1.

Corporate Communication: Definition, Concept And Scope

Corporate communication is the practice of developing, cultivating and maintaining a

corporate identity or brand image. A solid corporate communications team provides initiatives
to mold company image, communicate with internal and external audiences, and sustain a
long-term positive reputation. Through public relations and wide-spread corporate
communications, your customers, employees and clients can share in your company's
successes.

Scope of corporate communication:-

 Create an identity: – the success of many companies in India like Reliance industries,
Tata, has created their identity as an organization which is for their people. In the current
scenario, the functions of corporate are complex, finding an audience for their products,
services or companies determine the growth of an organization.. The corporate
communicator/public affairs manager/public relation officers/media liaison officer/media
advisor, and corporate communication manager, they all ensure that their corporate connects
build an audience group for the growth of an organization.
 Build a brand: – corporate in their day to day affairs interacts with two kinds of
audiences, internal and external. The internal audiences who may be in form of shareholders,
stakeholders or employee of the company carry the pride of association with an organization
wherein the external audiences are crucial for the future growth of a brand. To balance both the
audiences, corporate communication practitioners need to follow the simple approach in mind.
 Manage the reputation: Nowadays, the media intervention is very high. The rumour
spreads and impacts on organization’s reputation, therefore the corporate communicate
practitioner manage the task of building the organization reputation and keep its prestige intact.
 Develop a communication model: – No organization will make a progress in their
isolation approach. It is crucial to communicate with their people on a timely basis. An
effective communication model will help an organization to build a strategy which will be
beneficial for them in a long run.

2. Shift from PR to Corporate Communication

Corporate communications and public relations share so many commonalities that you would
be forgiven for using them interchangeably. They are often grouped together in universities
and by employers seeking to fill communications positions. Both necessitate that you excel in
fundamental communication skills – speaking, writing, and an educated and innate ability to
know what critical information needs to go to the people who need it, when they need it. There
are some subtle and not-so-subtle differences, however, that may determine the path you
choose.

Corporate Communications

Corporate communications encompasses all communication activities that an organization

undertakes, both within and outside the organization. Internally, as a corporate
communications professional, you help management build bridges between departments so that
communication flows smoothly. For example, an internal newsletter or bulletin lets each
employee know what is happening in each department, or alerts staff to any upcoming special
visitors or events the organization has scheduled. Externally, you may do everything from
writing annual reports to send to investors, to participating in community working groups for
civic matters.

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Public Relations

If you select a career in public relations, you will work closely with management in
identifying, building and nurturing relationships between the company and various publics.
Obviously good communication is inherent in this capability – both writing and speaking. Key
to building these relationships is promoting your organization’s reputation through highly
visible channels, using reporters and editors to communicate about your employer based on
information you provide. This sole function is often referred to as media relations. Controlling
the messages that the public hears is also important, particularly if your organization faces a
crisis and erroneous information or rumors could cause panic or tarnish the company’s image.

Choosing a Path

Consider your strengths and what you enjoy when determining which educational or career
path is more suited to your skills, experience or aptitude. If you have experience as a journalist
or enjoy understanding how the media work, public relations is a good fit – but you will need
persuasive skills and the ability to verbalize well, in addition to keen writing. Plan also to act as
your organization’s spokesperson, so you must be comfortable in interview situations –
including on-camera – while aptly articulating the necessary messages specific to any
circumstance. If you are better at writing than speaking, or have other creative skills such as
graphic design or video editing, corporate communications is a better path. You should expect
to still verbally communicate with audiences but if your job duties don’t incorporate media
relations, you won’t have to worry about improvising speaking scenarios.

Overlap and Differences

It’s not unusual for public relations professionals to engage in corporate communication roles
out of necessity. A natural communicator is an invaluable resource for all internal and external
communications. It’s more difficult if you have solely corporate communications experience –
and no experience working with media – to fill a public relations position that requires media
relations expertise. Like most relationships, building a credulous relationship with the media
takes times and many organizations will favor established relationships when hiring for PR

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positions. Still, many communications and PR professionals successfully move between these
two roles.

Shift from PR to corporate communication

Public relations and corporate communications are relatively the same, though their objectives
and tactics are often quite different-conflicting even.

They are the proverbial kissing cousins of communication, and just as public relations
creatively promotes the favourable image of its client to the public, corporate communications
adheres to the complicated bylaws of compliance in both internal and external communication,
promoting the integrity of a corporation with very little room for creativity.

While they are very different, both types of communication are heavy-hitters in any company’s
success.

Function

 Since public relations is a profession that relates mostly to the promotion of an image,
depending on its client, it has free license to spin words, stories and photographs into
innovative and interesting press release.
 As for corporate communications, a profession that prides itself for colouring
compliantly within the lines, there is almost no free license to spin words, stories and
photographs.

Considerations

 In the business of public relations, the objective is to create newsworthy press. Again,
depending upon the client, there is lots of room to get creative and even more room to get away
with it.
 With corporate communication it may take a complicated approval process as long as
your arm to get a short company email out to the press or to its employee-base. And though the
two businesses are vastly different, they both serve a very specific and useful purpose when it
comes to communicating to the public.

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Responsibilities

 Corporate communications is about more than “telling the organization’s story”. It is

often the subject of public issue, health, energy, the environment, employee satisfaction and
anything and everything corporate.
 Corporate communications is a subtle message that is often lost in acronyms and
flavourless corporate-talk. It has a responsibility to the business, to its employees, to its
shareholders and to its customers, and it takes that responsibility seriously.
 Public relations, on the other hand, has a responsibility to making headlines, crafting
stories and attracting the attention of the media and the public-often in any means necessary.

Audience

 Public relations are directed to the media. This, of course, means newspapers,
magazines, radio, television and the internet. Publicity comes by way of any mention in the
media. Organizations generally have very little control over the message that gets out into the
media. It’s the journalists and reporters that take the message and run with it.
 As for corporate communications, most messages are directed internally to its
employee-base, customers and partners via email, memos and the occasional press release.
And great pains go into keeping those vehicles of communication close to the vest.

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3. Structure and forms of Corporate Communication: Management,
Marketing, Organizational

There are two types of business communication in an organization, which come under
“Vertical Communication"

1. Internal Communication

2. External Communication

Internal Communication

All communication that has to do with internal matters and interaction between staff and
employees in varied forms is called “Internal Communication." And it serves as an excellent
medium to address all concerns of employees, thereby enhancing goodwill, job satisfaction,
productivity and safety aspects. It also serves to increase turnover and profits.

Under Internal Communication, you have

Upward Communication

This represents the information flow from lower down in the hierarchy to those in higher
positions, thus preventing the organization to experience a vacuum in terms of not only the
proper receipt of information, but also solutions to other problems that the company may face..
Undoubtedly, communication is a two-sided sword, but for it to work efficiently, information

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must originate at the bottom, and move upwards. The benefits of upward communication to the
staff include the exchange of ideas and information, heightened staff enthusiasm, job
satisfaction and the provision of feedback.

Downward Communication

The flow of information and instructions from the top levels of the organization to its lowest
levels, detailing the mission and the policies, is normally referred to as downward
communication. These may be in the form of specific instructions or guidelines to complete a
full project. However, you must start establishing the procedure only after the upward
communication has been successfully instituted. This information flow can be used to pass on
important matters and instructions, announce decisions and promote mutual discussions,
cooperation, and morale, enhance efficiency and obtain feedback.

Horizontal/Lateral Communication

When people with the same rank in the organization communicate with each other and
collaborate in the search of a common goal, it is called horizontal communication. Assigned
work is best completed when employees at the same level, cooperate. This kind of
communication helps solve problems by enhanced teamwork, boosting efficiency, completing
tasks and building goodwill.

Internal communications include:

 The company’s mission statement

 Employee manuals and handbooks
 Employee newsletters, e-newsletters and e-mails
 Information contained on the company intranet
 Trainings and seminars
 Unwritten communication such as corporate cultural norms
 Communication given to shareholders (who may also be consumers)

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External Communication
External communication refers to communication by company supervisors with agencies
outside the company, for example, with customers and vendors. This kind of communication
and useful interaction can lead to operational efficiency, market credibility, goodwill, corporate
image, customer satisfaction, organizational goals, leading to performance, increased sales
volumes, followed by a strong profit showing. Most of this external work is done by marketing
departments who target markets in pursuit of a larger share of business and the purchase
executives who are always sourcing better quality inputs at lower prices.
External forms of communication can include the following:

 Annual reports
 Websites
 Facebook, Twitter and other social media
 White papers, case studies, by-lined articles
 External newsletters and email blasts
 Mass media advertising and direct mail
 Blogs
 Brochures and printed sales materials
 Promotional items

In addition, there are four new groups:

 1. The Department of How the Customer Experiences our Communications (and

what they do with it), a.k.a. “Customer Experience” Let’s start with the latest fad in
corporate reorgs: the Customer Experience Department. It throws together customer service,
UX/IT, customer retention (i.e., market research), and social listening to cook up the stew of
customer happiness. The problem is that far too often no one in that mix is trained to
understand, never mind measure, concepts like trust or relationships, the basic stock of any
customer stew. And as you can see by Clear Action’s graphic, Customer Experience typically
includes most of the touch points in any relationship a company has with its marketplace. The

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only thing missing from this scenario are the relationship experts that theoretically live in PR

and the communications team.

 2. The Customer Acquisition Department (formerly known as Marketing and

Sales) Next let’s talk about marketing. The latest data shows that it costs five times more to get
a new customer than to keep an existing one. Which makes it unfathomable why marketing
always gets to spend five times as much as customer service? The most egregious example is
the amount of money spent on building “engagement” these days. The rational is the
completely erroneous assumption that engagement is connected to sales. In fact, research has
proven that engagement is most likely to happen after a sale is complete.

 If communications were in charge, it would be the opposite way around. We would

spend twice as much on listening to and half as much on talking at our customers and
prospects. In other words, we’d spend resources building and maintaining long-term communal
relationships, not short-term exchange ones.

 3. The Bean Counters (a.k.a. Finance) In my new vision Investor Relations reports up
to Communications as well. A study by Forrester and Watermark Consulting showed that even
during the recession, companies with high customer experience indexes saw far higher gains in
stock performance, compared to those who scored low in customer experience. So, IR needs to
be thinking less about numbers and much more about what the customer experience feels like.

 And since IR of course must report to Finance, Finance would have to report to
Communications so they would learn how to communicate the very important things they do,
in a language that normal humans can understand. They would also come in very useful when
Comms has to speak to the financial press. Also, they’re in general very good at math and
we’re not so much, so the synergy would be very useful.

 4. Reputation Management Reputation Management has always been the strong suit
of Communications, but too often “brand management” has been parked somewhere else. But
ask any customer what the difference is between brand and reputation and they won’t have a
clue. So when I rule the world, would include Corporate Social Responsibility as well as Brand
Management.Talent Acquisition doesn’t exist today unless you have a good reputation for

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CSR, diversity, and all the other things most organizations see as part of their brand. So that
needs to report to Reputation Management as well.

 5. The Good Excuses Department (a.k.a. Legal and HR) Now to Legal and HR. Two
of the most important ingredients in an organization are its ability to track and keep talent, and
its culture and integrity. Most of the responsibility for those aspects have traditionally been
isolated in Legal or HR. But those two are the cause of most reputation crises these days. So,
rather than bringing in Communications after Legal has messed things up, why not put
professional communicators in charge so they get to hear the full story first? Legal can figure
out how to finesse it later.

4. Corporate Communication as Branding strategy: Monolithic,

Endorsed, Branded

Brand strategy is a plan that encompasses specific, long-term goals that can be achieved with
the evolution of a successful brand -- the combined components of your company's character
that make it identifiable.

Define your voice. Today's brands are expected to communicate with customers through a
wide range of channels. Even in smaller companies, it's likely that more than one person is
responsible for writing and sending out this official corporate content. Identifying and defining
an authentic brand voice will ensure that all communications are consistent, no matter who's
creating them.

"More people than ever are creating content on behalf of brands," Varela said. "It can become a
cacophony if everyone's not using the same voice. It needs to be second nature to them, and it's
worth making sure they get the training and support they need to make that happen."

Avoid industry jargon. Every industry has its own specialized terms, especially in the rapidly
growing tech sector. While using "technospeak" (or your industry's language) is fine for
internal messages, the use of jargon in your newsletters, Web pages, social media posts and
other communications meant for customers will likely only confuse them.

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"Think about your audience as if you're speaking with them [in person]," Varela told Business
News Daily. "Brand communication is about creating a conversation with customers. You're
not going to get far if you use corporate speak."

Learn from social media. Varela noted that companies often try to figure out how to apply
their brand voice to social media. In some cases, it's actually more beneficial to work backward
and look at it from the opposite perspective.

"We should be asking what we can learn from social media," she said. "People write more like
they speak on blogs, Facebook, etc. It's clear and concise. It's a good lesson to be applied to
everything else."

How to develop a communication strategy

 Determine Goal.
 Identify and Profile Audience.
 Develop Messages.
 Select Communication Channels.
 Choose Activities and Materials.
 Establish Partnerships.
 Implement the Plan.
 Evaluate and Make Mid-Course Corrections

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Unit III: [Corporate Communication in Practice]

1. Developing a Communication Strategy

Communication is a major component of any successful initiative or project. Without effective

communication, Key Stakeholders may miss out on vital information and may not understand
why change is needed. The best way to approach communication is to develop a clearly
planned approach or strategy.

What is a Communication Strategy?

The aim of a Communication Strategy is to ensure ongoing commitment and support by all
Key Stakeholders for all aspects of the project. The strategy will usually include:

 Purpose - a brief statement about the strategy and its intended use.
 Background - a brief description of the background to the initiative/project and the
outcomes to be achieved. This allows the Communication Strategy to exist as a stand-alone
document.
 Objective(s) - What the objective(s) of the Communication Strategy are.
 Target Audience(s) - Who the target audience for the Communication Strategy is.
 Key Messages - What the key messages are that you want stakeholders to understand
and act upon.
 Approach - What communication tools are to be used and why they are most suitable.

Why would you develop a Communication Strategy?

A Communication Strategy is developed to:

 raise awareness and understanding of the project throughout its development, in

particular, how you intend to manage and communicate the key messages and content of the
initiative/project to identified stakeholders and the target audiences

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 provide the Initiative/Project Sponsor, steering committee and senior management with
a documented framework detailing which communication mechanisms/tools would be most
appropriate for the identified stakeholders and target audiences
 ensure the communication of issues, implementation of issues and initiative/project
updates to key stakeholders
 provide a mechanism for seeking and acting on feedback to encourage the involvement
of, and assist in 'selling' the initiative/project to, the Key Stakeholders
 identify the actions required for implementation of the strategy and associated costings.

How do you develop a Communication Strategy?

For a large initiative/project, a Communication Strategy should be developed by conducting a

number of meetings or brainstorming sessions involving (as a minimum) the Project Manager,
Project Team members and key Departmental Communication/Media staff. For a small project,
the Project Manager may develop the Communication Strategy. You will need:

 Knowledge and understanding of the project

 Knowledge and understanding of the Key Stakeholders
 Knowledge and understanding of appropriate/types of communication methods
 Agreement to proceed with the development of the Communication Strategy from the
Project Sponsor or senior management

Based on the above information and the discussions held, the aim is to develop each of the
following elements of the Communication Strategy and Action Plan:

 Target Audience
 Key Messages
 Communication Mechanisms/Tools
 Implementation Details - Who, When and Cost
o Who will be responsible for implementing each action
o When the action must be implemented
o What are the costs associated with each action

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Once the Communication Strategy has been approved, it is important to:

 add the communication actions into the initiative/project plan with the appropriately
assigned resource(s)
 add the costs for the communication actions into the Project Budget.

What is a Communication Plan?

The Communication Plan is usually the working document that contains more detail about
each strategy outlined in the Communication Strategy. For example, if presentations were to be
provided throughout the state, the specific date, time, location, presenter(s), method of delivery
and list of attendees would be documented in the Communication Plan rather than the
Communication Strategy, as these details are usually subject to change.

Project Communication Strategy Action Plan Example

Target Audience/ Aim Communication Who to By When? Costs?

Stakeholder Tools Action?
Group
Identify the What do you What Who will be When must What are
Target Audience intend to communication responsible the action be the costs
by considering the communicate methods/tools for implemented? associated
following: to the are most implementing with each
stakeholder(s) appropriate for each action? action?
Who will benefit
groups? the
from the
stakeholder(s)
initiative/project? What are the
groups?
key points
Who are the key
stakeholder(s) eg, electronic,
internal and
groups need to verbal,
external

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Stakeholders? understand and graphical,
act upon? written, etc

2. Perspectives on Organizing Communication: Vertical, Horizontal and

Lateral

The term organizational structure refers to the formally prescribed pattern of relationships
existing between various units of an organization

The structure of an organization should provide for communication in three distinct directions:
downward, upward, and horizontal

Downward Communication Traditional views of the communication process in school

organizations have been dominated by downward communication flows. Such flows transmit
information from higher to lower levels of the organization. It has identified five general
purposes of downward communication:

1. Implementation of goals, strategies, and objectives. Communicating new strategies and

goals provides information about specific targets and expected behaviours. It gives direction
for lower levels of the school/school district, community college, or university. For example:
"The new reform mandate is for real. We must improve the quality of student learning if we are
to succeed."

2. Job instructions and rationale. These are directives on how to do a specific task and how the
job relates to other activities of the school organization. Schools, community colleges, or
universities need to coordinate individual and departmental objectives with organization-wide
goals. We often fail to provide enough of this kind of information, leaving it to the individual
staff member to get the big picture.

3. Procedures and practices. These are messages defining the school organization's policies,
rules, regulations, benefits, and structural arrangements in order to get some degree of

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uniformity in organization practices. In school organizations, this information is transmitted to
staff members through board and organization-wide policy manuals, handbooks, and the day-
to-day operation of the school organization.

4. Performance feedback. Departmental progress reports, individual performance appraisals,

and other means are used to tell departments or individuals how well they are doing with
respect to performance standards and goals. For example: "Mary, your work on the computer
terminal has greatly improved the efficiency of our department."

5. Socialization. Every school organization tries to motivate staff members to adopt the
institution's mission and cultural values and to participate in special ceremonies, such as
picnics and United Way campaigns. It is an attempt to get a commitment, a sense of belonging,
and a unity of direction among staff members (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2008). For example:
"The school thinks of its employees as family and would like to invite everyone to attend the
annual picnic and fair on May 30."

The downward flow of communication provides a channel for directives, instructions, and
information to organizational members. However, much information gets lost as it is passed
from one person to another. Moreover, the message can be distorted if it travels a great
distance from its sender to the ultimate receiver down through the formal school organization
hierarchy (Tourish, 2010). Upward Communication the behaviourists have emphasized the
establishment of upward communication flows. In a school organization, this refers to
communication that travels from staff FOCUS ON COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, AND
SCHOOL member to leader. This is necessary not only to determine if staff members have
understood information sent downward but also to meet the ego needs of staff. Five types of
information communicated upward in a school organization are as follows (Canary, 2011).

1. Problems and exceptions. These messages describe serious problems and exceptions to
routine performance in order to make the leader aware of difficulties.

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2. Suggestions for improvement. These messages are ideas for improving taskrelated
procedures to increase the quality or efficiency of organization members.

3. Performance reports. These messages include periodic reports that inform the leader how
individual organization members and departments are performing.

4. Grievances and disputes. These messages are employee complaints and conflicts that travel
up the school organization hierarchy for a hearing and possible resolution. If the grievance
procedure is backed up by the presence of a collective bargaining agreement, organization
members are even more encouraged to express true feelings.

5. Financial and accounting information. These messages pertain to costs, accounts receivable,
interest on investments, tax levies, and other matters of interest to the board, central
administration, and building-level administrators.

Communication from the bottom does not flow as freely as communication from the top. Some
barriers to effective upward communication in a school are as follows (Cheney, 2011).

1. Administrators fail to respond when staff members bring up information or problems.

Failure to respond will ultimately result in no communication.

2. Administrators tend to be defensive about less-than-perfect actions. When staff members see
this defensiveness, information will be withheld.

3. The administrator's attitude plays a critical role in the upward communication flow. If the
administrator is really concerned and really listens, then upward communication improves.

4. Physical barriers can also inhibit upward communication flow. Separating an administrator
from her staff members creates common problems.

5. Time lags between the communication and the action can inhibit upward communication. If
it takes months for the various levels of administration to approve a staff member's suggestion,
upward communication is hindered.

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The following are some methods of improving the effectiveness of upward communication in a
school organization (Keyton, 2011):

1. The open-door policy. Taken literally, this means that the administrator's door is always
open to staff members. It is an invitation for staff to come in and talk about any problem they
may have. In practice, the open-door policy is seldom used. The administrator may say: "My
door is always open," but in many cases both the staff FRED C. LUNENBURG. 5 members
and the administrator know the door is really closed. Typically, this does not occur in a
learning organization (Reason, 2010; Senge, 2006).

2. Counseling, attitude questionnaires, and exit interviews. The leader can greatly facilitate
upward communication by conducting nondirective, confidential counselling sessions;
periodically administering attitude surveys; and holding exit interviews for those who leave the
organization. Much valuable information can be gained from these forms of communication.

3. Participative techniques. Group decision making can generate a great deal of upward
communication. This may be accomplished by the use of union-management committees,
quality circles, suggestion boxes, site-based councils, and the like.

4. The ombudsperson. The use of an ombudsperson has been utilized primarily in Europe and
Canada to provide an outlet for persons who have been treated unfairly or in a depersonalized
manner by large, bureaucratic government (Hyson, 2010; International Ombudsman Institute,
2009; Kucsko-Stadlmayer, 2009). More recently, it has gained popularity in American state
governments, the military, universities, and some business firms. Xerox Corporation
inaugurated the position in 1972, and General Electric followed shortly thereafter (Malik,
2010). If developed and maintained properly, it may work where the open-door policy has
failed.

5. The union contract. A prime objective of the union is to convey to administration the
feelings and demands of various employee groups. Collective bargaining sessions constitute a
legal channel of communication for any aspect of employer-employee relations. A typical
provision of every union contract is the grievance procedure. It is a mechanism for appeal
beyond the authority of the immediate supervisor.

6. The grapevine. Although leaders may be reluctant to use the grapevine, they should always
listen to it. The grapevine is a natural phenomenon that serves as a means of emotional release
for staff members and provides the administrator with significant information concerning the
attitudes and feelings of staff members.

In short, the upward flow of communication in a school organization is intended to provide

channels for the feedback of information up the school hierarchy. Some deterrents may prevent
a good return flow, but there are ways to promote more effective administrator-staff
communications.

Horizontal Communication Upward and downward communication flows generally follow the
formal hierarchy within the school organization. However, greater size and complexity of
organizations increase the need for communication laterally or diagonally across the lines of
the formal chain of command. This is referred to as horizontal communication. These
communications are informational too, but in a different way than downward and upward
communication. Here information is basically for coordination — to tie together activities
within or across departments on a single school campus or within divisions in a schoolwide
organizational system. Horizontal communication falls into one of three categories (Canary,
2011):

1. Intradepartmental problem solving. These messages take place between members of the
same department in a school or division in a school-wide organizational system and concern
task accomplishment.

2. Interdepartmental coordination. Interdepartmental messages facilitate the accomplishment of

joint projects or tasks in a school or divisions in a school-wide organizational system.

3. Staff advice to line departments. These messages often go from specialists in academic
areas, finance, or computer service to campus-level administrators seeking help in these areas.
In brief, horizontal communication flows exist to enhance coordination. This horizontal
channel permits a lateral or diagonal flow of messages, enabling units to work with other units
without having to follow rigidly up and down channels. Many school organizations build in
horizontal communications in the form of task forces, committees, liaison personnel, or matrix
structures to facilitate coordination. External communication flows between employees inside
the organization and with a variety of stakeholders outside the organization. External
stakeholders include other administrators external to the organization, parents, government
officials, community residents, and so forth. Many organizations create formal departments,
such as a public relations office, to coordinate their external communications.

Organizational structure influences communication patterns within an organization.

Communications flow in three directions—downward, upward, and horizontally.

 Downward communication consists of policies, rules, and procedures that flow from
top administration to lower levels.

 Upward communication consists of the flow of performance reports, grievances, and

other information from lower to higher levels.

 Horizontal communication is essentially coordinative and occurs between departments

or divisions on the same level.

 External communication flows between employees inside the organization and a variety
of stakeholders outside the organization.

3. Corporate Identity Audit: Concept And Steps

Corporate design is the most visible part of corporate identity. And corporate design is by
definition an instrument for transformation and, at the same time, a guarantee of continuing
corporate recognition. To follow that definition, when developing a corporate identity we have
to conduct a proper corporate identity audit.
Corporate identity audit steps:
+ step 1: select the audit team,
+ step 2: assess the key elements in the corporate identity,
+ step 3: determine who should be interviewed,
+ step 4: conduct audit interviews,
+ step 5: audit corporate identity factors,
+ step 6: summarize salient points,
+ step 7: determine the options for change,
+ step 8: present the audit results, and
+ step 9: use the audit data to improve the corporate identity.

4. Corporate Advertising: Concept and Functions

Corporate Advertising is a promotional strategy that is designed to not only interest consumers
in products and services offered by an organization, but also to cultivate a positive reputation
among consumers and others written the business world. The focus of Corporate Advertising is
on the company itself, with the attention to the products produced by the organization being a
by-product of the advertising effort.

The main function of corporate advertising is to generate and enhance a sense of confidence
and appeal among vendors and consumers. Depending on the exact nature of the corporate
marketing approach, the advertising may also be developed with an eye of enhancing the
reputation of the company among its peers in a community or within a given sector of the
marketplace. In any application, the idea is to build the most agreeable public image for the
corporation as possible.

Corporate identity audit is necessary because there are three laws of corporate design to be
followed. Corporate design namely has to assure:

 change, but sensible change,

 understanding that design is order, and
 repetition is power.
Unit IV: [Application of Corporate Communication]

1. Media Relations: Tools and Techniques, Media Monitoring and

Research (Gate keeping research and output analysis)

Media relations

Media strategies focus on circulating messages through media channels to manage how your
business is portrayed by the media. Your media tools might include releasing media statements
and fact sheets, offering on-site media tours to encourage journalists to report positive
messages about your business, and using social media to get the attention of journalists and
track journalists who report in your market.
By developing good media contact lists and building relationships with key journalists to pitch
media releases and story ideas to, you can use local, regional or state media to:
 promote your business
 manage risks, issues or crises affecting your business.

Advertorials

Advertorials are advertisements in the form of news stories or reviews in newspapers.

Advertorials allow you to associate your advertising with the credibility of the newspaper.
Many businesses employ advertising or marketing professionals to help them develop TV
advertorials - which are commonly used as a form of advertising and product placement.

Social media

Social media lets you bypass the media and go straight to your customers. Using social
networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allows you to follow and be followed by
journalists, drive web traffic, manage issues by responding quickly to criticisms or negative
perceptions, and increase exposure for your business brand.

Newsletters
Print or emailed newsletters are a good way to promote your business, communicate with
customers and keep them informed of new products and services.

Regular newsletters can strengthen your personal connections with customers and reflect your
business brand and personality. A well written newsletter offers information of value to your
customers.

Brochures and catalogues

'Take home' or mail-out brochures or catalogues can help keep your customers thinking about
your business and its products and services.

Properly designed brochures and catalogues give customers confidence in you and your brand,
and help drive customers to your website or store. Information contained in business brochures
and catalogues can be effectively reworked for your website, helping you do business online.

Business events

Events are opportunities for business people to gain exposure for their businesses, promote
new products or services and make sure accurate information reaches targeted customers.

From a sales point of view, events are a chance to counter customer doubts and build customer
confidence. They can also help you research your market and competitors, and build your
mailing list. Make sure you go to the event prepared with marketing materials to disseminate
and a way to collect information and customer details.

Trade shows are an opportunity for businesses to compete in their industry and share
information with people in similar lines of work. Learn more about promoting your business
at trade shows and exhibitions.
Speaking engagements

Speaking at events where customers are likely to attend helps position you as a leader or
innovator in your field. As a business owner or leader, building your reputation as an expert
also builds the reputation of your business - and draws new customers.

Events are valuable promotional opportunities even if you don't have top billing as a speaker.
You will build reputation simply by having your business name or logo on the event listing, or
delivering a presentation about a new product or innovation. Additionally, they provide
valuable networking opportunities.

Sponsorships or partnerships

Partnerships and sponsorships are good for business. Supporting a not-for-profit cause can help
build feelings of goodwill and loyalty towards your business. Community partnerships may
involve an exchange of funds or in-kind benefits to grow a local community organisation in
return for benefits that promote your business reputation.

Partnerships can help consumers identify your brand with good business practice and good
ethics.

Employee relations

Your staff are ambassadors for your business and brand. Many larger businesses conduct
employee relations - building their business culture and team relationships by sharing
information, promoting involvement and instilling a sense of pride in business achievement.
This can improve teamwork, staff retention and productivity, and ensure that staff are
representing your business consistently and with the right messages.
Community relations

Building good relationships with members of the community where you do business helps
build customer loyalty. Find out where the customers in your community live by collecting
postcodes at point of sale.

Engaging local stakeholders and decision makers helps build your profile and level of
influence, helping you to attract more customers through word-of-mouth and ensuring your
business interests are factored into community decision making.

Media monitoring is listening to who’s saying what about your brand, your competitors, your
industry, and any other topic that’s important to you and your operations.

2. Internal & External Communication: Concept and Tools

Internal communication is the transmission of information within an organization. Internal

communication is a lifeline of a business. It occurs between an employer and an employee.

It is communication among employees. Internal communication is the sharing of the information,

knowledge, ideas, and beliefs between the members of the company.

Internal communication can be formal or informal. It depends upon the persons to which we
are communicating. We use informal or not so formal language with our colleagues. The
language used while communicating the head of the company is formal.

Effective Internal Communication:-

 The open and clear reason for communication.

 Understanding the need of the audience.

 Consistent and regular communication.

 Clear, jargon-free, to the point, and brief language.

 Two-way communication.

 Good use of vocabulary.

Importance of Internal Communication

One can easily find the importance of internal communication. some of them are

 It increases productivity.
 Effective and responsive customer service.
 Easy attainment of goals.
 Reduce day-to-day conflict between team members.
 Enable fast response.
 Enable fast decision making.
 Helps in motivating the employees.

Common Internal Communication

 Group meetings.
 Company blogs.
 Employee training within an organization.
 Personal meetings.
 Telephonic conversation between employees.
 Inquiry of employee.
 E-mails within an organization.
 Staff communication.
 Company newsletter.

External Communication

External communication is the transmission of information between two organizations. It also

occurs between a business and another person in the exterior to the company.
These persons can be clients, dealers, customers, government officials or authorities etc. A
customer’s feedback is also external communication. An organization invests a lot of time and
money to improve their image through external communication.

Effective External Communication

One can easily find the importance of external communication. Some of them are

 Clear ideas, thoughts, and statement or the reason for communication.

 It must be two-way communication.
 Clear, error-free, formal, jargon-free, and easy language.
 Understanding the need of the audience.
 Proper choice of words for communication.

Importance of External Communication

 It presents a favorable image of an organization.
 It provides information about products and services to customers.
 Advertise the organization.
 Promote an organization
 Reduces the risks of mistakes.

Common External Communication

 Advertisement of an organization.
 Response to a customer.
 Press conference.
 Annual reports and letters.
 Print media.
 Face to face meeting of two organization heads.
 Tender documents.
 Brochures.
 Feedbacks.
 Questionnaire.

3. Guidelines and Ethics for Corporate Communication

The power to communicate with corporations' employees and customers carries

considerable responsibilities. Organizations including the International Association of
Business Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America develop ethical
standards essential for the professional communicator. The content varies by organization,
but the principles are the same

Honesty:-Professional communicators are honest, accurate and candid in all

communications. This practice encourages the free flow of important information in the
interest of the public.

Confidentiality:-Protecting the confidences and privacy rights of employees and customers

is the duty of professional communicators. Additionally, they must abide by legal
requirements for disclosing information that affects the welfare of others.
Credit:-When content is borrowed from another source, professional communicators give
credit and identify that source. In many cases, communicators must request permission from
the original source before sharing the borrowed information.
Free Speech:-Professional communicators support the principles of free speech and free
ideas. These practices encourage open competition.
Courtesy:-Sensitivity to cultural values and beliefs are crucial for the professional
communicator. It’s important to understand your audience and encourage mutual
understanding.

4. Crisis Management: Concept and Case Studies (Infosys Crisis and

Nestle Maggie)

The art of dealing with sudden and unexpected events which disturbs the employees,
organization as well as external clients refers to Crisis Management.

The process of handling unexpected and sudden changes in organization culture is called as
crisis management.

Need for Crisis Management

 Crisis Management prepares the individuals to face unexpected developments and

adverse conditions in the organization with courage and determination.
 Employees adjust well to the sudden changes in the organization.
 Employees can understand and analyze the causes of crisis and cope with it in the best
possible way.
 Crisis Management helps the managers to devise strategies to come out of uncertain
conditions and also decide on the future course of action.
 Crisis Management helps the managers to feel the early signs of crisis, warn the
employees against the aftermaths and take necessary precautions for the same.
Crisis management case study: Nestlé’s Maggi noodles banned in India
At the end of May 2015, India’s Food safety administration (FDA) ordered Nestlé
India to recall its popular 2-minute Maggi noodles after tests showed that the product
contained high levels of lead and MSG. This case study looks at how the situation
developed, and how Nestlé reacted and managed the situation using multiple digital
channels.
21st May 2015 – Indian state orders recall of Maggi noodle
Indian food inspectors order Nestlé India to recall a batch of Maggi Noodles from
the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh claiming that tests have found Maggi
instant noodles "unsafe and hazardous" and accused Nestlé of failing to comply with
food safety law.
Nestlé response
The initial response from the global FMCG Company rejected the accusation that the
noodles were unsafe and said on their website and social media accounts that there
had been no order to recall any products.
A statement on their website said that “The quality and safety of our products are the
top priorities for our Company. We have in place strict food safety and quality
controls at out Maggi factories… We do not add MSG to Maggi Noodles, and
glutamate, if present, may come from naturally occurring sources. We are surprised
with the content supposedly found in the sample as we monitor the lead content
regularly as a part of the regulatory requirements.”

“Dear MAGGI Fans,

There have been conversations on social media regarding the recall of your
favourite MAGGI Noodles. We fully understand your concerns and would want
to assure you that MAGGI is neither banned nor is there any order to recall the
product being sold in the market.

We would also want to reassure you that MAGGI contains no added MSG and
routine tests have consistently shown that lead levels in MAGGI are within the
regulatory limits.

Quality and safety of our products is topmost priority for us and you can
continue to enjoy your MAGGI Noodles without being concerned.
http://bit.ly/1JDT8zN
Regards,
Team MAGGI”