Stay alert and on deck
Noteworthy: Even times of consolidation call for systematic communication. This newfound modesty has its limits.
Column Even times of consolidation require systematic communication. The new modesty has its limits After the hype surrounding the "new economy", a new, restrained style of communication prevails in many companies today. Those who provide analysts and journalists with less firewood also produce less fire. First show (good) results, then communicate, is therefore the new rule of life for new bosses. As a result, some shooting stars have long lists of interview requests that are not being answered. Josef Ackermann from Deutsche Bank seems to hold the record in this respect. It starts with the fact that not every executive appearance requires a stretch limousine or three BMWs from the latest seven series. Sports sponsorship will also continue to play its part, but that doesn't mean you have to fly a hundred journalists to the Tour de France in the Spanish mountains. And television advertising will remain the big mass attractor, but an intelligent radio and Internet mix will also do for interim phases.
However, the clock cannot be turned back. We live in an economic world with a growing capital market orientation; around every corner there is a smart-aleck analyst with big ears. Non-governmental organizations and pressure groups have gained power and communicative reach; their arguments can no longer be shrugged off. And competition in our mediatized world is shifting more and more from production to communication. Where goods are becoming more and more equal in quality, you have to talk more than before, and sometimes louder or more shrilly.
It would therefore be a childish mistake for company managers to think that they can behave like fishermen who only have to fish every other day.
Take the pipe out of your mouth for hours to spit it out. Issue management remains in demand and necessary. And it works all the better the more the top management and the boss himself are involved. Today, campaigns come from outside, are precisely targeted and require quick, precise reactions. That's why every company's communications department must cultivate long-term relationships with allies, anticipate possible attacks and offer its reference groups (the stakeholders) convincing offers of dialog in advance.
The public does not need to know the nickname of the head of communications, nor does it need to know his various cell phone numbers. But the public does need to know that the company in question has a professional corporate issue management system, that anyone who asks questions will get answers straight away and that the company is prepared to defend itself. Of course, in times of consolidation, other, more discreet communication methods are required than in a phase of unconditional expansion. However, anyone who imagines that communication can be more or less suspended during a consolidation phase is mistaken. Because lulls are particularly suitable for mutinies. So the guards have to stay on deck.
> Peter Glotz was Federal Secretary of the SPD and a member of the German Bundestag until 1996. Today, the professor teaches communication management at the University of St. Gallen.
However, the clock cannot be turned back. We live in an economic world with a growing capital market orientation; around every corner there is a smart-aleck analyst with big ears. Non-governmental organizations and pressure groups have gained power and communicative reach; their arguments can no longer be shrugged off. And competition in our mediatized world is shifting more and more from production to communication. Where goods are becoming more and more equal in quality, you have to talk more than before, and sometimes louder or more shrilly.
It would therefore be a childish mistake for company managers to think that they can behave like fishermen who only have to fish every other day.
Take the pipe out of your mouth for hours to spit it out. Issue management remains in demand and necessary. And it works all the better the more the top management and the boss himself are involved. Today, campaigns come from outside, are precisely targeted and require quick, precise reactions. That's why every company's communications department must cultivate long-term relationships with allies, anticipate possible attacks and offer its reference groups (the stakeholders) convincing offers of dialog in advance.
The public does not need to know the nickname of the head of communications, nor does it need to know his various cell phone numbers. But the public does need to know that the company in question has a professional corporate issue management system, that anyone who asks questions will get answers straight away and that the company is prepared to defend itself. Of course, in times of consolidation, other, more discreet communication methods are required than in a phase of unconditional expansion. However, anyone who imagines that communication can be more or less suspended during a consolidation phase is mistaken. Because lulls are particularly suitable for mutinies. So the guards have to stay on deck.
> Peter Glotz was Federal Secretary of the SPD and a member of the German Bundestag until 1996. Today, the professor teaches communication management at the University of St. Gallen.
