Which communication professional doesn’t dread that early morning phone call on the way to work from the company CEO saying “we need to prepare some communication on a major announcement to be made today.” Ufffhhhhh. Run to the office and scramble to get the facts together. Try to keep the big picture in mind, the consequences, the impact and and and. Set priorities, make a plan, allocate resources, quick, think about what external partners need to get involved and need to be informed ASAP. Be aware of any legal issues, the stock exchange has its rulings too, forgotten. Crisis communication is always a hot topic and until you have done it, you don’t really know what it feels like. Keep your act together.
Being prepared for the worst
I can not tell you how glad I was to be able to pull my webcast binder from the shelf, look up Solutionpark’s phone number and flip to the scenario that said ‘webcast video and slides on demand.’ Months before I had listed all contacts and processes, described the steps of the ‘To Does’ and drafted template E-mails for just such occasions. The mailing groups had been saved in my Inbox and the only thing that needed to be added was the time and date.
From my own experience, I didn’t mind the excitement, the time constraints and the communication tasks, although every company crisis is emotionally challenging. My job was mostly on the internal communication side and we took great care in informing our employees as soon and as transparent as possible. It’s worse to say nothing than to say “I can’t give you more information at this point in time.”
Absorbing the news
That afternoon our CEO would stand up in front of all (local) staff and explain the situation in the best possible and most understandable way. Following a Q&A session, the employees piled out of the auditorium and went back to their desks, attempting to digest the news they had just heard.
Of course we webcast the information session, no question, as I felt it was too important not to share with staff in the local offices around the world. They have a right to know and learn about what’s going on now, just as much as those in the ‘ivory tower.’ And as always, we published the link an hour after the event on the intranet. No matter the event, this had simply become a routine.
Despite a crisis situation within your organization, communication thereof can be manageable, and the more experience you have using effective communication tools, the better.
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · shareholder communication · strategic communication
Tagged: CEO, crisis communication, external partner, internal communication, intranet, on demand, video, webcast
Who are we? What do we do? What do we stand for? Be it an organization, a product, service or even a person, companies drive to achieve and maintain brand awareness. If nobody knows about the product or service a company is trying to sell, let alone the people behind it, how should they expect you to buy something in the first place. As a communication and marketing professional we strive for unsurpassed awareness, recognition and identification with our organization, products and services. Both internally and externally, by the way. In public relations our job is to influence people’s opinion whatever the respective topic, and to raise awareness of a particular subject. 
Experiencing for yourself
Why not make it all into something more emotional, something that feels real, a moving experience. Of our senses, the visual and auditory ones are definitely the most widely used to reach the masses. Touch and smell might be a bit hard to bring across to millions of people simultaneously. Let’s stick to the seeing and hearing and imagine how an ad of your favorite brand makes you feel: happy, excited, affirmed, free, convinced, relaxed, secure….. J In terms of emotions, that is what you need to bring to your target audience.
In communication we are always looking for new ways of catching the attention of those already flooded with information and bombarded with messages in order to promote our brand and influence opinions. Let them take a break, lean back and watch a soothing video clip, an exciting short film or an engaging image sequence on your story. Raising awareness on your brand(s) is just another example of how video, preferably on the Internet, can be used.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · marketing communication
Tagged: brand awareness, film, identification, Internet, recognition, video
When we launched our new corporate values, I, a communication professional working for an international reinsurance company, was told that four new core values had been defined and were now to be communicated to the entire staff. “Come up with an internal communication concept. Make a plan. Show us some ideas for implementation,” I was instructed. So I went to work following a structured communication approach and presented my internal communication concept to the Executive Team. The actual launch included a pop-up window with a brief video which would appear on the day we launched the new corporate values to the entire staff (worldwide) by appearing on everyone’s screen first thing in the morning when they turned on their computers. I must say that our IT department was not amused; at all. In the end I managed to convince them of the one-off action and positive (communication) impact this would have.
NOT the old company video
The next step in terms of the pop-up video was ‘how the hell can we produce such a thing?’, a video that wasn’t too big for every user to watch on their own PC. Great communication idea, yep. I called Steve from Solutionpark because I didn’t know who else to ask and also because I figured that he must know how to do it, of course within a reasonable budget and timeframe.
Halleluia, thank you Steve, our external streaming provider could send us a team consisting of a cameraman and a sound technician and would format the video for PC use. Immediately I started writing a script and committing the necessary resources. After very little rehearsal I must say, our CEO and designated participants explained the new corporate values and their signification as well as what they meant to them on tape. The statements were recorded one after the other and we went from one floor to the next for the various takes.
Ready in no time
In only half a day, the planed scenes where on tape and the raw material ready to be cut. When I sat down with the multimedia producer from Solutionpark, we assembled the new 2.5-minute corporate values video within a record two hours. It’s really amazing how fast this can be done.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · internal communication · marketing communication · strategic communication
Tagged: communication concept, corporate values, multimedia producer, Solutionpark, streaming, video
Remember issue management? Agenda setting? Two key topics in communication theory. Unfortunately few companies take this aspect of communication seriously. While it would make so much sense to sit down, take a little time to think about the main themes you want to focus on for the long-term and that go beyond daily business. These are specific yet broader topics, e.g. water resources, climate change, microinsurance etc. that you can connect to your business, that are relevant to your industry and clients, and that they can associate with. 
Raising the company voice on important topics
Determine who in your organization is or can become an expert in those fields and let them speak out on behalf of the organization. As knowledge is one of your best assets and specialists are one of the most effective means of communication, use them. Get them to the table, talk to them, listen to them and let their voice be heard.
Demonstrating transparency and open-mindedness
You have no idea what impact such statements can have. It’s all about credibility, reputation, image and demonstrating expertise through your own employees. One way of doing that, i.e. the communication channel chosen in this case, is to record the individual statements on video and publish them on the Internet. That’s the quickest face-to-face information you can get. A Swiss bank recently asked their hedge fund managers to talk about their products and portray their insight on the current market environment which were put on tape and published on the company’s website. What a great way to ‘meet’ the respective hedge fund managers on the Internet.
One can well imagine interested hedge funds surfing the net, looking for new contacts and information. Avoiding high travel costs, they can get a first impression of the banks’ experts, simply by watching the videos online. Wouldn’t you want that kind of exposure?
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · shareholder communication
Tagged: agenda setting, experts, exposure, face-to-face, Internet, issue management, video
Want to communicate your business strategy to the lines of business responsibles, market leaders and those in charge of support functions? Taking either a top-down or bottom-up approach, it often falls to the communicators to spread the news. This can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the content of 1-to-3-to-5-year plans to be presented and discussed.
Combining strategy and communication
At the yearly gathering of all lines of business heads, local office representatives and chiefs of support functions, everyone wants to be heard and seen. Trying to juggle everybody’s priorities and demands as a communication professional isn’t always easy. “Yes, your strategic input is valuable too.” “We should formulate some specific communication measures.” “But how will we communicate that to your clients? I’ll be glad to help pull some ideas together and write up a communication plan, you know,” I’d hear myself say.
No loose ends – wrapping up the day’s content
To keep track of all that is communicated on such a highly intense and fully packed day, we decided to record the presentation sessions as webcasts and send a link to all participants thereafter. This way, they could review the discussions leading up to the decisions taken and recap the day’s content. What was my role as a communication professional? I made sure that the internal technical set-up was ready, the recording was handled by Solutionpark and the link sent to participants the following day.
From a communication perspective I like to structure content, categorize it and create user-friendly download sections in my webcasts. This way, the viewer can easily navigate through the various subjects, especially if there are a number of different aspects or speakers involved. Explaining your company’s strategy, the ‘Whys and Why Nots’ is a valuable experience, and I find, an emotional topic that deserves to be documented on video.
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · shareholder communication · strategic communication
Tagged: briefing, communication professional, corporate identity, corporate philosophy, corporate values, external providers, self-perception, Solutionpark, strategy, video, webcast
I know, nobody likes to do them, but sometimes it is simply more than pure necessity; our beloved briefings. We find them tedious and a waste of paper and time, tough it’s only fair to our suppliers and business partners to say in writing what we want and how we see things. And it’s always a good exercise for ourselves as communication specialists to bring to mind where we are currently standing. This includes our situational analysis, our expectations, our thoughts, our guidelines, our self-perception of an organization. There is a reason why companies have a (documented) corporate identity, a corporate philosophy, corporate values, a vision and mission statement and even a code of conduct.
Clarity is ke
y
I want to be clear on what direction we are heading in, my business partners and I, together as a team, and, I want to get the go-ahead from top management in advance of making my suppliers run around like headless chickens, just because I was incapable of giving accurate and comprehensible instructions. Here is the deal.
What should go into a good and comprehensive briefing:
- Situational analysis
- Goal
- Target audience
- Key messages
- Company image and perception, CI/CD, corporate values, style, language
- Implementation (tools, channels, resources, content, structure)
- Expectations
- Timeline
- Budget
10. Extras (e.g previous examples, additional items etc.)
Too much? Not enough? Well, the more detail and clarity the better. Your external providers will be thankful. Give it a try. It’s worth it. You will be able to use the framework and structure of your briefing over and over again, adapt and update it. Good luck!
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · strategic communication
Tagged: briefing, corporate identity, corporate philosophy, corporate values, external providers, self-perception
One of the best ways to tell a story is through pictures, moving images, on film, in a video, with faces and people, with sound and music and light: personal and emotional. We all like going to the movies and being captured by the latest Hollywood saga, drama or comedy. At university ‘film history’ was one of my favorite subjects, as we got to watch old movies all the time.
So many questions, so little answers
Why don’t you want to tell a story about your company? Aren’t you proud of what you have created, established, produced? Isn’t your image, your reputation, what your CEO has to say or what your clients think of your organization, important to you personally? It’s undeniable that emotions always play a role in what we think of a person, especially one’s boss(es), of a company or of a product or service. The world is not just ruled by stock prices and bank accounts.
Companies may be driven by facts & figures, financial results, ratings and stock prices, but there is always an emotional component attached to believing in what a company’s leaders are saying; in the reasons for buying a product, service or stock and in trusting in the image or reputation of an organization. Wouldn’t you say so?
On being bold and daring
Here is the opportunity: in order to raise awareness, sell a product, create understanding, influence opinions, explain a decision or situation, inform your clients and business partners on a particular subject, give your customers a voice, reach your employees in a crisis situation, tell the story. Right here, right now. How can you expect your audiences to trust you if they can’t see or hear you? Let the tale come from the heart and you can be assured of its credibility. There is no easier way as to say it on (video)tape and play it in today’s most widely, highly and globally used communication tool, the Internet. 
I can only say: Give your story a face and a voice.
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · marketing communication · strategic communication
Tagged: Internet, story, video
I want to do a video, sure, cool thing, but what and who and where and how? And what for, for heaven sakes? As a communication professional I have been taught to think in structured, linear processes, in concepts and with project management as a guiding principle of my doings. On a side note: It’s not as creative as one might imagine. So, simply follow the basic steps of analysis and definition, implementation and evaluation. Super. By the way, I still believe in that method. So I’ve learned to ask the right questions, coach my counterparts and advise them on what I believe to be a valuable and successful communication path. 
Here are the three most important criteria for producing a webcast:
- We want to reach a broad audience that goes beyond our immediate target audience
- We want people to be able to view the webcast independent of geographic location and time zone
- We want to use a video for bringing our communication messages across
Reaching out to a broader audience
Even though you have a specific target audience in mind, you automatically reach a much broader group of people including potential clients, interested investors and future employees that might be surfing your website. Exposure is imminent when placed on the landing page of your company website. You never know who will be attracted to your CEO’s video message, your product line responsibles’ statement, your market managers’ proposition or your business experts’ insights. Therefore it’s wise to draft your message carefully, take the time to prepare your script, select an appropriate location for the shooting and get your webmaster or web content editor on board early on. It’s important to place your video on a site that is easily accessible and quick to find – not buried in a corner of your website.
Giving your company a face on your website
Let your speaker do some media/camera training, with our without a teleprompter and discuss your expectations with your external provider – video, multimedia or web TV producer and streaming engineer. Your communication agency or Solutionpark can help you scout the location, draft the story board, write the script and organize the props. Be it as part of a full fledged integrated communications campaign or a single communication activity, it’s so easy to have so much exposure with only one small video.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · internal communication · marketing communication
Tagged: CEO, Solutionpark, streaming engineer, target audience, teleprompter, video, web TV producer, webcast, webmaster
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is always a highlight in a company’s yearly event calendar. So much preparation, so many things to think about, so much budget spent for a single half day. Nevertheless, it’s an important event for internal and external audiences such as the Executive and Board members, the legal department, investor relations, all shareholders and investors. Often the communications department is involved as well as an event agency, simultaneous translators and a streaming company in charge of the videotaping and broadcasting.
Keeping track of your target audiences
Leading up to the ‘big day’ I remember many arguments and discussions about all kinds of internal and external communication issues including ‘Shall we show it to employees?’, ‘Why should we show it to employees?’ ‘Do we put in on the Internet or not?’, ‘Does the public need to know?’ etc. The Annual General Meeting is THE event a company holds for its shareholders and includes the entire senior management and executive staff as well as the organization’s Board members. Employees and the general public sometimes get forgotten in the process. I find it just as relevant and significant to keep them in the loop of a company’s developments. And that is a communication departments job! So I can only plead for you to take on the responsibility, get a streaming provider such as Solutionpark on board, and get moving.
Employees first!
We webcast the Annual General Meeting on the intranet for all employees to see, i.e. for those who aren’t shareholders and for those who are but decided not to attend the AGM in person. It’s simple transparent information policy to keep everyone up-to-date and not to exclude internal resources whoever and wherever they may be. Besides, it’s a legal requirement to keep a copy of the recording anyway, so why not produce it as a webcast and put it on the web.
I find this a good example of using multimedia tools to create more transparency and inclusiveness. Don’t we hear too often: ‘Why wasn’t I informed?’, ‘How come I didn’t hear about this or that?’ The whole purpose of putting videos on the Internet is to reach a broad audience and make an event available to everyone. All of your shareholders and employees will be grateful to you.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication · investor relations · shareholder communication
Tagged: annual general meeting, broadcasting, Executive and Board members, investor relations, investors, recording, shareholders, streaming, webcast
On a typical day, when a publicly-traded company published their quarterly financial results, it all begins at 7 am with sending out the official press release and financial results presentation to the media, analysts and investors as well as publishing it all on the company website. An E-mail is sent out to all employees informing on the news while the internal communication specialist and internal services people get the auditorium ready for the upcoming employee information event.
Pulling it all together
The IT person responsible for helping with the webcast and the two streaming engineers from Solutionpark arrive and set up 2-3 cameras, hook up laptops and lay the necessary cables. I check the lighting and the sound (microphones) and upload the employee presentation onto the laptop next to the speaker’s desk. By 8 am staff piles into the auditorium – once again filled to the very last seat – and eagerly awaits the Executives Team’s explanations of the quarterly financial results. The session will be recorded including the slides and Q&A and is published on the intranet an hour following the staff event as a Video on Demand.
By 9 o’clock the Executive Team moves on to the boardroom where the investor call will be held shortly. The scripts are ready and so are the head of investor relations and the streaming engineers who will ensure that the slides are synchronized with the speeches from the CEO and CFO. This investor call will be broadcast live, i.e for everyone to see who logs on (and registers) on the company website. While the live webcast is in full swing in the boardroom, the auditorium is once again remodeled and set up for the onsite press conference.
Moving forward through the day
I remember the poor guys from the internal services department well who had to lug hundreds of chairs, shove around tables and prepare the information booth for the awaited financial analysts and business journalists. As employees, we were not allowed to participate in the press conferences, though we’d sneak through the hallway and try to get a glimpse of who had come. Are there photographers present? Has a journalist from a prestigious financial paper arrived? Have the analysts dressed in their sleek designer outfits again?
By noon, the show is over, the employee webcast published on the intranet, the investor webcast marked for download on the Internet, journalists’ and analysts’ questions answered. Oh well, just a typical day at the office.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · internal communication · investor relations · strategic communication
Tagged: broadcast live, camera, internal communication specialist, Internet, intranet, investor call, microphone, press conference, press release, quarterly results, results presentation, Solutionpark, streaming engineer, Video-on-Demand, webcast
I can not tell you how glad I was to be able to pull my webcast binder from the shelf, look up Solutionpark’s phone number and flip to the scenario that said ‘webcast video and slides on demand.’ Months before I had listed all contacts and processes, described the steps of the ‘To Does’ and drafted template E-mails for just such occasions. The mailing groups had been saved in my Inbox and the only thing that needed to be added was the time and date.
