Corporate Survey 2010

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With broader responsibilities and increased C-suite access, the corporate communicator’s prominence continues to rise CORPORATE SURVEY

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Transcript of Corporate Survey 2010

Page 1: Corporate Survey 2010

With broader responsibilities and increased C-suite access, the corporate communicator’s prominence continues to rise

CORPORATESURVEY

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Corporate communicators’ jobs have changed greatly in recent years, as they are more concerned than ever with corporate reputation, social media, and measurement, according to the 2010 PRWeek/Hill & Knowlton Corporate Survey. Kimberly Maul reports

Beyond a seat at the table

A fexa and its COLD-FX product were the official cold and flu remedy of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the project was an example of integration

between marketing and PR for the company. The health sciences and technology entity has traditionally relied on PR when it comes to building buzz and growing the busi-ness, says Warren Michaels, VP of communications. Yet as the company – and its marketing budgets – grew, it started to integrate the two disciplines.

“The company was built on PR,” he says. “We work hand in glove,” and when the marketing team worked on its Olympic sponsorship and partnership, it brought the PR team in to leverage those athlete relationships and build buzz. The PR team was able to not only get the athletes on TV, but also got them to do media outreach.

MaryLee Sachs, US chairman and worldwide director of marketing and communications for Hill & Knowlton, says she sees marketers turning to their corporate communica-tions colleagues more and initiating this integration.

“They are realizing that their sales suffer if they have a bad reputation or an incident that affects a brand’s image,” she explains. “Marketers are starting to under- stand that it isn’t just about the consumer; it’s about the

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Beyond a seat at the table

employees, it’s about other influencers, it’s about everyone who comes in contact with the brand.”

As companies become more integrated across their communications, many are seeing a bigger role within the company, or the proverbial “seat at the table.”

“Afexa has adopted the attitude that PR is a critical part of its development,” Michaels says. “As a consequence, PR has always reported directly to the CEO.”

But not all corporate communicators are as lucky as Michaels; many deal with budget restraints, new social media stresses, added responsibilities outside the tra- ditional definition of communications, and misunder-standings about their jobs from colleagues and the C-suite, according to the 2010 PRWeek/Hill & Knowlton Corpo- rate Survey, which polled 191 corporate communicators from a variety of companies and industries.

As part of the survey, respondents were asked about the three challenges that cause the greatest stress in their jobs. Fifty-eight percent report budget constraints, 53% say managing internal silos and departments, and 50% say keeping up with social media innovation.

Respondents also reveal that reorganizations and pres-sure to better foster integrated communications were main causes of this stress. Several believe too many silos within a company hinder good crisis communications, slow down work, and fragment communications so it is harder to get proper funding. Beyond the alignment issue, one respon-dent notes that he also deals with “miscellaneous tasks that are given to the team because nobody else in the company is responsible for it.”

How the job has changedNo one would argue that the job of corporate communi-cations has changed in recent years, but the reasons vary. Some cite the changing media landscape. Others say juggling the world of social media is the main reason. Con-tinuing challenges also include how to measure the impact and success of PR and communications, as well as how to have more alignment and integration with marketing.

Sachs says the past 18 months to two years has seen further alignment between PR and marketing. “From a corporate communications perspective,” she explains, “it’s getting broader exposure within the organization and is being seen as driving not only reputation, awareness, and all the key metrics we typically associate with PR, but also as a driver and contributor to business results.”

Companies define the alignment between marketing and communications differently, but mainly it is when the two disciplines work closer together, providing more consistent messaging and branding. For James Boyd, VP of PR for the Americas for Singapore Airlines, that is a main reason to increase alignment within marketing and communications.

“The biggest asset this company has, outside of its people, is the brand, one that has been consistently and meticulously honed over the last three decades,” he says. “Our activities are coordinated and we are aligned as much as we can, where it makes sense. Our goal is to build and maintain the reputation of Singapore Airlines.”

This idea of alignment is informing the structure of corp- orate communications teams. At the start of 2009, BMW

58%cite budget constraints as one of the three main challenges that cause them the most job stress

CAUSES OF JOB STRESSWhat three challenges cause you the greatest stress in your job today?

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Base: 191

Budget constraints

Managing internal silos/depart. divisions

Keeping up with social media innovation

Keeping up with trends in industry/sector

Crisis preparation (or lack of)

Staff cuts Retaining and attracting staff

Agency turnover/problems

Develop. company’s environ. commit.

Other

ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITIESWhich of the following are you ultimately responsible for, either directly or indirectly through your teams?

Media relations 97%Crisis/issues management 96%Executive communications 93%Social networks and applications 89%Online tracking 85%Blogger relations 84%Community relations 84%Employee communications 82%Promotions 75%Cause-related marketing 74%Public affairs/government relations 69%Investor/financial relations 57%Annual reports/quarterly reports 55%Issues advertising 54%Marketing research & analytics 49%Product/brand advertising 48%Direct marketing 46%CRM 39%Other 14% Base: 191

The respondents: Title: Of the corporate communicators polled, 36% were at the director level; 24% VP; 19% manager; 12% CCO; 7% SVP; 4% EVP Reporting lines: 55% are the most senior PR person in their company; 28% report directly to the most senior person Company focus: An average of 43.5% are b-to-c focused; 55.3% are b-to-b focused Company revenue: 64% of respondents’ companies have revenue of more than $500 million, with 52% of $1.5 billion or more

Comms budget: Of the respondents, 56% have PR/comms budgets of $1 million or more

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moved to a more globally organized communications function, where Tom Kowaleski, corporate communica- tions VP, reports not only to the global communications head in Germany, but also to the CEO of BMW North America. His team is more involved with sales and mar- keting than he has seen at other corporations, he adds.

“Often, from the headquarters’ perspective of communi- cations, you are necessarily, and very meaningfully, dealing with setting a long-term agenda and a long-term com-

munication of messages and infor-mation that supports the future positioning, direction, and position of the company,” says Kowaleski. “But in a region, you’re doing that addi- tionally with helping to generate rev-enue for the company every month.”

When it comes to driving the com-munications calendar (announce- ments, product launches, and so on), 45% of respondents say it is led jointly by communications and mar- keting; 39% say corporate commu-nications; and 12% say marketing.

With products, marketing leads 41% of the time and communications 17% of the time, while 36% of the time, it is the two departments combined.

There are many tactics and tools that companies use to align these two departments more closely, including holding joint meetings, working together with an external PR agency, working in the same area in the office, and informing the other team of plans and projects.

Sachs says she notices clients coordinating more with marketing teams, though the agency sometimes has the marketing team as a client and other times the corporate communications team.

Lynn Mann, director of external communications for Michelin North America, says she has PR managers who

report to her who are embedded in the various business units, product lines, and brands. That allows communications to have a presence in the day-to-day marketing and planning for various elements of the company. She then reports up to VP of corporate affairs Michael Fanning, who reports directly to the chairman and president of North America.

“Our Michelin leadership values the role of communi-cations and chooses to invest and support it,” Mann says. “Having that seat at the table, and having communications intimately involved when the company as a whole makes decisions is exactly the best model.”

At CBS, the marketing and corporate communica-tions team all work in the same floor of the office, notes Gil Schwartz, EVP and CCO of CBS, who adds the com-munications structure at CBS is “both centralized and de-centralized.” The teams, whether they handle publicity or communications for sports, news, radio, or more, all report up to him, as well as through their operations people.

“In order for Pr to be at ItS moSt effeCtIve, It SImPly HaS to rePort uP to tHe Ceo“ Gil Schwartz, CbS

RECENTLY ADDED RESPONSIBILITIESWhat responsibilities have you or your team taken on in the past two years not previously part of the PR/comms function?

Social networks and applications 61%

Blogger relations 47%

Online tracking 28%

Community relations 13%

Public affairs/government relations 13%

Executive communications 11%

Cause-related marketing 10%

Marketing research & analytics 10%

Product/brand advertising 9%

Employee communications 9%

Crisis/issues management 8%

Direct marketing 7%

Investor/financial relations 6%

CRM 6%

Promotions 6%

Issues advertising 5%

Media relations 5%

Annual reports/quarterly reports 4%

Other 3%

None of these 17%

Base: 191

GUARDING REPUTATIONAre you feeling under more or less pressure now to be the guardian of your company’s reputation than you were feeling 12 months ago?

Base: 191

About the same level of pressure

More pressure

Less pressure

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Base: 116

REPUTATION MANAGEMENTHas there been more attention on reputation management by the C-Suite in your company over the last 12 months?

Base: 191

No

Yes

Has this increased attention been due to any of the following?

Changing public percept. of my industry

Faster pace of news cycle

Growth of blogs

Stock market/financial comm. pressure

Greater regulation

Activist pressure

Other

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“They are a double solid,” he says, “but there is definitely a national department that ultimately is unified under the CBS flag.” Schwartz, then, reports directly to the CEO.

“I’m not a believer in PR reporting to marketing, HR, or any other function,” he explains. “In order for PR to be at its most effective, it simply has to report up to the CEO.”

The survey found that 51% of respondents said the most senior global PR or public affairs person in their company reports directly to the chairman, CEO, or president, while 19% report to a CMO, and 6% report to a COO.

“There are so many facets of what we do in PR, from internal communications to IR to crisis and issues pre-paredness and management,” says H&K’s Sachs, “and those functions really should be reporting to the CEO.”

Looking at the reporting structure for the communica-tions department, 36% of respondents say PR sits within corporate communications and, while it interacts with marketing, there is no reporting line from PR to market-ing. Twenty-three percent report that PR and corporate communications are totally integrated into marketing, and 14% say some elements of PR are integrated into marketing and some elements sit within corporate communications. Additionally, 12% say marketing is completely integrated into the corporate communications function.

Improved alignmentSachs sees several reasons for this increased alignment among companies, including an increased importance placed on reputation by the C-suite, social media, and how repu-tation affects sales and a company’s bottom line. In fact, 61% of respondents say more attention is being paid to reputation management from the C-suite over the past year.

“Social media is one of the biggest contributors, but the bigger contributor is this concept of reputation affecting brands,” she notes. “It’s not just about social media; it’s about how consumers and other audiences are engaging with the brands across different disciplines and media channels.”

Social media is another element that is adding to inte-gration, as both marketing and corporate communications are fighting to take the lead in this constantly growing

61%report there is more attention paid to reputation management from the C-suite over the past year

REPORTING STRUCTURETo whom does the most senior global PR/public affairs person in your company report?

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REPORTING STRUCTURETo whom does the most senior global marketing person in your company report?

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James Boyd, the VP of PR for the Americas for Singapore Airlines, calls measurement “the $64,000 question within the industry.” When the company introduces new products or a special deal or fare, it uses a specific code to keep track of how it spreads.

“PR will be the only means of communicating,” he explains. “This gives us the ability to track exactly how many dollars changed hands based on the communications.”

On social media, the company uses Twitter and Facebook and

looks at FlyerTalk, an online community for frequent flyers, to gauge how customers are interacting with the brand. It also watches “with hawk-like precision,” the annual surveys in Condé Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure.

“The surveys ask travel-related questions of people who are very solid travelers, long-term travel-ers, sophisticated travelers,” says Boyd. With these third-party industry surveys, the airline can also see where it ranks compared to other competitors.

Singapore Airlines: approach to measurement

area. Additionally, social media strategy and execution is often led by teams made up of several departments and individuals from within a company.

As far as who spearheads the social media vision and strategy for their organization, 44% say the corporate communications team, while 13% report marketing, and 29% cite a blended team selected from specific functions such as communications, HR, and marketing. Another 4%

Chairman/CEO/pres.

COO Chief comms officer

CFO Head of human resources

Other

Chairman/CEO/Pres.

CMO COO Head of human resources

General counsel

CFO Other

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say they also have a blended team, but with people who are interested in social media, regardless of their depart- ment, and 7% report they have a team with some people from specific departments and some who are just interested in social media.

Ryan Donovan, senior director of corporate communica-tions, Web, and brand for SanDisk, says social media should fall to the corporate communications team because “we’re responsible for the reputation of the company and social

media really is reputation-centric.”Corporate communications also has

experience running long-term agendas and messaging that lends itself to this world of social media that is going beyond campaigns, Sachs says.

“If you’re going to engage on social media channels,” she adds, “you have to understand it’s not a one-off hit, it must be something sustainable.”

But social media is not just affecting integration, it also requires more time and resources from already resource-strapped teams. It must constantly be monitored, not only for news and com-ments about a company or brand, but also for the latest and greatest social media tools.

Donovan agrees the challenge with social media isn’t always about who owns it, but more about how it truly impacts the brand and the company’s performance.

“We know people want to engage and are relating to the brand,” he says, “but we have to figure out how we translate that to revenue?”

And while new tools, such as the iPad, are joining the ranks of Facebook and Twitter as necessary for a company, social media also lends itself to helping companies with measurement and analyzing how con-sumers perceive them.

“Increasingly, we’re looking at new tools in the social media space, and also more market-mixed modeling-type methods, where we can start teasing out the effect PR has on the business results,” Sachs says of how H&K is using social media with its work with clients.

Measurement is one issue that still perplexes corporate communicators. Proving ROI for PR and communica- tions initiatives can be tricky, but is often the way they are able to secure budgets and funding.

CBS’ Schwartz says his company measures success “by the pound,” and analyzes media coverage, hoping for more column inches for good news and product launches, and fewer column inches for the controversial stories.

Another communicator, who leads North American com-munications for a global company, but preferred not to be named, agrees: “A lot of what I’m doing in the issues space is very measurable. You’re able to clear a hurdle or avoid a major challenge to the brand.”

A variety of measuresAll communicators agree that it’s not just about the quantity of media coverage, but also the quality.

“We try to measure PR success as many different ways as we can,” says Michelin’s Mann. “We look at traditional measures like ad equivalency compared to PR spend. But we also look at audience numbers. We look at qualitative measures, of key message penetration. Did we achieve the key message penetration in our target media? It has to be a combination of quantitative and qualitative.”

Afexa’s Michaels notes that he looks at media impres-sions, but then analyzes the tone, how much the company was featured, and whether it was mentioned in a relevant outlet, like a medical segment or publication.

Of survey respondents, 82% set aside 10% or less of their budgets for measurement. When asked what performance is measured against, 71% say media coverage metrics, 67% say getting in or staying out of key media outlets, 51% say consumers’ or customers’ perceptions, 40% say Web traffic, and 34% say sales, which is how BMW measures.

“Sometimes the messages and elements of long-term strategy can’t be so on-point to help you move products,” BMW’s Kowaleski says, so working with marketing can combine consistent messaging with daily sales success.

44%report that the corporate comms team spearheads the company’s social media vision and strategy

ALIGNING DISCIPLINESWhich of the following activities do you have in place to align the PR/comms and marketing personnel in your company?

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Formal, regular meetings to set up and review plans

Ad-hoc meetings/calls as needed to deal with issues as they arise

Ad-hoc meetings/calls to monitor and review progress

Each group’s objectives are shared with the other group

Common intra- net (or other) space and/or common e-mail distribution lists

Joint objectives are set with joint reward systems based on success

Joint objectives are set without joint rewards

Other

“If you’re GoInG to enGaGe on SoCIal medIa CHannelS, It muSt be SometHInG SuStaInable“ marylee Sachs, Hill & Knowlton

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESSWhich of the following do you have in place for measurementof PR effectiveness?

In-house team prepares regular monitoring/clip report 52%

PR agency prepares regular monitoring/clip report 40%

In-house team conducts Web analytics 39%

In-house team conducts media analysis 38%

Clipping agency prepares regular monitoring/clip report 28%

Web agency/Web analytics firm conducts Web analytics 28%

PR agency conducts media analysis 24%

Research firm conducts survey/polling 20%

Research firm/media analytics agency conducts media analysis 17%

PR agency conducts Web analytics 13%

PR agency conducts survey/polling 11%

Other 5%

Base: 191

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tions for the Americas for Electrolux. “I saw some uptick, though not dramatic, in 2010. And I’m guessing my 2011 budget will be in line with 2010.”

Cause for optimismMost say they are still dealing with trying to do more with less, but there is more optimism. Donovan says SanDisk’s PR and communications budgets have been flat to slightly up ever since they were cut in 2008.

“We’ve seen a shift in how corporate communications is both viewed and valued within companies,” he notes.

Kowaleski agrees: “The real challenge for communications is grasping the opportunity in front of us: to be much more of a source of knowledge about what goes on in the outside world; a source of knowledge about how our various con-stituencies think about us, relate to us, interact with us; and then being an integrator to provide perspective and counsel to the senior management in all business decisions.”

“The challenge we have is to remake our function accord-ing to the opportunity this turbulent time has given us.” l

the PRWeek/Hill & Knowlton Corporate Survey was con- ducted by PRWeek and Ca Walker. e-mail notification was sent to about 4,314 corporate comms pros, with 191 taking the survey online between June 2 and July 9, 2010. results weren’t weighted and are statistically tested at a 90% con-fidence level. this article only offers a summary of findings.MEASURING PERFORMANCE

What is your performance measured against?

Media coverage metrics 71%

Getting in or staying out of key media outlets 67%

Perceptions of consumers/customers 51%

Perceptions of employees 41%

Web traffic 40%

Quantity/quality of events, speaking placements 39%

Sales 34%

Quality of stakeholder relationships 31%

Perceptions of financial community 28%

Perceptions of industry analysts 25%

Industry scorecards 17%

Other 9%

Base: 191

Companies staff up their social media teams differently, with some pulling from corporate communications, some from marketing, and some a mix. Billy Sanez, director of corporate communications at American Airlines, only added “and social media” to his title over the sum-mer, though he has been leading it unofficially for years.

The official change, he says, indicates the importance the com-

pany puts on social media and how corporate communications can use both its proactive and reactive qualities.

But for Electrolux, which is headquartered in Stockholm, the social media strategy is kept within a separate group in the Web area, says Blythe Reiss, VP of communications, Americas. The company recently did a social media campaign with spokesperson Kelly Ripa (right).

Staffing: social media

IMPORTANCE OF ALIGNMENTIs achieving alignment between the corporate comms and marketing functions an issue today in your company?

Base: 191

No, it is not an issue because we are satisfied with the level of alignment

No, it is not an issue because we do not consider alignment to be a priority

Yes, it is a big issue because we are not

satisfied with the levelof alignment between

the two functions

Yes, it is an issue, butwe are making progresson reaching our desired

level of alignment

Donovan says SanDisk looks at several long-term mea-sures, focusing on the health of the brand. Looking at social media, it analyzes consumers’ opinions about the brand, and it also commissions a brand tracker survey every year, which “gauges the success of the brand in the mind of our consumers in about 14 countries,” he adds.

“In the US, we recently found our brand awareness is up 10% year on year, which is huge,” Donovan reports. “We do not do corporate-level advertising. So everything we’re doing in PR and social media, which I believe is really one discipline, is clearly having the right kind of impact.”

When companies are able to show solid results from PR and communications, it is easier to convince the C-suite that the budgets for the space are necessary.

“We are continuing to raise the level of metrics and analy- tics so we can prove the value of our spend,” says Mann.

Budgets for communicators surveyed were nearly split down the middle, with 56% reporting their communications and PR budget for 2009 was $1 million or greater and 45% reporting their budget was less than $1 million. Forty-nine percent say their budget will remain the same in 2010, with 35% expecting an increase and 16% expecting a decrease.

“Clearly our budget was reduced in 2008 and stayed at that level in 2009,” says Blythe Reiss, VP of communica-

82%of respondents set aside 10% or less of their budgets for measurement