Introduction to Corporate Communication

1. Introduction to Corporate Communication Chapter One (1) InasA.Hamid

2. Modern organizations operate through different departments charged with community relations, government relations, customer relations, labor relations, human resources – both at the corporate level and at the business unit level. Also they have various stakeholders who play a role in achieving the organizations, objectives. Organizations use communication to communicate with these targets to achieve their objectives.

3. The Public Customers Employees Media Government Investors

4. Corporate communication is the total communication activity generated by a company and directed at all relevant target groups to achieve its planned objectivesand create favorable relationships with stakeholders on which the company depends.Each item of communication must convey and emphasize the ”corporate point of view and its identity”

5. Corporate Communication Why do corporations need to develop effective communication?

6. Organizations need communication to : Acquire resources they need in order to operate. Communicate with different stakeholders. Communication with employees to increase their loyalty. Influence the environment within which they operate. Retain their license to operate. Improve the image. Encourage all employees to work together to support the company's objectives. Develop the corporate branding.

7. In all organizations, communication flows as the following:vertically and horizontallyinternally : linking employees internally to each other, to various layers of management. Externally with different targets (customers, government, resource – holders …) .formally and informally : which means not all communications in an organization are work related or aiming at fulfilling organizational objectives.

8. In this course we will focus on the formal communications that link internal and external audiences of the organizations. Help the organization to : - Create Images - Build a strong brand - Develop Reputation

9. 1-Management communication: It is the most strategic communication.

10. Communication is one of the most important skills a manager must have to : • gain the acceptance for the organization's goals. • Develop a shared vision of the company within the organization. • Establish and maintain trust in the organization's leadership. • Initiate and manage the change process. • Communication specialist are needed to support managers in improving the effectiveness of their communications.

11. 2- Organizational Communications • Communications between the organization and its audiences (investors, the public, share holders, financial journalist, investment analyst, regulators, legislators….). • Do not directly aim at generating sales but at developing long – term relationship. • Apply a different style of communication: messages are more formal and honest. • Initiated by external parties and that means the audiences decide whether the organization should communicate with them.

12. 3- Marketing communication • MarCom is very important to support management communications. • MarCom gets the bulk of the budget in most organizations. • Traditionally termed promotion. • It is a part of the 4Ps marketing mix (product, price and place). • It aims at facilitating the process of exchange. • The organizations choose the target market and avoid communicating with those that are not commercially interesting.

13. Marketing communication: all forms of communication between an organization and its customers and potential customers, that facilitate exchanges by establishing shared meaning with the brand’s customers or clients.

14. Public Relations Packaging Advertising Word Of mouth Sponsorship Consumer audiences Channel Audiences Branding Exhibitions All Stakeholders Audiences Personal Selling Internal Marketing Branding Sales Promotion Websites Marketing communications Mix

15. Tools of corporate communication • The most important practices to achieve Corporate integrated communications are: • Use of integrated marketing communications (IMC). • Application of visual identity systems (house style). • Depending on team works. • Adoption of a centralized planning system.

16. 1- Integrated Marketing Communications • In recent years organizations become aware of the need to produce consistent messages (free of contradictions) and this what we can call “ Integrated marketing communication” to describe a process for building a fully coordinated communication system inside the organization.

17. Moore & Thorson (1996) suggest that integrated marketing communication (IMC) can be achieved by:

18. 2- Visual identity Systems • To produce consistent themes on products and services through the use of commonnames, logos, sounds, packaging,furniture,building design and even smells. • This led to the emergence of “identity firms” that help the organization to develop a uniform set of symbols, guidelines for employees to create a uniform image for the organization(clothing, way of greetings….).

19. 3-Coordinated teams work groups

20. 4-Communication planning system (CPS) • It is a software that can be used to • set up and manage communication projects targeted to internal and external audiences. • Manage and control at a general level by providing employees with certain information. • Offers standard structure of reports that can be used in various situations.

21. Gruing& Hunt (1984)developed four types of PR practices focusing on the nature of communication in different organizations. These types are : Press agent- propaganda Public information Two – way asymmetric communication. Two – way symmetric communication. Types of communication in organizations

22. According to Gruing point of view: • The first model “propaganda” is the least desirable form of communication because: • it involves a one-way flow of information. • The organization is not honest about its activities and it effects on the community. • They will also resist efforts to establish a dialogue about it. • The fourth is the best type. • It involves a company in two-way symmetric communication. • Under this model, both parties are open and truthful about each other's point of view to arrive at a common understanding.

24. Effective Corporate communication Depends on ensuring that the organization's communications policies are derived from the core strategy-identity-brand (SIB) to develop a set of “common starting points”

25. The corporate strategy can be translated into common starting points by applying the PPT model as : indicate what the organization wants to Promise to its most important internal and external stakeholders; indicate how it expects to Prove it ; and identify what Tone of voice it wants to use to communicate messages to those audiences. Make plans more specific by applying the KAB model as: specify what the organization wants target groups to know (knowledge), to feel (attitude)and to do (Behavior), both with respect to the entire company and with respect to the individual business unit.

26. Assignment • What will happen if the organizations' departments are not coordinated in the way of creating consistency messages? • How can organizations limit fragmentation in their communications?