1. VUCA-world
Volatility. Stakeholders' positions are volatile (they are in constant flux).
Uncertainty. It is generated by the abundance of information (including unconfirmed) and uncountable and unpredictable interactions.
Complexity. Refers to the complexity of audiences, where everyone can become a stakeholder or commentator both inside and outside the organization. It also includes the trend towards hyper-personalized communication, which is increasingly becoming the rule of conversation.
Ambiguity. Refers to company communication in emerging markets, as well as product launches outside of the company's core business.
2. Classic corporate communications in question
Corporate communications are going through a period of challenges in which three stages can be distinguished.
The profession is changing
The legitimacy of corporate communications is being questioned by the public, which often reduces communications to a form of manipulation. This theoretical movement began with the Marxist analysis of the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Benjamin, Marcuse) and the Situationist theory (Guy Debord). From their perspective, communication is reduced to an analysis within a framework of manipulation based on the relations of dominance. This vision was enriched in the early 1990s with ideas that communication has actually become the new ideology of modernity.
Role of the company in question
The post-World War II industrial era is far behind us. The actions of companies are being questioned in a social context that demands contributions to the public good. The disappearance of factories and rapid changes in labor are prompting more and more companies to modify their supply chain and sometimes outsource their production to temporary contracts with their suppliers. The company focuses on its brand and its financial value and decisively decentralizes the part of production to a place where production costs are lowest. Even the largest companies are not immune from takeovers.
In addition, companies are seen as a threat to a sustainable world (climate, environment, social relations, etc.). President of the French Institute for Research Elabe Bernard Sanane, in his author's column on changing the profession of a PR specialist in January 2020, writes that this is not the first and not the last revolution that affects our profession, but it is the first one that requires us to take concrete measures: “Our task not only make what we say heard, but also make what we do credible".
Fragile trust in corporate communications
Trust is central to corporate communications. The public expects brands to act transparently, it's important to many that brands know how to admit mistakes and apologize, and the ability to easily interact with brands (accessible customer service, quick and specific feedback) is also important. That said, with trust fragile, due to the growing skepticism of stakeholders in corporate communications, dialogue and feedback must be taken into account, as many consumers do not want brands to interfere with their privacy without their consent. Therefore, it is important to handle personal data properly (request permission to store and use) and avoid intrusive communication (consumers hate intrusive pop-up ad formats).
3. Legalization of the profession
Working in communications requires more and more legal knowledge as all states expand their control over communications. The communicator of tomorrow must have a minimum of legal knowledge or be surrounded by experts. In the past, public relations professionals were guided maily by professional codes of ethics. Today, it is important to know the legal restrictions concerning communication activities in various business spheres (in the tobacco industry, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, medicine, in the segment of children's goods, etc.), everything about personal data protection, regulation of Internet communications, etc.
There is legislation on industrial safety, safe labor, environmental safety, social guarantees, etc. Publicly traded companies are required to disclose information and publish CSR reports.
Besides, any careless statements made by the company's representatives in public sources or any non-public information that gets into external communication channels may have legal implications in the form of lawsuits by competitors, partners, shareholders or regulatory bodies.
Moreover, the scope of legal practices to be mastered by communications professionals is constantly expanding.
4. Expectation of more responsible communication
The 1976 Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, "Even if a company has no purpose other than to make a profit, it should be noted that its actions and speeches have other goals as well".
As a result of increased public pressure, companies are expanding their presence on public communication channels regarding social, economic, and environmental issues. Companies voluntarily take on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and at the same time commit themselves to responsible communication. Companies from Sweden, Finland and France are leaders in this area.
This phenomenon emerged in the late 1980s along with the development of environmental communication. The ethical component was added in the 1990s when companies dreamed of corporate citizenship [1] and promoted the values of solidarity developed over a century ago by Emile Durkheim. Then came the concept of sustainable development, evolving from the Brundtland Commission's 1987 speech "Our Common Future"[2].
Today, sustainable development through the prism of business activity within the framework of CSR practices is the number one topic in corporate communications of many companies. Organizations have entered an era in which the public expects them to be responsible and accountable. The use of CSR practices implies special communication, which should be taken into account when developing a company's communication strategy.
5. Digital transformation
It is important to understand that communication, in all its forms and approaches, is related to the specifics of its era. Communication formalizes and expresses ideas and concepts, both stable over time and consonant with time, communication translates elements of context and key messages intended for the public into the language of reality. Communication works only in its contemporary environment, it is not an abstract phenomenon, but a real practice.
One of the main drivers of change in our time is the digital transformation. This term refers to the way in which digital, with its functioning and its tools, affects the organization of our society, the behavior of the public and our communication behavior.
There are four central trends within the digital transformation trend.
Collaboration (co-construction)
The concept of cooperation (co-building) was formulated by the American economist and sociologist Jeremy Rifkin in "The Age of Access" (2010) and then in "The New Zero Marginal Cost Economy" (2014). In his work, the author projects the upheaval of our current capitalist system toward a new system of production and consumption, a system of collaborations (networks of users of objects or producers of services that are organized around community interests).
This new type of organization is made possible by the Internet and social networks, shared platforms that link objects, enabling the production and development of collective intelligence at the expense of isolated leaders. Examples include crowdfunding, couchsurfing, carsharing, etc.
Conversation
Conversation represents a return to the roots of human interaction and compensates for the costs of the hyper-technical era, in which digital tools and other applications have emerged to manage human interaction for some time. Enabling quality, transparent, and honest conversation between the various participants is often a role of a vigilant mediator, which communicators should rather play as guides who see the big picture than the developers of innovative digital communication tools.
Redundancy of information
The third trend is the importance of the fragmentation of our time, expressed in our ability to receive and digest messages. Most of us are participating, often simultaneously, in communication on several social networks, receiving thousands of messages a week. No statistics can sufficiently estimate the dizzying extent of the stress we experience in this continuous flow of information. French researchers calculate that the average person receives 39 messages a day, which is 14,235 messages a year. Thanks to smartphone apps, messages never leave us alone. Company executives spend an average of 5 hours a day sorting through and reading emails. Impressive, right?
New attitude to work
Finally, the fourth trend concerns the changing attitudes of people towards work. In the era of freelancing, telecommuting (on the road, at the airport, in a taxi, at a hotel - on a business trip, etc.) and home office work, which have become possible thanks to the development of digital technologies, people are no longer united by the same expectations in attitude to work, and communication must take this into account when adjusting to changes.
Digital technology allows to find specific answers to these expectations. Multidimensional and multitasking individuals seek to reinforce their exceptionalism and their multiple talents to overcome the contract-based logic of most companies.
What the internal communications specialists will do in such a situation, we will soon find out, because the past few months (February-June 2020) have accelerated this trend and made it irreversible. A recent study by PR News showed that 67% of communications professionals communicate with colleagues much more often during their home office hours, and 56% noted that their communication with colleagues became more personalized and emotional [3].
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[1] Corporate citizenship is a strategy of business to interact with society in order to ensure effective and sustainable development and enhance its own reputation as a responsible "citizen", a full participant in such development.
[2] Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
[3] PR News survey conducted in May 2020 among 200 communications professionals.
Ksenia Alekseeva, CEO of Fresh Russian Communications
