CORPORATE

SURVEY

With broader responsibilities and increased C-suite access,

the corporate communicator’s prominence continues to rise
 Beyond a
seat at
the table
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

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

32/prweekus.com/October 2010
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 changed
No 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-
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
ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITIES
Which 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%

58%
tinuing challenges also include how to measure the impact Issues advertising 54%
and success of PR and communications, as well as how to Marketing research & analytics 49%
have more alignment and integration with marketing. Product/brand advertising 48%
Sachs says the past 18 months to two years has seen cite budget
Direct marketing 46%
constraints as one
further alignment between PR and marketing. “From a CRM 39% of the three main
corporate communications perspective,” she explains, “it’s Other 14% challenges that
getting broader exposure within the organization and is Base: 191 cause them the
being seen as driving not only reputation, awareness, and most job stress
all the key metrics we typically associate with PR, but also
as a driver and contributor to business results.” CAUSES OF JOB STRESS
Companies define the alignment between marketing and What three challenges cause you the greatest stress in your job today?
communications differently, but mainly it is when the two 100
disciplines work closer together, providing more consistent
messaging and branding. For James Boyd, VP of PR for the 80
Americas for Singapore Airlines, that is a main reason to
increase alignment within marketing and communications. 60

“The biggest asset this company has, outside of its

40
people, is the brand, one that has been consistently and
meticulously honed over the last three decades,” he 20
says. “Our activities are coordinated and we are aligned
as much as we can, where it makes sense. Our goal is to 0
Budget Managing Keeping up Keeping up Crisis Staff cuts Retaining Agency Develop. Other
build and maintain the reputation of Singapore Airlines.” constraints internal with social with trends preparation and turnover/ company’s
silos/depart. media in industry/ (or lack of) attracting problems environ.
This idea of alignment is informing the structure of corp- divisions innovation sector staff commit.
orate communications teams. At the start of 2009, BMW
Base: 191

October 2010/prweekus.com/31
 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.
“In order for PR to be at its
most effective, it simply has
to report up to the ceo“
Gil Schwartz, CBS
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
REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
Has there been more attention Has this increased attention been due to any of
on reputation management by the following?
the C-Suite in your company
over the last 12 months?
100
Yes
80
60
40
20
No
0
Changing Faster Growth Stock Greater Activist Other
public pace of of blogs market/ regulation pressure
percept. news financial
of my cycle comm.
Base: 191 industry pressure
32/prweekus.com/October 2010
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.
RECENTLY ADDED RESPONSIBILITIES
What 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
Employee communications
9%
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 REPUTATION
Are you feeling under more or less pressure now to be the
guardian of your company’s reputation than you were feeling
12 months ago?
More pressure
About the same
level of pressure
Less pressure
Base: 116 Base: 191
 “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-
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%
REPORTING STRUCTURE
To whom does the most senior global marketing person
in your company report?

paredness and management,” says H&K’s Sachs, “and 80

those functions really should be reporting to the CEO.”

Looking at the reporting structure for the communica- 60

tions department, 36% of respondents say PR sits within

corporate communications and, while it interacts with 40
marketing, there is no reporting line from PR to market-
ing. Twenty-three percent report that PR and corporate 20
communications are totally integrated into marketing, and
14% say some elements of PR are integrated into marketing 0
and some elements sit within corporate communications. Chairman/
CEO/pres.
COO Chief
comms
CFO Head of
human
Other

Additionally, 12% say marketing is completely integrated officer resources

into the corporate communications function. Base: 191

Improved alignment REPORTING STRUCTURE

Sachs sees several reasons for this increased alignment among To whom does the most senior global PR/public affairs
person in your company report?
companies, including an increased importance placed on
reputation by the C-suite, social media, and how repu- 60

tation affects sales and a company’s bottom line. In fact, 50

61% of respondents say more attention is being paid to
40
reputation management from the C-suite over the past year.
“Social media is one of the biggest contributors, but the

61%
30
bigger contributor is this concept of reputation affecting 20
brands,” she notes. “It’s not just about social media; it’s about
how consumers and other audiences are engaging with the 10 report there is
more attention
brands across different disciplines and media channels.” 0 paid to reputation
Chairman/ CMO COO Head of General CFO Other
Social media is another element that is adding to inte- CEO/Pres. human counsel management
resources
gration, as both marketing and corporate communications from the C-suite
are fighting to take the lead in this constantly growing
Base: 191
over the past year

Singapore Airlines: approach to measurement

James Boyd, the VP of PR for the looks at FlyerTalk, an online
Americas for Singapore Airlines, community for frequent flyers,
calls measurement “the $64,000 to gauge how customers are
question within the industry.” interacting with the brand. It
When the company introduces also watches “with hawk-like
new products or a special deal precision,” the annual surveys
or fare, it uses a specific code to in Condé Nast Traveler and
keep track of how it spreads. Travel & Leisure.
“PR will be the only means of “The surveys ask travel-related
communicating,” he explains. questions of people who are very
“This gives us the ability to solid travelers, long-term travel-
track exactly how many dollars ers, sophisticated travelers,”
changed hands based on the says Boyd. With these third-party
communications.” industry surveys, the airline can
On social media, the company also see where it ranks compared
uses Twitter and Facebook and to other competitors.

October 2010/prweekus.com/33
 say they also have a blended team, but with people who “Increasingly, we’re looking at new tools in the social
are interested in social media, regardless of their depart- media space, and also more market-mixed modeling-type
ment, and 7% report they have a team with some people methods, where we can start teasing out the effect PR
from specific departments and some who are just interested has on the business results,” Sachs says of how H&K is
in social media. using social media with its work with clients.
Ryan Donovan, senior director of corporate communica- Measurement is one issue that still perplexes corporate
tions, Web, and brand for SanDisk, says social media should communicators. Proving ROI for PR and communica-
fall to the corporate communications team because “we’re tions initiatives can be tricky, but is often the way they are
responsible for the reputation of the company and social able to secure budgets and funding.
media really is reputation-centric.” CBS’ Schwartz says his company measures success “by
Corporate communications also has the pound,” and analyzes media coverage, hoping for more
experience running long-term agendas column inches for good news and product launches, and
and messaging that lends itself to this fewer column inches for the controversial stories.
world of social media that is going Another communicator, who leads North American com-
beyond campaigns, Sachs says. munications for a global company, but preferred not to be
“If you’re going to engage on social named, agrees: “A lot of what I’m doing in the issues space
media channels,” she adds, “you have is very measurable. You’re able to clear a hurdle or avoid a
to understand it’s not a one-off hit, major challenge to the brand.”
it must be something sustainable.”
But social media is not just affecting A variety of measures
integration, it also requires more time All communicators agree that it’s not just about the quantity
and resources from already resource- of media coverage, but also the quality.
strapped teams. It must constantly be “We try to measure PR success as many different ways
monitored, not only for news and com- as we can,” says Michelin’s Mann. “We look at traditional
ments about a company or brand, but measures like ad equivalency compared to PR spend. But
also for the latest and greatest social we also look at audience numbers. We look at qualitative
media tools. 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.”
“If you’re going to engage on Afexa’s Michaels notes that he looks at media impres-
social media channels, it must sions, but then analyzes the tone, how much the company
was featured, and whether it was mentioned in a relevant
be something sustainable“ outlet, like a medical segment or publication.
MaryLee Sachs, Hill & Knowlton 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%
Donovan agrees the challenge with social media isn’t say getting in or staying out of key media outlets, 51% say
always about who owns it, but more about how it truly consumers’ or customers’ perceptions, 40% say Web traffic,
impacts the brand and the company’s performance. and 34% say sales, which is how BMW measures.

44%
“We know people want to engage and are relating to “Sometimes the messages and elements of long-term
the brand,” he says, “but we have to figure out how we strategy can’t be so on-point to help you move products,”
translate that to revenue?” BMW’s Kowaleski says, so working with marketing can
report that the And while new tools, such as the iPad, are joining combine consistent messaging with daily sales success.
corporate comms
team spearheads
the ranks of Facebook and Twitter as necessary for
the company’s a company, social media also lends itself to helping
social media vision companies with measurement and analyzing how con- MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS
Which of the following do you have in place for measurement
and strategy sumers perceive them. of PR effectiveness?
In-house team prepares regular monitoring/clip report 52%
ALIGNING DISCIPLINES PR agency prepares regular monitoring/clip report 40%
Which of the following activities do you have in place to align the PR/comms and
marketing personnel in your company? In-house team conducts Web analytics 39%
60 In-house team conducts media analysis 38%
50 Clipping agency prepares regular monitoring/clip report 28%
40 Web agency/Web analytics firm conducts Web analytics 28%
PR agency conducts media analysis 24%
30
Research firm conducts survey/polling 20%
20
Research firm/media analytics agency conducts media analysis 17%
10 PR agency conducts Web analytics 13%
0 PR agency conducts survey/polling 11%
Formal, regular Ad-hoc Ad-hoc Each group’s Common intra- Joint objectives Joint objectives Other
meetings to
set up and
meetings/calls
as needed to
meetings/calls
to monitor and
objectives are
shared with the
net (or other)
space and/or
are set with joint are set without
reward systems joint rewards Other 5%
review plans deal with issues review progress other group common e-mail based on success
as they arise distribution lists Base: 191 Base: 191

34/prweekus.com/October 2010
Staffing: social media
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).

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-
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%
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 optimism
Most 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.
IMPORTANCE OF ALIGNMENT
Is achieving alignment between the corporate comms and
marketing functions an issue today in your company?

Perceptions of employees 41%

Web traffic 40% No, it is not an issue
because we do not
Yes, it is a big issue
because we are not
consider alignment
Quantity/quality of events, speaking placements 39% to be a priority
satisfied with the level
of alignment between
the two functions
Sales 34%
31%

82%
Quality of stakeholder relationships
Perceptions of financial community 28%
Perceptions of industry analysts 25% No, it is not an issue
Yes, it is an issue, but
because we are satisfied
we are making progress of respondents
Industry scorecards 17% with the level of alignment
on reaching our desired
level of alignment set aside 10%
Other 9% or less of their
budgets for
Base: 191 Base: 191
measurement

October 2010/prweekus.com/35