Communication: Does strategic communication directly affect a company’s corporate strategy?
The answer is yes;
the way a company chooses to communicate with all of its constituencies
directly affects the way that company
will not only be perceived in the public eye, but also how successful that
company will be, financially, moving forward.
I focus on the word “financially” because really, in the end, from a
business perspective, everything is dependent upon the almighty:
 |
| That image represents a dollar…with muscles |
In many ways, communication and how a company
chooses to interact with its many publics, should be the very first thing they focus
on, using that as a foundation to build all other strategic maneuvers
upon. The reasoning behind this is
because communication is part of all aspects of your business, from your brand,
to your core values. A good example of
this can be found in Robert, Howell, and Beck (2005, p.84):
“The communication
function supports the business and brand building efforts. It moves the organization. The messages articulate the strategic
direction of the company and motivate people to move behind it” - Tod MacKenzie,
Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Pepsico.
Something to note in relation to communication,
is that, as a company, when communicating and interacting with a multi-faceted
landscape; one that reflects many different players, it is not that a company
just need to communicate in order to be successful. They must learn how to communicate
effectively. Effective communication is
also another key element to a strategic communication plan. As an organization, when you deal with all of
your publics on a daily basis, including your employees, share holders, and
customers, you must be aware of all of their different wants and needs, and how
what you communicate as an organization, will directly affect those wants and those needs. To be effective, you must be able to deliver
consistent messaging, that will benefit your different publics in a way that
feels unique to them, while spreading that communication across many different
channels. This of course is no easy
task, and one reason why many people underestimate the value of a well
executed, strategic communication plan or agenda. You must also be aware, as found in (Robert,
et al., p. 85), that the overall function of communication, breaks strategy
into pieces, and to be effective, you must know which piece of strategy to
communicate to which constituent.
Here is a link to a video that illustrates the effectiveness
of good communication strategy:
Communicating the right message, to the right receiver, at the right
time
How
can social media play a role in an organization's overall strategy? And how can
we "align" each of IMC's elements and many social media channels to
"enhance [our company's] strategic positioning"?
I have always viewed IMC as the glue that holds all
of the different departments in a corporation, such as Marketing, Advertising,
Sales and Public Relations, together. I
feel the integration brought forth by an IMC methodology demands consistent
messaging across all channels and departments, and holds a strong relevance for
that reason, in relation to strategic communication. IMC brings forth a demand for consistency in
an organization in regard to its messaging.
As for how social media channels can enhance, and strengthen a company’s
strategic positioning, social media gives companies the ability to receive an
immediate response or reaction from their constituents. It is this incoming information, which helps
to strengthen strategic positioning from a communication standpoint, in that,
if a company utilizes these social media tools in their favor, should be able
to tweak their messaging based on this immediate response, in order to be more
effective overall in their communication.
References
Argenti, P., Howell, R. & Beck, K. (2005). The strategic communication
imperative. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(3), pp. 83-89. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
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ReplyDeleteHi Dan
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your SECOND post! I'm really impressed with all of us, seems like there are a lot of us blogger beginners, but we're embracing it. I love the fun and whimsy of your design. Is that your illustration? I hate to admit that I find it a little difficult to read the orange lettering on top of the illustrations in the background, its a bit distracting. I personally am trying several different templates out, to see which one works better as we start to add more posts. I'm currently using "Awesome Inc" - so far, so good!
You make some great points in your post. I love the quote you shared from Tod MacKenzie, and how communication moves an organization, from sharing strategy to employee motivation. I also like the point you make about needing to know what part of strategy to communicate to who in order to be successful. As news breaks, companies turn to Twitter and Facebook to get answers and responses out quickly, rather than traditional media sources. As Erik Qualman discusses in Chapter 2 of "Socialnomics", social media can be used as preventative behavior for brands, and can quickly address issues as they come up (p.31). Companies such as JetBlue and Comcast are greatly benefitting from watching their brands on platforms such as Twitter, and responding directly to complaints. This quick reaction creates respect for the company, and in turn the consumer spreads the word on the great customer service they received. What a simple way to build brand loyalty!
Have you had any interaction with brands/companies via Twitter or Facebook, in which a complaint you shared was answered directly by the company? Personally, I have been having issues with my Comcast internet service and whenever I've called they've been unable to help, so I might give tweeting about it a shot!
References:
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hi Sabrina,
DeleteThank you for your feed back. I took your suggestion and changed the lettering from orange to white. I feel this is much easier to read. Thank you for pointing that out. I think we are all doing a great job bringing all this information together, and creating blogs and other social sites that some of us might never have tried before. And for some it might be out of their comfort zone, but I think overall, for many of us, these are the types of tools we will be using, moving forward in our careers. Change is not always easy, but once you do something enough times, it no longer is uncomfortable, and becomes the normal way of doing things, and i think that is the case with implementing these social tools. Its been a great learning experience so far, and I think the best take away, is that for me personally, I am having fun with it.
I agree, Dan, sometimes getting out of our comfort zone is what we need. Great job again with the blog, and lots of luck to us all!
DeleteHi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you brought up the importance of companies communicating effectively with all of their publics. Your employees, customers and shareholders probably don’t all have the same wants or needs, but it’s imperative to maintain the same messaging across constituents. It’s also necessary to make sure this messaging reaches them in the most relevant fashion. Shareholders probably prefer to find out about big company happenings during “investor days” or shareholder meetings, rather than through social media channels. Similarly, employees probably don’t want to find out company information second hand, so it’s important to directly communicate with them.
I think the quote you called out from Tod MacKenzie at PepsiCo is great – that “the messages articulate the strategic direction of the company and motivate people to move behind it” (Argenti, Howell, & Beck, 2005, p. 84). These “people” include all those stakeholders – the employees, the customers, the shareholders, the community, etc. If they hear a strong, strategic message they are likely to be moved by it and take pride in and support the company.
Can you think of any companies with specific messaging or communications campaigns that provided this motivation that MacKenzie mentions? In my own quick assessment, I consider foreign automakers who establish manufacturing or assembly plants in the US. This creates new jobs (employees), instills pride by being “made in America” (customers) and most likely reduces production costs related to US sales (shareholders). Implementing this type of strategy would not be successful without communicating these changes effectively to each audience.
-Lindsey
Reference:
Argenti, P. A., Howell, R. A., & Beck, K. A. (2005). The strategic communication imperative. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(3), 83-89.
Hi Lindsey,
DeleteThanks for your feedback. I think you gave a great example of a type of company, like foreign automakers, and how through their messaging, they need to juggle a massive amount of communication to each of their different constituents. In your example, even though things won't always be so flawless, it seems like a win win for everyone. I think many companies face similar challenges of juggling their many publics, and trying to deliver the right messaging to the right constituent at the right time, while also staying true to their core competencies and culture
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI liked that you tied it back to money during your post. Even though each part of a business has a different goal, then end goal is always to generate a profit. I also agree with your point about communication being the foundation that a company uses to build strategies. This ties in really well with the overall message of the author. The quote you used from the Pepsi executive shows the value that his organization sees in effective communication. Since communication effects so many different people and often companies are interacting with so many different types of people it is important for global companies like Pepsi to be mindful of the type of content they produce.
Another point you brought up is that companies have to deal with many publics over the course of business every day. This large amount of potential interactions means that people involved with communication need to be constantly on their toes and always able to effectively communicate. I also agree that social media can be a great tool to help get information out to the public. Facebook just came out with a new app called paper that allows people to view news stories posted by their friends, view stories relevant to their interests, and post content of their own (Carte,2014). This is one of the directions communication is going. Since people can now be reached on the go and the internet is becoming easier to access from mobile devices, it is more important than ever that companies understand how to communicate effectively and adapt their strategy. Do you feel that mobile will slowly become one of the best ways to reach consumers through the internet?
References:
Carte, B. (2014, February 3). Facebook launches 'Paper' app. USA Today. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/02/03/facebook-launches-paper-app/5185753/
Hey Ian,
DeleteThanks for your feed back. I think Paper is a great idea for an app where people can get their news, because it puts the power into the hands of the users. Those users are posting stories and articles, and they BECOME the trusted sources for their friends and family. If companies can latch on to this, and spread its messaging through the voices of its users, that messaging is received more easily, and delivers a bigger punch to the end users because its being generated from sources that are already trusted
Dan,
DeleteI agree completely. Any piece of news from a friend or family member is immediately more trustworthy than from any other source. I think most people will find this tool useful to interact with one another, but companies could use this as well. Since the element of trust is already present if someone posts something about a company it would have more of an effect. For the most part tough I just feel that apps like this are slowing going to make mobile communication much better for everyone.
Hi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was both visually appealing, as well as content rich. One point I thought that you really made apparent was that delivering a consistent message is one of the most effective aspects of strong organizational communication. Especially in today's day and age, where people can gain information from anywhere at any given time, utilizing social media and IMC effectively can help produce successful results. With Pepsi being one of the better companies to implement strong communication and social media planning, can you think of a company that is falling short? What would you do to help enhance their efforts?
Lastly, that video, even though short and humorous, brought up a great idea. Time is of the essence when it comes to communication, it could really prove to make or break company actions, once again proving the importance of strategic planning.
-Pat
Hey Pat,
DeleteThanks for your feedback. I think one of the most important reasons why consistency needs to be practiced by an organization in all aspects of their business, is that consistency builds trust. An inconsistent message creates doubt and uncertainty, and if your competitors are offering consistency, and you are not, you will be missing out on a lot of potential business to your competitors. A big part of doing business is creating an inviting environment where your constituents can feel comfortable Consistency in all of your dealings is a way to establish this.
Dan, I enjoyed reading through your post this week. Your blog is fun and a nice change of pace from many of the sterile pages we are used to seeing. I wanted to piggy back on what you discussed in the final paragraph of your forum which is the ability for social media to provide immediate responses and reactions from constituents. Qualman (2013) teaches us that there are four main steps in what he calls the “Social Media Escalator” (p. 196). These include (1) listening to constituents’ conversations about your brand, (2) interacting in the conversation, (3) reacting and adjusting products or services based on to their feedback, and (4) improving sales based on the success of the first three steps (Qualman, 2013). According to Qualman (2013) many organizations make the fatal mistake of listening and interacting through social media but failing to act on the suggestions or information gathered. If an organization is providing key constituents with an opportunity to share feedback, it is imperative that they are prepared to act on them!
ReplyDeleteReference
Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Hoboken, NJ.
Hi Bobbi Sue,
DeleteThanks for your response. I agree that companies need to be fully committed when implementing the 4 steps of the "social media escalator". Aside from iteracting with constituents from a social media perspective, we also learned in earlier classes in this course, that companies can also implement this practice in focus groups. The difference between focus groups and a social media forum, is that usually a focus group includes 10-12 participants, and in a social media forum, those numbers are much greater, but both deliver instant feed back. I would still like to think a company can generate a greater more targeted approach through focus groups, but i think those might be seen less and less as a social media approach is becoming the standard in many industries. And I agree with what you said, that if a company does implement the Social Media escalator, they have to see it through, and use the feed back they get to better tweak and focus their messaging.