Cutting Through the Noise The future of corporate communications

The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed.

William Gibson

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The World of Corporate Communications is Changing

Changing communications roles

• Corporate communications more central to the success of the business

• Greater alignment for more impact

• New roles and responsibilities

The changing communications landscape

• More channels

• Faster pace

• More audiences

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The Future of Corporate Communications Survey

Who we surveyed Senior in-house communications professionals across Europe

How many people we surveyed

163

Survey dates 26th January – 9th March 2015

How we surveyed them Online by invitation

• Currently very little data on this topic

• Conducted in conjunction with the EACD

• Provides a picture of the challenges communicators across Europe face

Changing Communications Landscape

“You have to react faster and faster. The media always want

faster and more detailed answers.” (Listed Company,

Czech Republic)

“[The biggest change in the past couple of years is] the higher speed and transparency of

communications processes as a consequence of digitalization.”

(Listed Company, Germany)

The communications

landscape is becoming

more complex, both in

terms of channels, as well as

in how to manage, engage

with and impact business-

critical audiences

Reality #1

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Volunteered biggest recent changes?

Digital media, faster pace and integration

Q. What do you think is the biggest change in the past couple of years in how your communications department does its job?

50%

12%

10%

7%

7%

6%

5%

4%

Rise of social, digital and mobile communications

Increased pace of communications

Integration of communications

Doing more with fewer resources

More strategic use of communications to managereputation

Engaging with a broader range of stakeholders

Greater complexity of work (e.g. managingmultiple channels)

Measuring & demonstrating comms' businessimpact & value

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Volunteered biggest current challenges? Managing reputation and getting the story heard

Managing reputation

Communicating with new audiences

Keeping up with change and new media

Managing reputation

Social and online media

Budget, resources and workload Keeping pace with changes

Demonstrating the value of comms Globalisation of the business

Selecting appropriate tools and channels

Prioritising key objectives

Message development Engaging the right stakeholders

Internal comms Positive differentiation

Storytelling, developing messages with impact

Q. What would you say is the biggest communications challenge facing your organisation today?

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Communicators focused on delivering consistent

messaging and being more strategic

Base: All answering (163)

72%

71%

70%

64%

64%

55%

54%

45%

44%

42%

Consistent messaging across the business

Being more strategic with our corporate communications

Creating effective messages

Demonstrating link between comms & business goals

Using social media effectively

Identifying emerging issues

Finding workable metrics

Maintaining or growing the communications budget

Identifying and prioritizing stakeholders

Finding creative ideas for campaigns

Significant

TIER

1

TIER

2

TIER

3

Q. How significant are each of the following potential challenges for corporate communications in your organisation today?

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Q. Thinking about your department and the work you do, how relaxed or concerned are you about each of the following?

45%

47%

48%

60%

Changing stakeholder landscape – size and diversity of audiences

Increased government regulation

With social media, how to separate what matters from what doesn’t

Information overload in general

% who say they are concerned about each

Having an impact in an information saturated

communications environment is a huge challenge

“With the saturation of channels, the ability to stand out is our biggest

challenge. Graphics can look slick for anyone, so it's important for reputation,

experience and personality to stand out.” (Listed company, UK)

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Q. Thinking about your department and the work you do, how relaxed or concerned are you about each of the following?

45%

47%

48%

60%

Changing stakeholder landscape – size and diversity of audiences

Increased government regulation

With social media, how to separate what matters from what doesn’t

Information overload in general

“[I am concerned about the] communication of complex ideas in a world that seems to

want 140 character all-in solutions.” (Industry association, Switzerland)

% who say they are concerned about each

Digital and social media “noise” only compounds the

situation

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Q. Thinking about your department and the work you do, how relaxed or concerned are you about each of the following? “Corporate brands will become more

exposed and reputation will be harder to preserve, due to social media and public engagement.” (Private company, Serbia)

45%

47%

48%

60%

Changing stakeholder landscape – size and diversity of audiences

Increased government regulation

With social media, how to separate what matters from what doesn’t

Information overload in general

“Corporate communications should provide a feedback loop from all

stakeholders – customers, suppliers, employees, government, media, civil society….” (Listed company, Belgium)

% who say they are concerned about each

The expanding range of stakeholders also presents a

challenge for many

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Non-traditional stakeholders increasingly important

Q. How important to your organisation would you say engagement is with each of the following stakeholder groups now and how important will it be in 5 years’ time?

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Communications continue to shift to digital

Q. How important are each of the following communications channels for your organization now / and how important do you expect them to be in five years’ time?

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27%

18%

13%

12%

10%

10%

10%

10%

10%

Greater integration of PA, marketing, PR & comms depts

More proactive & strategic use of social media tools & big data

Engaging with a broader stakeholder base

Digitisation/ death of print media

Creative, engaging and authentic storytelling

More strategic role in the business

Greater fragmentation - multi-media & multi-channel comms

More targeted/ bespoke stakeholder messaging

Quick response/ continuous real-time engagement

Senior in-houses expect the future of corporate

communications to be more integrated, social and

stakeholder focused

Q. In a sentence or two, what do you think the future of corporate communications will look like? What big issues or changes do you expect to see in five years’ time?

“Reputation and issues management will continue to take center stage and will be

part of good crisis preparation.” (Private

company, Spain)

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The biggest opportunity lies in “joining up the dots”

Coordination

17%

Social Media

16%

Stakeholders

15%

Unified, more integrated communications across the

company

Increase social media skills and engagement

Broaden and strengthen stakeholder relations and engagement

Q. What do you think are the biggest opportunities for corporate communications in your organisation over the next five years?

“Strategically determining messages and steering them through different channels - a coordination, steering and supervisory role.”

(Private company, Belgium)

Changing Communications Roles

Reality #2

The communications functions is increasingly seen as more central to the success of the business. As a result, various strands of communications are becoming more closely aligned to increase control and impact of messaging

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Communications taking a more central role in the

organisation

Decreasing (8%)

Staying the same (26%)

Communications influence is

increasing (66%)

30%

17%

15%

12%

Successful comms seen asbusiness critical for reputation &

performance

Comms involved at strategic levelor as part of the management

team

Increased engagement with otherdepartments and employees

Recognition of need tocommunicate effectively and

consistently

Reasons for increasing influence of corporate communications

Q. Do you think the influence of corporate communications in your organisation is increasing, decreasing or staying the same?

Q. Why do you say that the influence of corporate communications in your organisation is increasing?

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“It is increasingly clear that what happens in any part of the business, anywhere in the world has immediate impact on a global scale. A head of comms that is empowered to make decisions and take action is vital to minimising reputational damage.” (Private company, UK)

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Organisations are consolidating their communications to

tell their story in a more consistent and compelling way

44%

44% say external communications are consolidated or are being consolidated under one leader now

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Organisations are consolidating their communications to

tell their story in a more consistent and compelling way

Six in ten expect external communications to be consolidated under one leader in five years’ time 60%

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Organisations are consolidating their communications to

tell their story in a more consistent and compelling way

83% say communications will be more aligned / consolidated in the future

83%

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Organisations are looking for more control and

consistency

39%

28%

21%

19%

Consistent messaging across channels,audiences and geographies

Better coordination across internaldepartments

More control through centralaccountability

Cost benefits and synergies

Top reasons for consolidation

“Consolidating responsibility makes it easier to tell a consistent story, and

provides direct accountability.” (Listed company, UK)

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The role and title are changing

34% 17% 13% 7%

(Group) Communications

Director/ Head/ VP

Head of marketing/ branding and

communications

Head/ VP/ Director

Corporate/ Public Affairs

Director/ Director General

Chief Communications Officer (CCO) widely used in

the US, less so in Europe

Job title of main person responsible for external communications (Where responsibility for different types of external communications is consolidated)

3%

Head of communications sits on the board

Head of comms should sit on

the board

More Communications Consolidation = Less Anxiety

Analysis suggests that organisations who have a

consolidated communications function are more comfortable than those who don’t with the changes

taking place.

Reality #3

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Businesses with consolidated comms functions less

likely to be concerned about “being strategic”

61% 68%

96%

27% 32%

36%

75% 76%

87%

17% 14% 17%

Being more strategic Concern about havingconsistent messaging

Identifying andaddressing reputationrisks before they harm

the business

Understanding socialmedia

Changing stakeholderlandscape

How to make sense ofbig data

Consolidated comms

Separate comms

Businesses with consolidated comms are less worried about being strategic …

…and are more comfortable with changing landscape

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Communicators are looking to external agencies for an

external point of view and advice

Expecting to use external advisors more: 30%: Tactical execution and support 25%: External point of view, strategy advice and sounding board 18%: Public relations / media training

88% Currently use external communications advisors / agencies

Future reliance on advisors / agencies

25% 48% 27%

More No change Less

Q. What do you expect to use external advisors/agencies for?

Q. Does your organization use external communications advisors/agencies?

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Demonstrating impact to leadership is vital

76% Say “metrics will be more important for demonstrating the value of our work to senior leadership in the coming years”

“Slowly but surely we are able to point to metrics that support the link between successful

communications and business performance.” (Listed company, Germany)

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Demonstrating impact to leadership is vital

69% 73%

Measure the effectiveness of their corporate communication efforts

Of these use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring their corporate communications

And for measurement…

49% use surveys

24% use online / social media activity

41% use press coverage

What this means for communicators

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Implications

1. The combination of social media and instantaneous digital communication means transparency is the new default setting for communicators

2. Brand and reputation will increasingly be managed as one

3. In communications, form will follow function

4. Communicators will use direct engagement and rely less on intermediaries to deliver the message

5. Agencies will change as well

The new realities of corporate communications

Get a copy of the full report and infographic

www.brunswickinsight.com / www.brunswickgroup.com priggins@brunswickgroup.com

Thank you