Strategic
Communications: the Whole is Greater Than Its Parts
| When
it comes to effective strategic communications, marketing and reputation
management the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Effective
strategic communications or public relations should help move a company or an
organization forward toward its strategic and business goals. More
than ever you cannot put a price on reputation.
So, it's very important that communications is more than the logo, or
the slogan or the newsletter. It takes a holistic view across an
organization and its inside and outside stakeholders. It
helps an organization reach people more effectively through all the noise and
clutter out there. We are all on information overload and so we are much
more likely to listen to those we view as reliable, trusted sources of
information. A logo, a company's colors, a tagline, marketing
materials, are more effective if they mean something (it comes from a trusted
source, it covers information you are interested in) as well as looks good, is
relevant and reads well. You can have the greatest brochure ever but if the people you are trying to reach never see it or aren't inclined to read brochures what purpose does it serve? | We
aren't in the propaganda business -- you can't just load a plane full of flyers
and then buzz a city dropping leaflets everywhere. Effective
communications and marketing needs to be integrated, two-way and consistent --
the most successful communications relies on everyone being in the loop and
helping people understand how different ideas tie together. Communications
is a key integrator and can help answer fundamental questions like: Why
are we doing this? Why
is this important? And, of course, The
tactics, the how or the means by which you reach people, needs to come from the
purpose -- the what you are doing, and the why you are doing
it. |
Effective Communications
= M-Powerment