, I was two years into my time at BAE Systems and communications was an entirely different place.

‘I talked a lot then about the importance of being proactive but I don’t think we really knew the meaning of the word. Also, compared to our other corporate colleagues, we were always at the end of the food chain and when something went wrong we were in fire-fighting mode.

‘Now, success is when you have almost no fire-fighting because you have put enough geo-political and reputational mapping in place that you hope to avoid as many of those fires as possible. And if there are any, they are created by external events, rather than internal screw-ups. The function’s role in horizon-scanning and reducing the amount of fire-fighting time has changed enormously.

‘But senior communicators have also become more professional and been able to insert themselves much earlier in the processes within organisations so we can have conversations about whether we should do mergers and acquisitions, how to position ourselves in certain markets – the sort of conversations that frankly we just weren’t involved in before.’

Lambkin, who worked in agency PR as a director of Bell Pottinger Corporate and Financial before going in-house, now has 350 people globally in corporate relations, including 58 at the group head office.

She says she is a firm believer that communicators have proved over the past decade that they have a valid and vital role to play on company executive committees.

‘People understand reputation now, not just from a risk perspective, but that there’s also an upside to reputation so that if you manage your content to the right stakeholders and do it well, there will be a positive reputation outcome that means you’ll be able to do better business,’ she says.

‘People will partner with you who would not have done so otherwise. They’ll choose you over your competitors and governments will trust you and give you concessions and tax relief when they otherwise wouldn’t have done.

‘So reputation has become a strategic lever, rather than something that you simply have to guard your company against. That’s the big transition.’

As for the next ten years, Lambkin believes corporate relations will work more closely with legal departments as regulations increase. She also forecasts that it will become increasingly common to see corporate communications directors take non-executive directorships on the main boards of other companies.

In addition, Lambkin sees senior communicators taking part in ever higher-level decisions over branding and reputation and predicts that the sustainability agenda will move further from being seen as philanthropic to something that will drive businesses.

‘For me, the sustainability agenda is a massive part of reputation,’ she says. ‘When I arrived at Diageo, my concern around sustainability was that it was still seen as philanthropic. It wasn’t a lever to be both a force for good, effect regulatory change and to be a commercial driver for consumers with our brands.

‘I think that’s what sustainability is going to be about. Because when sustainability is seen as purely philanthropic, it gets cut, because it is non-core.

‘We also need to be very clear as communicators about what our role and what benefits we’re bringing to the organisation. We have to ensure we are business people first and communicators second.’

CHARloTTe lAMBKINCorporate relations directorDIAgEO

success is when you have almosT no fire-fighTing

because you have puT enough geo-

poliTical and repuTaTional

mapping in place

chairman’s secretary does in her spare time or Suzy in marketing because she’s quite good at writing!’

‘Boards are getting that stakeholders are interconnected and can often act in concert both for and against your brand,’ said another. ‘And, hopefully, they see us as the people who can fix that and make it work to our advantage.’

But the increased visibility of the role has also brought new challenges for communicators.

‘Communications has become more valued by the Board, but as a result needs to justify return-on-investment more than ever,’ said one respondent.

‘The big thing is return-on-investment or, more precisely, value beyond clips or AVEs. We are becoming more adept at defining value and justifying why we are a critical business enabler, but sadly there are too many mediocre, lazy in-house people who give our trade (and yes, it’s a trade not a profession) a bad name.’

in association with

we-worldwide.com

28 29CorpCommsTen years of in-house CommuniCaTions

reporting lines can be a source of contention within the in-house communications world. Career moves are often determined on whether a position reports into the chief executive or, for

example, head of human resources, with the latter viewed (in some cases) as an indication that comms is not taken seriously within an organisation. Others are less precious about the distinction, arguing that chief executives often seek to streamline their direct reports and, consequently, reporting lines are irrelevant. What is more important, they argue, is access to the chief executive, and whether advice is respected and, in turn, acted upon.

But our survey reveals that, as the in-house communications function has increased in importance, it is becoming part of the chief executive’s network. Ten years ago, just 14 per cent of respondents reported directly to the chief executive; today, that percentage has more than doubled to 29 per cent.

When it comes to directors of communication and corporate affairs, the change is even more dramatic. Ten years ago, just 15 per cent of directors reported directly to the chief executive; today, 65 per cent claim to do so. This startling change has come at the expense of marketing directors’ fiefdoms. Ten years ago, more than four in ten directors of communications (41 per cent) reported to marketing directors; today, that number has fallen to just six per cent.

The reporting line is not the only sign that in-house communications teams are being taken seriously. Today, more than six in ten directors of communications or corporate affairs sit on their organisation’s executive committee or management board. Ten years ago, just 39 per cent had a seat at that table.

reporTing lines

reporTing lines of direcTors of communicaTions and exTernal affairs

who do you reporT To? who do you reporT To? do you siT on The execuTive or managemenT commiTTee?

did The in-house posiTion have a seaT on ThaT commiTTee Ten years ago?

has your reporTing line changed over The pasT decade?

if iT has changed, who did you reporT To Ten years ago?



if iT has changed, who did you reporT To Ten years ago?

Chief executiveChairmanFinance directorMarketing directorHuman resourcesOther

chief executivechairman Finance director marketing director human resourcesother

yes 63%

yes 39%yes 53%

chief executivechairman Finance director marketing director human resources other

Chief executive

Chairman

Finance director

Marketing director

Human resources

Other

770+230=880+120=590+410=910+90=500+500=850+150=

760+240=980+20=940+60=460+540=970+30=350+650=

470+530=

370+630=

610+390=

15%0%9%41%12%23%

65%3%0%6%2%24%

no 37%

no 61%no 47%

29%1%2%14%7%47%

14%

1%

3%

30%

9%

44%

560+440=910+90=700+300=970+30=990+10=860+140=

530+470=930+70=860+140=980+20=990+10=710+290=


has your reporTing line changed over The pasT decade?

yes 60% No 40%

400+600=

30 Ten years of in-house communicaTions 31CorpCOMMS

sTripping ouT The impacT of promoTions, has The breadTh of your role changed?

if yes, do you have responsibiliTy for new discipline?

which of The following do you now have responsibiliTy for? [tick all that apply]

The changing naTure of The role of in-house communicaTor

Social media

Internal communications

Employee engagement

Brand management

Corporate responsibility

Exhibitions and events

Community relations

government relations

Sponsorships

Customer service

Sustainability

Investor relations

Other

facebook may have launched in 2004, but ten years ago few if any in-house communicators would have heard of Mark Zuckerberg and his quirky social media tool for university students. They certainly could not

have envisaged that Facebook, alongside other platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, would dramatically impact their role. And they certainly would not have predicted that responsibility for social media would have been part of their remit, particularly in the early years when it often fell under the auspices of marketing.

But today, 83 per cent of in-house communicators have responsibility for social media, ranging from managing selected platforms, such as Twitter accounts, to the full gamut of tools alongside the corporate website.

yet the rise of social media has also brought new responsibilities and challenges for in-house communicators, and taken them into areas more traditionally the domain of other functions, such as marketing.

Almost half of those surveyed (47 per cent) now have responsibility for brand management, and many concede that this was not a duty they anticipated at the start of their career. Or, as one respondent elaborated, ‘brand management and the requirement to articulate a differentiated purpose in a very crowded and competitive marketplace’.

Asked which responsibilities they could not have envisaged ten years ago, one respondent said: ‘Brand management and employee engagement. We’ve snatched them from marketing and human resources. Social media is a driver, but the focus on strong consistent messaging across multiple platforms needs PR and comms skills – not human resources and marketing ones.’

Other respondents agree, claiming that the additional responsibilities ‘are all part of the need to adopt a much more

Peter Morgan believes the biggest challenge of the digital age is being brave enough to deconstruct old communications channels as companies add new ones.

Morgan has been director of corporate affairs at aero-engines maker Rolls-Royce since 2009 and sees the requirement for companies to have a dynamic presence on social media as well as compelling websites to be game-changing in internal as well as digital communications.

‘It always was very, very difficult for a chief executive to talk to everybody in the company and now you can have a CEO blog or an online questions and answers session or you can put a video of your CEO on your intranet so I think, both internally and externally, digital communications has provided a really exciting opportunity to improve communications,’ he says.

‘But a real challenge for all corporate communications has been to decide what to stop doing because, if all you do is add things, it’s very easy to create noise and confusion. I’ve tried really, really hard to take resource out of analogue communications and put it into digital communications so we don’t end up with both.

‘It’s really difficult to make things smaller. But I don’t think it’s sensible to just add 15 more channels to your existing channels. There’s a danger in just adding channels and capabilities because you start communicating through too many channels and the message can become diffuse. I think you have to move from the old world to the new.’

Morgan joined Rolls-Royce in 2009 after five years as head of press and then group director of communications for BT group.

He says his biggest surprise was discovering how different business-to-consumer communications are from those at business-to-business companies.

Rolls-Royce, for example, employs 50 people in group communications, compared to more than 200 at BT, despite having extensive overseas operations.

Morgan, who spent 20 years as a reporter and correspondent for BBC TV News and worked for PR agency Weber Shandwick before going in-house, also admits that only some FTSE100 companies took corporate social responsibility seriously a decade ago – something he sees as completely different now.

‘We’re all aware of whether we are good corporate citizens and of the scrutiny that big companies are subjected to,’ he says. ‘Unless you can demonstrate that you’re a good corporate citizen, it’s difficult to be admired nowadays.’

He says communications budgets at both BT and Rolls-Royce have ‘steadily reduced’ over the past decade, despite new digital communications and corporate social responsibility requirements meaning there is a lot more to communicate.

However, he doesn’t see much change in the use of PR agencies, with Rolls’ total spend on agencies of less than £1 million a year about the same as a decade ago.

‘It’s not something we’ve cut back on,’ he says. ‘The thing that has absolutely not changed is that, at its core, this is a trade that relies on relationships.

‘It relies on your relationship with the chief executive, the chairman and the board and it relies on your relationships with politicians and journalists.’

As for likely changes over the next decade, Morgan has bad news for journalists. ‘I think the power is shifting from the Press to companies,’ he says. ‘As there are fewer journalists more thinly spread, the ability of companies to set their own agenda and to communicate directly with their stakeholders through social media will make corporate affairs departments more powerful and the Press much less so.

‘That’s the opportunity. The challenge is to keep communications simple and straightforward when the technology is inviting you all the time to make it more complicated and diffuse.’

PeTeR MoRgANDirector of corporate affairsROLLS ROyCE

The Thing ThaT has absoluTely noT changed is ThaT, aT iTs core, This is a Trade ThaT relies on relaTionships


yes 88% No 12%120+880=


yes 91% No 9%

90+910=


83%

70%

48%

47%

40%

38%

33%

32%

30%

21%

13%

13%

23%

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in association with

we-worldwide.com32 33CorpCommsTen years of in-house CommuniCaTions

Two inter-related themes have emerged over the past decade to completely change the nature of corporate communications, believes Claire Divver, group communications director at defence group BAE Systems.

The first is a clear loss of trust in big institutions and large companies following the 2008 financial crisis that has resulted in companies speaking with less authoritative voices and reduced credibility.

The second is the rise of citizen journalism made possible by social media which now provides an alternative view that is difficult for companies to control.

‘As well as being harder to get your company’s voice out credibly to people, we now have a proliferation of people with both the ability and the channels to get their voices out to just as broad an audience as companies have,’ says Divver.

‘Ten years ago, the man on the street would not have really had the ability to broadcast to a global audience. But we all have that ability now through our phones.’

At BAE Systems’ head office, Divver is in charge of a direct group communications workforce of 20 people and has another 130 communicators feeding into her operation from across the world.

She believes that communicators now have to work in much more thoughtful and creative ways to their modus operandi of ten years ago.

‘Companies have to stop broadcasting and using a slightly impersonal and superior corporate voice,’ she states. ‘We’re just one voice in an ongoing conversation, with some credibility with certain audiences but not a sense of infallibility that was perhaps the preserve of big institutions a decade ago.

‘Instead of thinking of a company’s news flow as the starting point for communications, you have to think about what matters to the world in general and about what conversations are going on outside the company and how to link into those.

‘It’s a much more iterative process and it doesn’t start and end with a press release any more. It’s about trying to find rich engaging content. It might be a video, a tweet or something you put on your website. you may not end up putting out a press release at all because that feels anachronistic now.’

Neither does Divver, who joined BAE Systems in January 2014 after nearly ten years at miner Xstrata, where she was general manager of group corporate affairs, believe that these trends matter any less to business-to-business (B2B) companies than to the business-to-consumer (B2C) groups.

‘That’s another thing that has happened over the past decade,” she says. ‘The gap between B2B and B2C has really narrowed.

‘Companies realise that the general public and public opinion matter to us all. you ignore public opinion at your peril even if you are a B2B company.

‘you might not be trying to sell to consumers but peoples’ opinion about big business matters, particularly in regulated industries such as mining and defence. In defence, our customers are governments who are elected by people.

‘We used to be able to think about just the people we were selling to; our customers. Now you have to think about a much broader range of

stakeholders. That has opened the aperture for all companies, whether B2B or B2C, to think about the man on the street as one of the stakeholders that they have to get to.

‘If everybody has the ability to be an opinion-former, then everybody matters. Anyone with an iPhone can send something about your company that may go viral. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to sell to them or not.’

ClAIRe DIVVeRGroup communications directorBAE SySTEMS

insTead of Thinking of

a company’s news flow as

The sTarTing poinT for

communicaTions, you have To Think

abouT whaT maTTers To The

world in general

integrated approach to communications, both internally and externally, and are understandable as a result’.

One added: ‘I planned to be a ‘pure’ press officer, essentially pro-active PR planning and reactive handling. But that role doesn’t exist anymore. The 24/7 news cycle and the absolute need for communications to be integrated with what were considered other areas of the business, such as marketing or brand, are not things I envisaged.’

Internal communications and employee engagement, for so long the responsibility of human resources, are increasingly coming under the in-house communicator’s umbrella. Ten years ago, seven in ten respondents would not have predicted that they would today have responsibility for internal communications, while 48 per cent would not have staked a

bet on employee engagement.

‘The increased focus on employee engagement has been the biggest change I’ve noticed over the past ten years,’ said one respondent. ‘Employee engagement is no longer the poor relation of the communications function. I spend more time thinking about this dimension than I do about external comms.’

‘[I could not have foreseen] employee engagement,’ added

another respondent. ‘Not because I didn’t see the value of it, but because it has only recently come to the fore with our senior managers who now see its importance.’

Several respondents now describe employee engagement ‘as the number one priority’, with one adding: ‘We never spoke to our employees in the past (believe it or not) apart from the odd newsletter quarterly.’

But some respondents add that responsibility for employee engagement is shared with human resources. ‘The overlap with HR is much greater now, and the importance of high quality communications with our employees has gained greater recognition among HR professionals.’

Social media has also brought the challenge of customer communications into the in-house communicator’s arena. Few predicted the rise in the use of social media as a complaints channel by customers and, as a result, one in five

in-house communicators now has responsibility for some form of customer engagement. ‘Customer services is also an area I have managed,’ said one respondent. ‘Again, it is an important enabler of brand experience and external and internal engagement.’

The growing recognition of the importance of corporate reputation, including in some cases the need for restoration and rebuilding, appears to have driven the sustainability agenda forward. Four in ten in-house communicators manage the corporate social responsibility function within their organisations, while one third look after community relations and 13 per cent have responsibility for sustainability.

Several respondents expressed surprise at the ‘growing emphasis on community relations’ which one described as ‘increasingly seen and a representative element of company communications today’.

‘The more widespread incorporation of responsible business into the organisation has taken a long time to happen,’ said one. ‘It will be interesting to see if this is just now in vogue on the back of increased public and political scrutiny of organisations or here to stay. Let’s hope the latter.’

Others are less cautious. ‘Corporate social responsibility has taken a huge place. It is now a must while it was a ‘good to have’ ten years ago.’

One added: ‘Comms was always the gatekeeper to a company, but now is increasingly its troubleshooter. That changed role has made sustainability and CSR a much more integral tool of comms than I had expected a decade ago.’

The increased political scrutiny of organisations, which has led to a constant flow of chief executives and chairmen sitting before government select committees and asked to explain their actions and decisions, has, perhaps unsurprisingly, brought government relations under the remit of in-house communicators.

One in three now have responsibility for government relations or public affairs. ‘It is a natural fit that those who understand the organisation’s mission, vision, values and objectives and can articulate them most clearly, should be the ones trying to influence public policy,’ said one.

While 13 per cent of in-house communicators now have responsibility for investor relations, some have expressed surprise that the proportion is not higher. ‘What has surprised me is that comms or more precisely corporate affairs is not responsible for IR,’ said one. ‘A few have tried and failed, and I am not sure why. With that element of responsibility nailed than our seat at the top table would have been secured.’

There are consequences of such a diverse portfolio. Some respondents complained that they are now viewed as ‘generalists rather than specialists’, while others believe communications naturally picks up areas such as sponsorship and events because ‘we have a broad range of transferable skills for this kind of thing, such as strong communication skills, an organised approach to projects and persuasive natures’.

But, for one communicator, the new world is just too complicated. The main responsibility he could not have foreseen is simple. He sums it up in one word: ‘writing’.

comms was always The gaTekeeper To a company, buT now is increasingly iTs TroubleshooTer

in association with

we-worldwide.com


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The impacT of social media

Twenty years ago, when a listed company launched a corporate website, it hit the City pages of Britain’s media. Today, in-house communicators manage myriad channels, such

as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram that did not even exist ten years ago, and it barely registers as news worthy.

It is hardly surprising that 85 per cent of respondents claim social media has had the biggest impact on their role over the past ten years. But they are also quick to

point out that, while social media has altered the dynamics of communications, it is – at its heart – just another channel, and thus normal rules should apply. ‘It gives you more channels to add to the mix and increases your engagement with audiences, but the core job is still the same: protect and enhance the organisation’s reputation.’

Another added: ‘On one side, it’s just a channel. On the other, it’s changed the cascade and structure of stakeholder communications to a network approach.’

‘People are too obsessed with the latest tactics and allow [social media] to drive the profession, and our whole organisation at times. They are simply other channels, and anyone with a good understanding of audiences, research and insight, with a willingness to make an attempt at using new methods, should not be phased out by such developments.’

These views explain why some in-house communicators believe that social media’s impact has been exaggerated. Or perhaps ‘over-complicated’, according to one respondent, who adds: ‘It does come down to being able to communicate well and have a good understanding of people and how to develop relationships, tell stories and be interested and interesting.’

There is also some scepticism about the potential for social media to cause crises or even its role in a crisis situation, when it was noted by several respondents to have a ‘disproportionate hold over comms policy’.

‘There is no doubt that social media has changed the game,’ said one respondent. ‘Lots of people want to talk about a social media crisis and rush to advise you, but all it is is a quicker form of the same crisis.’

Another added: ‘While I absolutely do understand the potential for social media campaigns to cause you to lose control of your corporate narrative, it happens less frequently than the hype would have you believe. And the customer acquisition benefits (though not necessarily the customer servicing benefits) are frequently overstated. I do get bored being told that a business with more than 30 million customers globally should be jumping through hoops to respond to an online petition with 200 signatures attached to it.’

‘It should never be underestimated but people need some perspective when one person with 12 followers has tweeted something, and no one else picks it up,’ said one.

Others disagree. ‘We had a ‘mini crisis’ and I had to have 12 people working for 18 hours a day to keep up with customer service responses – and you can’t underestimate the importance of getting that right. But as a channel, it is ‘just another’ comms channel. It is part of the mix, not the be all and end all.’

The impacT on cusTomersOne way social media has dramatically changed the role of the in-house communicator has been through its impact on customers, and the way it has broken down barriers between internal and

external communications. Customers and employees have a direct route to contact a company’s chief executive to

complain about service or make a suggestion. ‘It has given both consumers and employees a real voice that is ignored at a business’ peril,’ said one respondent. ‘The impact [of social media] has been huge, not

only in terms of our role, our skills and our day-to-day tasks, but also in terms of how the public interact with us. People say things on Facebook and Twitter that they would never say in a public meeting, letter or email, and that’s been quite a difficult element of the rise of social media,’ said another.

Another added ruefully: ‘I think most communications teams underestimate [social media’s] impact, particularly as a place for unhappy customers to vent their spleen and damage your reputation.’

The downside of this is that social media has also become a fertile ground for journalists. ‘[Social media] is increasingly becoming the media of choice for consumer complaints, and it is used heavily by journalists and politicians,’ said one.

‘It is allowing more people to speak freely and at speed without deep thought,’ added another. ‘The demand for instant reaction is growing but, on the other hand, there

is still demand for facts and evidence in some detail.’‘Social media has changed the speed of the operation,

and it’s changed the tone too. It’s also forced the ‘customer issue’,’ said one respondent. ‘It is no longer acceptable to sideline something that’s right for the customer just because it doesn’t stack up financially. This has been a massive help for the communicator.’

And, in turn, this has changed the speed with which in-house communicators have to respond. This rapidity of response has, perhaps, contributed to social media’s rise in importance. ‘It brings immediacy to issues that might have taken longer to manifest in the past,’ one respondent said. ‘But it’s positive in that it gives timely feedback; negative in that it sucks in resource.’

‘Our customers are showing us how they want to communicate, and more are wanting information on the move,’ said one. But this speed of response brings its own issues. ‘On the flipside, there is a tremendous amount of ‘noise’, which means that there can be over focus on social media causing distortion in resources or ‘organisational’ priorities.’

The ‘noise’ on social media can be distracting, admitted some respondents. ‘you can become diverted from the real issue which may only be a small part of the social media noise at any one juncture.’

Internally, respondents claim the advent of social media has highlighted the differences in management styles – those that were already good at communicating, and those who struggle with the concept. ‘But in the end, it doesn’t change the way people do things,’ said one. Another respondent believes social media has broken down barriers between internal and external communications functions, which are increasingly merging or working more closely together.

‘It can cause a lot of issues if not considered both from the perspective that externally it can send messages

internally that you can’t control,’ said one respondent. ‘But also from an engagement point of view in that, if thought is not given to social media and how people use it, it can cause real demotivation and lack of engagement in places you wouldn’t consider. There are great examples of companies using social media to engage with customers but banning it internally.’


Paddy Toyne-Sewell has been in corporate communications for 20 years and believes that a dramatic professionalisation of in-house teams has been the most significant change in the industry over the past decade.

‘When I moved in-house in 2006, the perception from agency PR was that in-house teams weren’t the place to go,’ he says. ‘The view was that they weren’t as experienced as agency people and didn’t have the same amount of contacts. They weren’t seen as being so professional and it was a slightly easier life, being in-house.

‘For me the big change is the growth in realisation at agencies but also amongst senior management that in-house can be and are as professional, if not more so, than agencies.

‘When I started in-house, one of the first thing senior management might say when they had a problem was that they wanted to get advice from an agency. There’s much less of that kneejerk reaction that they need to get in external support nowadays.’

Toyne-Sewell, who has been head of external relations at Vodafone UK with responsibility for media relations, social media, corporate responsibility and reputation since March last year, is himself a former agency man, having worked in financial PR for Citigate Dewe Rogerson after serving in the Army.

He then worked as corporate affairs director for specialist security company Armorgroup International before the company’s takeover in 2008 by g4S, where he became UK & Ireland corporate affairs director, departing in October 2013 after the merger of the company’s UK and group communications teams.

Now he heads a team of 12 people in Vodafone UK communications operation, which uses four different PR agencies.

Another big change, he says, is an increased willingness to talk about sourcing and operations, driven by the need to comply with corporate social responsibility requirements.

‘Talking about all the things that you’re doing as a company is probably much more structured and strategic now than it was ten years ago,’ he states. ‘And, obviously the enormous growth in social media has completely changed the speed of reaction required. In the old days, if something went wrong you might have time to investigate it, work out what happened and come out with a response. Now, you might find it’s on Twitter within seconds of it happening.

‘The public are acting as journalists and journalists are reacting to what the public is posting online so there’s been a massive blurring of the demarcation lines.’

As for the biggest change likely to befall communicators over the next decade, Toyne-Sewell believes there will be further growth in employee advocacy on behalf of their companies.

‘Ten years ago, it was difficult for employees to be used as a channel to talk about the good stuff that a company was doing, as part of its communications channels,’ he says.

‘Now, there’s more software coming out that allows you to curate social media content that your employees can use safely. you’ve suddenly got thousands of employees who theoretically are providing additional advocacy for

your company.’Toyne-Sewell also sees closer integration

between traditional PR and social media content creation and delivery.

‘Social media will become less of an add-on and more and more integrated into campaigns,’ he says. ‘There will be social media channels and ways of using them in ten years time that probably won’t be thought about for another five years.

‘There will be some ten-year-old somewhere now who will be putting their mind to this. New channels are being dreamt up, created and disseminated so quickly.’

PADDy ToyNe-SewellHead of external relationsVODAFONE UK

There is a growing

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buT also amongsT senior

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can be and are as professional

sTill learningMany respondents concede that they have yet to truly understand the full potential of social media, and how to exploit its ability to interact or inform certain groups of stakeholders. They admit that too many organisations are still fixated on ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ rather than developing social media as a means to truly engage with stakeholders. There is also a concern that many companies have just ‘jumped on the bandwagon’ without any clear agenda or direction. ‘It is not a magic bullet,’ warned one.

‘Social will work for some individuals and companies on different levels and in different ways,’ said one respondent. ‘But more effort needs to be made to find the right social media for your business, along with clear guidelines for use to really benefit the company.’

‘you need to make sure that it will work for you,’ added another. ‘Be prepared to experiment. Select the right channels for your business and stop anything that isn’t working.’

Several respondents highlight the need for communicators to measure the impact of social media, and to ensure that it is embedded into the overall strategy rather than being seen as a standalone platform. ‘It is a useful channel, and can be used for engagement,’ said one. ‘But it isn’t everything. Without strategic communications, social media is not effective.’

The value of newsSocial media has undoubtedly changed the media landscape, though, although arguably the Internet brought the greatest revolution with the introduction of a 24/7 news cycle.

Several respondents talk about the ability to engage directly with stakeholders, rather than rely on journalists to relate their story. ‘It is changing peoples’ attention spans, and how they consume news,’ said one. ‘This is what is really going to impact in-house and on agency life. you are going to see a premium of creativity and transparency just to get heard and trusted.’

‘Where we operate [Aberdeenshire], there is still demand for traditional media,’ conceded one respondent. ‘But social media is

increasingly allowing us to reach our audiences faster, and allowing us to speak to them directly, rather than through the media.’

Another added: ‘As society grows ever more cynical of traditional media

and of established marketing and advertising structures, social media and peer-to-peer referrals will become increasingly important.’

But for some, nothing has changed. ‘We still have a small set of key contacts for

whom it is easier to speak with PR contacts than to tweet them,’ said one corporate

communicator. ‘I see no real evidence that stories shared on social media are regularly

moving share prices. I think the impact may grow over the next decade.’

‘Our board members and trustees tend to be of a generation that still rates coverage in national

newspapers above everything else,’ sighed one respondent.

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iT is parT of The mix, noT The be all and end all


Despite working for most of the last decade for major business-to-business companies, Andrew Brown is in no doubt that the social media revolution has been by far the biggest change in corporate communications over the past decade.

‘Social media has completely changed the game,’ says Brown, director of communications at Drax group, operator of the largest coal-fired power station in Western Europe, near Selby, North yorkshire.

Brown joined Drax in February after six years as communications director of global workplace provider Regus. Before that, he worked in-house for Siemens Financial Services and data services company Vanco, so little of his career has been spent on the consumer front where social media has had most impact. yet he still sees it as the most dominant change.

‘Lots of people were perhaps too slow to anticipate the impact that it would have,’ he says. ‘If I had to issue advice to my former self then it would be to do social media far faster than you are doing. I thought I was embracing it relatively quickly. Ten years ago, there was still a feeling that it was what kids did in their bedrooms on a Friday or Saturday night, rather than something that would change the whole way that we communicated as a society.

‘I still don’t think that we fully understand where social media will go and I still don’t think that as an industry we know how best

to use it. We’re still learning and I think we’re a bit behind the curve, compared to our marketing colleagues, in this respect.

‘I think they’ve been far quicker to see the opportunities in this new development and also use it to prove value to the board, management team or business, whereas social media is actually a form of communications. We should be the innovators and they should be following us.’

Where corporate communicators have improved over the past decade, he says, is on measuring and reporting on the value that they add to their organisations.

He feels that communications is still behind marketing in understanding and utilising ‘big data’ but says that the industry’s prime position as the guardian of corporate reputations is increasingly giving it a position at the top tables of businesses, with opportunities to impact strategies and decision-making.

Drax, which supplies about seven per cent of Britain’s electricity consumption, has switched three of its six power stations at its yorkshire site from coal to biomass and Brown sees corporate social responsibility and the need for carbon management and environmental sustainability as another theme.

However, the two other major communications industry changes that he puts on the same level as the impact of social media are the rise of internal communications and employee engagement and the growing influence of corporate communications directors on public limited company management committees.

‘When I started off as a lowly PR manager for British Steel, the function was never in charge of internal communications or employee engagement,’ he

says. ‘That was what human resources did. Now, it’s very rare to find a business where internal communications is not within a communications function. And at a lot of companies, employee engagement is now the responsibility of the corporate communications department.

‘I think that’s a good development as employee engagement and internal communications have always been seen as a bit of a poisoned chalice.

‘And ten years ago, you would never have had a communications or corporate affairs person on the senior management team. Now, to not have that is the exception, rather than the rule. As trusted advisers to the CEO, it’s critical that we have that role.’

ANDRew BRowNDirector of communicationsDRAX gROUP

i sTill don’T Think ThaT

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do you use agencies? on whaT basis do you employ agencies?

which Type of agencies do you use?[tick all that apply]

do you use agencies more or less Than Ten years ago?

could you envisage a Time when you no longer use agencies?

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whaT do agencies bring To The Table?[tick all that apply]

The role of agencies

yes 73% no 27%based on 224 respondents

48% a retainer basis

31% project only basis

8% as and when extra manpower is required

13% other [please note: ‘other’ translates into a mixture of all three reasons.]

corporate consumer public affairs Financial branding marketing other social media internal communications integrated based on 162 respondents

more 31%

less 28%

the same 41%based on 162 respondents

yes 25%based on 162 respondents

sufficient internal resource appropriate internal experience budgetary constraints dissatisfaction with creativity dissatisfaction with quality of support other based on 41 respondents

three in four respondents (73 per cent) currently use agencies, and of those who do not, the majority work in the public or not-for-profit sectors.

surprisingly, just 17 per cent of respondents employ specialist social media agencies, suggesting that many in-house teams have built up their own expertise in this important area, while corporate pr agencies are used by 45 per cent of our survey’s respondents. one in five also employ other specialist agencies, such as design, web and events.

there are myriad reasons for using agencies, but 67 per cent of respondents value their creativity, 56 per cent their experience while 37 per cent argue agencies’ strategic insight helps to shape their approach to issues.

but the days when agencies used to win business on the basis of knowing the right person to call appear to be over. Just 35 per cent of in-house respondents employ agencies on the basis of their extensive contact books, while 29 per cent employ them for their ability to connect with key influencers. but many of those surveyed also value

their agency’s ability to bring an external perspective or objective counsel that can provide comfort to executives or stakeholders. working in-house can be isolating, and agencies can provide insight into how competitors are viewed or how similar challenges have been tackled elsewhere.

while the future of agencies appears assured, with three in four respondents unable to foresee a time in which they do not employ them, demand does not appear to be growing. Just three in ten respondents today use agencies more than they did ten years ago. a similar amount (28 per cent) claim they have reduced their use while 41 per cent are unchanged.

and one in four respondents do predict that, in time, they will no longer use agencies. while just over half (54 per cent) of these cite budgetary constraints as the potential reason, seven in ten respondents believe that ultimately they will have sufficient internal resource and skills that will render external support unnecessary.

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otherbased on 160 respondents

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we-worldwide.com

41CorpComms40 TEN yEARS OF IN-HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS

managing The deparTmenT as

iT becomes more of an in-house

publishing Team, raTher Than

focusing more on messaging

The challenge of working in-house

John godfrey, group communications director at life insurer Legal & general, believes there is a change in communications over the last decade that is at least as important as the obvious advent of digital and social media and increased prominence of corporate social responsibility.

‘I think management has become much more aware of the importance of decent communications so life is in a lot of ways more interesting and more rewarding for people who are doing communications work in the corporate sector,’ he says.

‘One gets drawn into management processes, decision-making and indeed transactions much earlier than used to be the case. If I go back ten years, you would have executives deciding something and then basically telling the communications people what to do.

‘It would be at worst an afterthought and at best a kind of counterfoil at the end of a transaction. you were the tail-end Charlie. It’s different now. As a communications person, you tend to get drawn in to a process or something that may involve an announcement much earlier in the day than you used to. That’s a good thing for our profession.’

godfrey has been in his role at Legal & general, where he sits on the company’s executive committee, since 2006 when he moved from his executive director role where he was head of communications for London,

Paris, Madrid, and Milan at german investment bank West LB

Before West LB, he worked in-house for Japanese investment banks Daiwa Europe and for Lehman Brothers as head of European corporate communications. He also had a spell in government as a special adviser to Home Office ministers.

‘We’re now not far short of having about half of the companies in the FTSE100 index with corporate affairs directors on their executive committees,’ he says. ‘That’s a big change. you do become much more a part of the decision-making process. That also raises expectations about what you do as a communications person. you are expected to have a really good technical understanding of the business. So it’s a very different world to ten years ago.

‘There’s also a greater degree to which what you might broadly describe as the communications world being better joined up with each other. If you look around the corporate affairs world, you will see communications people from a PR background working much more closely with investor relations professionals and people who are specialists in public policy and regulatory policy.’

As for likely changes in the communications industry over the next ten years, godfrey sees more consolidation among PR agencies.

‘We’ve seen quite a change already with a consolidation over the last decade into some very big agencies and some niche firms,’ he says.

‘We will continue to see that. It must be quite difficult to be in what you might call the muddled middle. I am not sure how the middle ranking of that industry will perform over the next ten years.

‘In terms of channels and technology, the direction of travel seems to be one way only. We’re going to continue to have rolling news and ever more urgent deadlines and, to some, more dumbed-down news because of the pace at which everybody is moving.

‘Whether that means it’s going to be Twitter or Facebook or whether those things will eventually fall out of favour and be replaced by something else, who knows?

‘I suspect there will be further blurring of the lines between what is a genuine editorially-driven communications activity and what is paid for. It already feels like a grey area.’

JoHN goDFReyGroup communications directorLEgAL & gENERAL

as a communicaTions person, you Tend To geT drawn in To a process or someThing ThaT may involve an announcemenT much earlier in The day Than you used To

if a director of communications from 20 years ago were to meet his contemporary today, he would likely barely recognise the role. While the fundamentals may remain the same, the complexities of myriad responsibilities, multiple audiences and channels and an

ever-changing media landscape bring unexpected challenges – and the biggest of all: budgetary constraints.

The role may have expanded beyond all recognition, but it is clear that budgets have not kept pace with such change. Just 44 per cent of in-house communicators have seen an increase in their budgets over the past three years, while almost one third (32 per cent) have experienced a cut. And for one in four in-house communicators, budgets have stayed the same over the past decade.

It is therefore hardly surprising that many of those asked what is the greatest challenge facing in-house communicators cited ‘the need to do more with less’ and ‘balancing budgetary considerations’. One said: ‘We must produce communications that has an impact more quickly but with less budget.’

This is particularly apparent in the public sector, where respondents complained that they needed to ‘justify their value at a time of less funding and more cuts to frontline staff’.

One said: ‘In terms of the public sector, it is purely about survival. Often communications functions are seen as the low hanging fruit – cut by executive boards on a whim without anyone really appreciating the added value a diverse and well-staffed communications team can bring.’

With many public sector organisations undergoing dramatic changes, some respondents fear that, with their limited resources, they will be unable to appropriately resource change programmes and, as a result, may not deliver and ‘confidence in communications will take a hit’.

The biggest challenge, said one, ‘is being able to use limited resources to achieve the same level of effectiveness and engagement, especially during times of change’.

But such fears are not restricted to the public sector. Private sector organisations are also fearful that communications departments look vulnerable during difficult times. The way to redress this fear is, they believe, to ‘ensure comms has a seat at the management table’, where it can prove its value to the rest of the business. But personnel changes and boardroom upheaval can also destabilise the environment. ‘We continue to be regarded sceptically by some.’

‘I think we are under pressure on two fronts,’ said one respondent. ‘Reducing the profile or seniority of the most senior communications or corporate affairs person within the business. Without a seat at the top table (not the board), our voice is not heard and we become irrelevant. This then leads to disintermediation, where media relations and social media goes to marketing, government affairs goes to regulation and internal and community go to HR. I am beginning to see it happening around the edges of a number of firms, my own included, and it is NOT good.’

Communicators need to ‘justify their roles even more’, which requires them to truly demonstrate their impact and influence. ‘The tide is turning and older attitudes towards comms are disappearing,’ said one respondent. ‘But we

in association with

we-worldwide.com42 43CorpCommsTen years of in-house CommuniCaTions

need to demonstrate performance against expectation on our terms as opposed to the financial terms we have previously been forced to perform against. It will be good if we can show some convincing thinking around industry-standard KPIs that will stand the test of time.’

Others believe it was ever thus. ‘I don’t think the challenge has changed,’ said one. ‘We need to develop and execute effective communications campaigns that make a measurable difference to how our audiences behave. The tools we use are changing, but that isn’t.’

For some the solution is to get to grips with the issues facing their organisations, and truly understand the strategy underpinning the business. ‘We need to demonstrate sufficient business understanding to be a real adviser.’ ‘We have to move from a delivery service to a real value-add for the business.’

For others it is to ‘marry communications with all marketing and business development activity’ in order to ‘ensure a joined up approach from external communications to employee engagement and internal communications’.

‘We need to find ways to work with colleagues across the marketing and communications spectrum and ensuring that communications teams have the digital and technological skills to deliver effective, relevant and impactful campaigns that meet corporate objectives,’ said one respondent. ‘We need to develop a good understanding of organisational strategy and be able to advise corporate leaders confidently.’

Others agree. ‘The lines between marketing and comms will continue to blur, and the remits of the two disciplines will increasingly overlap. In-house communicators will need to let go of their perceptions about paid versus unpaid, internal versus external, and learn to view communications holistically.’ ‘Comms, marketing, digital and media will become one team – not four.’

But the challenge is made more complex, according to respondents, as a result of two developments. There is an increasing requirement for in-house communicators to be both generalists and specialists simultaneously. Teams need to be restructured, so that individuals can work across all mediums and adapt communications as required. ‘We will be expected to offer strategic advice across a broader range of issues and no longer narrowly defined by traditional audience groups,’ said one. ‘The challenge will be to evidence our work and the value of it to the organisation with limited staff who are expected to have knowledge in many specialist areas apart from PR or

communications, such as financial control, business management and European procurement regulations,’ added another.

But as communicators become more generalist, it seems that everybody is a communications expert. ‘But they’re not,’ responded one in-house communicator. ‘Everyone thinks they are experts now, because they are on Twitter or have a remit to communicate,’ said another. ‘Comms experts need to hold onto strategic territory, and not find themselves being treated as a transactional (dispensable) function.’

Against the backdrop of dwindling resources,

in-house communicators continue to face the challenge of new technology, and finding the money to invest and train in these, and to keep pace with the rapidity of response demanded by social media. While welcoming the drive to empower employees on social media, respondents recognise that this brings its own trials, including managing employees’ expectations at what can and cannot be done in a corporate environment. ‘All staff feel they have the right to generate content, without the need for strategy.’

‘Unleashing the potential of the whole organisation to communicate will be a challenge,’ said one. ‘We will need to manage the flow of information in both directions.’ ‘And we need to connect with colleagues using their own smart devices.’

Another described the main challenge as ‘the proliferation of more and more channels,’ adding: ‘Every couple of months it seems that there’s a new ‘must have’ channel, which makes it more and more difficult to manage them all with fewer resources. Let’s call this ‘shiny syndrome’. Boss: Are we on WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat et cetera yet? Comms: Not yet, I am too busy with the press, blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, reports, publications, events and policy. We will see this lots more in the coming years.’

The key is prioritisation, say others. ‘Sort the wood from the trees. Focus on issues that matter, avoid those that don’t,’ advises one. The challenge is to ‘manage the breadth of issues facing a business and ensuring they manage to remain business relevant/critical by not getting distracted by the day-to-day,’ said another. ‘Stay ahead of the tsunami of challenges and opportunities open and prioritising what will make the valuable difference.’

For some the key to making a difference depends on the relationships developed, both internally and externally. The disintermediation of the traditional media may make this

The bifurcaTion of communicaTions across sTakeholders

building The TrusT agenda in a changed and changing world

our biggesT challenge: cyber ThreaTs and The repuTaTional fall-ouT, daTa inTegriTy, increasing financial and non-financial regulaTion

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increased 44%

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stayed the same 24%

based on 237 respondents

more difficult. ‘The challenge will be to build and maintain external relationships as newspapers and news agencies reduce the number of reporters and they have less time,’ said one. ‘Also the ‘golden hour’ has gone, getting ahead of the story before social media takes over… externally but internally too.’

Another added: ‘We will need to provide news at the speed people demand it, while retaining our reputation through providing facts, insights and having [journalists’] trust.’ Others agree. ‘The challenge will be to remember that, despite the growth in digital communications and no matter how important it is, it still cannot beat the power of personal relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.’

But for one respondent, at least, the challenge is a perennial one. ‘Incompetent managers,’ he seethed.

no clear picture as to who controls budget decisions emerged from the survey. more junior respondents cited their managers as in control, while others mention a mixture of chief executive, finance, marketing, legal and executive committee. however, when just focusing on the responses of directors of communications, external affairs and corporate affairs, it appears that more than half (53 per cent) have responsibility for their own budgets. but one in five budgets is controlled by the chief executive, while eight per cent are controlled by the finance department or chief financial officer, while 12 per cent are controlled by a board or executive committee.

44 CorpCommsTen years of in-house CommuniCaTions 45

Choose another

career geT ouT!d o n ’ t k e e p VolUnteerinG F o r m o r e thinGs to do

D o n ’ t l e t e m a i l set your agenDa Don’t leave a secure

job just before a financial downturn

soonerMOVE TO LONDON

and real

advice fromyour older self

buckle up and hold on: you’ll work hard for The Thrill of This ride

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. today’s in-house communicators have lived through the implosion of social media, the advent of the 24/7 media and the biggest financial downturn since the great Depression. they have learned on the job, adapted and developed their skill sets and finessed the art of always being on call. But if they had the chance to return to their younger self ten years ago, and offer some advice – what would that be?

moTivaTional

B e l i e v e i n y o u r s e l f

be brave & curiousBe authentic

B U I L D R E L A T I O N S H I P SDon’t be afraid to get it wrong

Unless your DNA is consistent with the reputation you wish to build, you will get caught out

Be prepared to take risks

Think big and don’t limit your imagination

haVe Faith in yoUr own ValUes

haVe Faith in yoUr own ValUes

careers

Get as much experience a s possible, and blow your trumpet more

Ensure your CV is well rounded: don’t silo yourself into one element of comms. you’ll have to do it all the higher you rise

S t u d y f i n a n C e a n d b u S i n e S S i n d e t a i l

STOP BEINg A PR BUNNy AND gET EXPERIENCE IN ‘REAL’ BUSINESS FUNCTIONS FOR A FEW yEARS

don’T sTay longer Than

five yearsin each role

GeT a careers coach:

Be more confiDenT anD move arounD

The inDusTry more

professional

pracTical

and The painful reminders…

VALUE CREATIVITy AND SIMPLICITy: THEy WILL STAND yOU IN gOOD STEAD

REMEMBER THE ART OF STORyTELLINg IS STILL THE KEy TO EVERyTHINg

DON’T ASSUME yOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. BE PASSIVE AND ENgAgE AND LISTEN TO ALL INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS.

DON’T HANg BACK AND WAIT TO BE ASKED:

gET INVOLVED

n e V e r F o rG e t to p U t yo U r s e l F i n t h e c U s t o m e r ’ s s h o e s

Think about the audiences in the whole and how they relate to each other

Channels change but the communications basics remain the same: audience, message, creativity

Don’t put all your effort into a select number of key contacts. Very few journalists now work at the same place or on the same areas as they did. Focus on your ability to build relationships from the ground up

KEEP ON TOP OF CURRENT AFFAIRS TO ENSURE yOU CAN PLAN TO BE RELEVANT AND ONE STEP AHEAD

OF ANy ADVERSE DEVELOPMENTS

Don’t overreact and don’t judge too quickly

Know and manage your stakeholder

relationships like your life depends on it

Trust the best journalists who appreciate honesty rather than corporate speak

think strateGically, act tactically

Plan, p lan, p lan

conTexT, noT conTenT,

is king

BE ON THE gOOD SIDE OF HUMAN

RESOURCES, FINANCE AND MARKETINg:

IT WILL PAy yOU AFTER TEN yEARS!

Encourage leaders to understand the difference between internal and external audiences and their requirements

Ensure clear processes and parameters on

internal and external communications

and ensure the rest of the business

adheres to them

w o r k co l l a b o rat i V e ly rat h e r t h a n co m p e t i t i V e ly w i t h c o l l e a G U e s

NEVER MISS AN OPPORTUNITy TO LEARN MORE ABOUT yOUR ORgANISATION AND THE INDUSTRy WITHIN WHICH IT WORKS

never be afraid To keep learning

t o s tay a H e a D o f t H e C o m P e t i t i o n , yo u n e e D t o C o n t i n u e t o t r a i n a n D l e a r n n e w s k i l l s

priorityMAKE yOUR CONTINUINg PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT A

Never underestimate how quickly the world changes:

adaptor sink

Be humblealways Try To

undersTand The broader conTexT:

Understand the business: think strategically and link communications strategy to

business goals


the media landscape and the role of the in-house communicator has changed dramatically over the last ten years as social media has broken down barriers and linked communities in ways that few could have envisaged.

more than one third of respondents indicate that, if they could give advice to their younger self, it would be not only to embrace technological change, but to have been more alert to its arrival. ‘Question everything,’ one said. ‘the futurologists were right and the age of information is upon us.’

‘increase your digital and technical skills to prepare for the future,’ said another, while one added: ‘keep your eye on Facebook. you’re going to need to use it!’

a stream of advice from ‘learn to code…digital is the future’ to ‘understand technical skills and how to quantify results’ to ‘get on the web and analytics bandwagon now’.

but there is some sage advice too. ‘never forget to see the wood, not just the trees,’ said one respondent. ‘most of the trends in our industry have been very predictable – from social media to the focus on content – it’s just that many didn’t see it coming or, if they did, didn’t change their model to meet the challenges.’

‘be an early adopter of all new technologies,’ said another. ‘try them out yourself. take risks. don’t wait until everyone else is doing it. be bold.’

trying new technology out, even if doesn’t work, is a theme that reverberates through the advice from in-house communicators. don’t be afraid. Use new technologies to communicate so they become the norm, they advise. as one said: ‘never underestimate how quickly the world changes, so adapt or swim.’

and yet, while they advise their younger selves to scan the horizon for new developments, there is also the caveat: don’t forget the traditional channels. ‘Focus on creating compelling content that can be exploited across a range of channels/disciplines. maximise the power of imagery and visual content. adopt an integrated, cohesive approach.’

‘encourage your technology team to employ a dedicated communications person for you to work with,’ said another.

but, ever the pragmatist, one in-house communicator simply offers this advice to his younger self: ‘buy shares in Google.’

Overseeing the communications industry, as well as the country at large as the Cabinet Office’s chief communicator, Alex Aiken has developed an acronym for communications around the first five letters of the alphabet.

‘A is about the audience and not obsessing about channels or the chief executive,’ says Aiken. ‘B is for brevity, which is at a premium because of the sheer proliferation of communications material.

‘Thirdly, I hope we now have more of a conversation with our audiences than we used to. Fourth, there is now far more scope for going direct to audiences, in particular through digital channels and finally evaluation and the insight that gives about how to adapt your campaign to change it. Those are the five changes that I would highlight over the past ten years.’

Aiken is executive director for government communications, responsible for government communication strategy, managing the combined Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office communications team and serving as ‘head of profession’ for the government Communications Service.

He is responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of government communications through the approval of marketing spending and the procurement of external contracts.

The role includes serving on the government Communications Board, providing advice to ministers and

senior officials and is part of the Cabinet Office senior management team.He has also been responsible for creating the government Communications

Service and developing cross-government campaigns as well as handling communications around Civil Service reform, the standards of professionalism in government communications and the government Communications Service reform programme.

‘Corporate communications has gone through a revolution and it’s a continuing revolution. The fundamental change is that audiences are now producers and editors and commentators, as well as recipients of information,’ he says.

‘This was beginning to emerge in 2005 but is now much more a strongly established fact of corporate communications. There’s also much greater sophistication within audiences so they are much more sceptical about marketing and advertising and therefore agencies and organisations have had to respond by bringing audiences more thoroughly into digital, tailored and segmented content.

‘People have grown weary of old-style marketing and therefore communicators are having to be much more inclusive. I hope that means that they listen far more to their audiences when they’re designing campaigns.’

Aiken arrived in his current role in December 2012 after 12 years as director of communications and strategy for Westminster City Council, before which he worked in parliament and for Conservative Central Office, leading the party’s campaigns unit and press office.

He led the policy, member services and communications teams at the council and served as part of the group that oversaw the implementation of the Tri-Borough Shared Services programme and established the Westco communications consultancy which works for public and private sector clients around the UK.

He believes that having access to so many more data sources means that communicators have far more power to apply solutions to communications problems.

‘Another big change in corporate communications over the past decade is the rise of data’ he says. ‘The huge amount of data that we have available means that communications should be more impactful. We can work far harder at thinking through what does work and what might work and that leads into social marketing and behavioural change theory of what nudges sometimes have to shove people into public good.

‘But data means that people need to think harder and there’s a question about whether communicators, who are naturally curious and creative but probably need to work harder at measurement and evaluation, are equipped to deal with the data challenge.’

Alex AIKeNExecutive DirectorgOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS

The fundamenTal

change is ThaT audiences are

now producers and ediTors and commenTaTors,

as well as recipienTs of informaTion

scanning The horizon

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