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Communication strategy
Traditional corporate strategy is about sales growth and cost reduction; mergers and acquisitions; competitive advantage; business planning; mission and goals. All of these issues, and more, are vital to sustained business success. But it is becoming increasingly widely recognised that achievement of sustained success is critically dependent on communication: communication with employees to energise teams and build commitment to shared objectives; communication to shareholders to build understanding of and support for the long-term; communication to the wider stakeholder community to manage corporate reputation and sustain the 'licence to operate'. Communication to these groups will happen anyway. But a coherent communication strategy can be vital to achieving sustained performance improvement. A communication strategy is more than a set of proposed actions; and it cannot exist in isolation. An effective communications strategy needs to develop out of an overall corporate strategy. This is not a straightforward task. Because each organisation's business strategy is unique, it means there can be no off-the-shelf solutions to communications strategy. Specific business objectives must drive the communication strategy which in turn must serve to knit together a company's approach to its internal and external audiences. Furthermore, it is also becoming increasingly recognised that communication is about mastering channel technology. Email, video, print, intranet/nternet, conventional telephony... And with this variety of channels comes a need for an integrated communication package, where each channel is exploited in the light of its particular capabilities, and a seamless presentation of corporate activity is carried by a suite of mutually reinforcing channels and messages. We believe strongly that effective corporate strategy cannot be developed and implemented independently of a clear understanding of the communications and technology implications. And conversely, that communications strategy and technology are ineffective, and even counter-productive, without a clear understanding of relevant corporate strategy. Just as communications projects should be informed by and judged against a company's business objectives, so strategic business developments (whether an intranet or a merger, for example) are critically dependent for sustained success on meeting communication objectives. Projects in these spheres require the same disciplines: |
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clear linkage to company objectives; |
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a rigorous business case (even in projects with intangible benefits); |
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sensible project management disciplines; |
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tailored communication to ensure success; |
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measurement and evaluation. |
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The Eastbury Partnership: |
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understands corporate strategy, finance and business planning, and can apply these disciplines to a range of corporate projects; |
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takes a business case approach to communications investments; |
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tackles strategic demonstration projects that need additional resource; |
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provides a highly experienced, targeted project management capability, focused on delivery to an agreed schedule; |
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has specialist knowledge of communications channels; |
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has associations with a number of complementary business partners; |
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believes strongly in demonstrating measurable bottom line improvement. |
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The Eastbury Partnership has specific expertise in the application of business strategy disciplines to communications implementation. We can help to: |
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determine the key components of the company's mission, aspiration, values and business objectives; |
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define the actions and behaviours required from key audiences to deliver these business objectives; |
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frame messages to different audiences in the light of the actions we need to provoke; |
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determine how those messages should be communicated and with what force style and frequency; |
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conduct a review of a company's communication channels; |
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prepare a business case for communications investments (either in campaigns or in technology) concentrating on bottom-line impact; |
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consider where and what the responsibilities for communication are within a company; |
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examine the extent to which internal communications need to be top down, bottom up or laterally across the company; |
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check that communication is received, understood and acted upon. |
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This clear and distinct perspective gives us the capability to implement solutions which measurably improve business performance. The core services we offer all contribute to this objective. |
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