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.
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.
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?
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.
Posted in 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
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. 
