Summary Corporate Communication
Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory & Practice
& Lectures week 1 - 10
Irene Elion
Tilburg University
,Week 1, chapter 1 & 2
Definition corporate communication:
• A management function
• A framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external
communication
• Establishing and maintaining favourable reputations
• Involved with stakeholder groups upon which the organisation is dependent.
=> To conclude: corporate communication focuses on the organisation as a whole and the
important task of how an organisation is presented to all its key stakeholders, both internal
and external.
Type of activity
Managerial:
• Planning
• Coordinating
• Counselling CEOs and senior managers
Tactical
• Producing messages
• Disseminating messages
Complexity
Factors that make CC more complex:
• Wide geographical range (multinationals)
• Wide range of services and products
• Corporate headquarters and various divisions and business units (hierarchy)
• Consensus within the organisation often hard to establish
Key concepts
Mission:
Overriding purpose in line with the values and expectations of stakeholders
Vision:
Desired future state: something that can be measured.
Corporate objectives:
Statement of overall aims in line with the overall purpose.
Strategies:
The ways or means in which the corporate objectives are to be achieved and put into affect.
Corporate identity:
The profile and values communicated by an organisation.
Corporate image:
,The immediate set of associations of an individual in response to one or more signals or
messages from or about a particular organisation at a single point in time.
Corporate reputation:
An individual’s collective representation of past images of an organisation
(Induced through either communication or past experiences) established over time.
Stakeholders:
Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the
organisation’s objective.
=> Essence of these key concepts is that corporate communication is geared towards
establishing favourable corporate images and reputations with all of an organisation’s
stakeholders’ groups, so that these groups act in a way that is conducive to the success of
the organisation.
Corporate communication trends
1980s:
—> markets are created by the identification of a
segment of the population for which a product or
service is or could be in demand, and involves
product or service-related communication.
—> Publics are seen as actively creating and
mobilising themselves whenever companies make
decisions that affect a group of people adversely.
—> models for the relationship between marketing
and public relations.
1990s/2000s
, Questions arising from the positioning view
• Can stakeholders be managed or even controlled?
• Are models of reputation management all that matter?
• Do corporate messages always have to be directed towards reputational change?
• Are lines models of communication always the best?
• Are stakeholders always passive agents or speakers in-waiting?
2010s
• Stakeholders more active
• Voicing their expectations
• Self-organizing
• Advocating
• Empowered by new media technologies
• Shift towards stakeholders sharing experiences, opinions and ideas about
organisations
—> changed corporate communication from ‘just PR’, important characteristic of this
new function is that it focuses thee organisation as a whole and on the important
task of how an organisation presents itself to all its key stakeholders, both internal
as external.
• Challenges and opportunities through word-of-mouth and peer-to-pee influence.
‘Marketing public relations’ (MPR) = involves the use of public relations techniques for
marketing purposes which was found to be a cost-effective tool for generating awareness
and brand favourability and to imbue communication about the organisation’s brands with
credibility.
‘Branded content’ = involves the generation of content on an online marketed platform that
features both product-related content as well as general interest content that speaks
favourably to the corporation or brand in question.
=> BOTH use PR techniques but are (in)directly focused on the marketing of a company’s
products and services.
Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory & Practice
& Lectures week 1 - 10
Irene Elion
Tilburg University
,Week 1, chapter 1 & 2
Definition corporate communication:
• A management function
• A framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external
communication
• Establishing and maintaining favourable reputations
• Involved with stakeholder groups upon which the organisation is dependent.
=> To conclude: corporate communication focuses on the organisation as a whole and the
important task of how an organisation is presented to all its key stakeholders, both internal
and external.
Type of activity
Managerial:
• Planning
• Coordinating
• Counselling CEOs and senior managers
Tactical
• Producing messages
• Disseminating messages
Complexity
Factors that make CC more complex:
• Wide geographical range (multinationals)
• Wide range of services and products
• Corporate headquarters and various divisions and business units (hierarchy)
• Consensus within the organisation often hard to establish
Key concepts
Mission:
Overriding purpose in line with the values and expectations of stakeholders
Vision:
Desired future state: something that can be measured.
Corporate objectives:
Statement of overall aims in line with the overall purpose.
Strategies:
The ways or means in which the corporate objectives are to be achieved and put into affect.
Corporate identity:
The profile and values communicated by an organisation.
Corporate image:
,The immediate set of associations of an individual in response to one or more signals or
messages from or about a particular organisation at a single point in time.
Corporate reputation:
An individual’s collective representation of past images of an organisation
(Induced through either communication or past experiences) established over time.
Stakeholders:
Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the
organisation’s objective.
=> Essence of these key concepts is that corporate communication is geared towards
establishing favourable corporate images and reputations with all of an organisation’s
stakeholders’ groups, so that these groups act in a way that is conducive to the success of
the organisation.
Corporate communication trends
1980s:
—> markets are created by the identification of a
segment of the population for which a product or
service is or could be in demand, and involves
product or service-related communication.
—> Publics are seen as actively creating and
mobilising themselves whenever companies make
decisions that affect a group of people adversely.
—> models for the relationship between marketing
and public relations.
1990s/2000s
, Questions arising from the positioning view
• Can stakeholders be managed or even controlled?
• Are models of reputation management all that matter?
• Do corporate messages always have to be directed towards reputational change?
• Are lines models of communication always the best?
• Are stakeholders always passive agents or speakers in-waiting?
2010s
• Stakeholders more active
• Voicing their expectations
• Self-organizing
• Advocating
• Empowered by new media technologies
• Shift towards stakeholders sharing experiences, opinions and ideas about
organisations
—> changed corporate communication from ‘just PR’, important characteristic of this
new function is that it focuses thee organisation as a whole and on the important
task of how an organisation presents itself to all its key stakeholders, both internal
as external.
• Challenges and opportunities through word-of-mouth and peer-to-pee influence.
‘Marketing public relations’ (MPR) = involves the use of public relations techniques for
marketing purposes which was found to be a cost-effective tool for generating awareness
and brand favourability and to imbue communication about the organisation’s brands with
credibility.
‘Branded content’ = involves the generation of content on an online marketed platform that
features both product-related content as well as general interest content that speaks
favourably to the corporation or brand in question.
=> BOTH use PR techniques but are (in)directly focused on the marketing of a company’s
products and services.
