Tag: Public Affairs

The evolving practice of EU public affairs

When we discuss EU public affairs, we tend to gravitate towards the issues and the politics rather than the practice of public affairs itself. Fret not, this isn’t another post waxing lyrical about AI. It’s the result of a fun little exercise for a client that is reviewing its public affairs set-up and requested our view on top-line trends in several markets. I contributed to the EU one and was kindly given permission to share a redacted version here. If you note any glaring omissions, do let me know (I’ll pass it on to the client and confess that the internet knew more than me ).

Mastering the political and the technical

With ever more decisions being made in expert groups, public affairs professionals with a high degree of technical knowledge thrive as much as ever. Paradoxically, policymaking is also more political than ever. This is driven by the types of issues handled in Brussels, coupled with a political Commission, a relatively activist and engaged Parliament, and member states that are highly engaged at the EU level to respond to their publics. This shift represents a challenging new discipline for many professionals accustomed to a Brussels that was solely apolitical and technical: an environment beloved by policy boffins where deep expertise on legislative detail was the only currency.

Navigating capitals

As implied, with member states aggressive in the defence of their own positions, much power has shifted to national capitals, especially in larger countries. EU public affairs professionals must now navigate a complex world of party politics, public sentiment, and national media. But it’s not all political at the national level: the prevalence of comitology means delegates flown in from member states are usually key players in the policymaking process, rather than Brussels-based diplomats. So, the boffins still get to practice their craft in capitals too.

A focus on value creation

While still largely a defensive shield to protect business from regulatory threats, public affairs professionals are increasingly being judged on how far they can help the business grow. Given the proliferation of EU funding schemes and the (relative) easing off of large-scale regulation packages, value creation is arguably more important than value protection for many corporate public affairs operators in the EU.

Changing media landscape

Some media players have figured out sustainable business models, allowing them to have more journalists on the ground in Brussels covering more issues. For public affairs professionals, this invariably means more opportunities for media relations. While it’s probably easier to get some form of coverage, the balance between high-quality and sensationalist coverage has changed. It may be easier to garner attention, but it’s harder to generate high-quality coverage that confers greater legitimacy.

Fewer siloes

It is increasingly rare to see a brief asking for just public affairs or policy communications. The two are now usually integrated, giving rise to a channel-agnostic approach. Most organisations have (thankfully) stopped obsessing over specific channels and instead think in terms of objective, people and message, underpinned by a clear strategy (not all, by any means).

A seat at the table

As politics and policy represent an ever-greater existential threat and opportunity to business, we see a shift in where public affairs sits within corporate structures. While by no means ubiquitous, the most common model is public affairs being part of a corporate affairs function that is C-level or one level removed from it. We are also seeing fewer public affairs functions sitting under legal, even in heavily regulated industries.

Process professionalisation

I will not mention AI given the deluge of far better-informed opinion out there, but rather, highlight the digital transformation we are seeing around processes. The widespread uptake of digital platforms to manage public affairs programs (like Quorum, Fiscal Note, and Ulobby) is driving a major improvement in how professionals operate. Managing data, activities, and intelligence gathering in a single, integrated system leads to greater efficiencies.

The evolving role of the consultant

With in-house teams growing and technology commoditising several activities, the role of the consultant is evolving. While they still provide a scale that in-house teams can not always muster, their most valuable contribution often involves advising on complex horizontal issues (like trade or tax) that cut across many sectors, where in-house professionals may lack the requisite experience. Their experience across various organisations also allows them to advise on the management and improvement of the public affairs function itself: management consulting for public affairs, if you will. Several of the briefs I receive certainly involve elements of this, far more so than in the past. And to the point about member states, consultancies that cover several European markets are able to provide the scale required to manage complex programs that in-house PA teams cannot handle alone.

As ever, if I’m missing anything, let me know and I’ll gladly add.

Policy communication: from noise to constituency

The term policy communication is becoming fairly prevalent in Brussels. While it means something else in most other places (communicating about policy to publics), in the bubble it refers to utilising a range of communications activities to support an organisation’s policy goals and build political capital.

Two factors explain why policy communication is on the rise: the need for noise and the need to build constituency (AKA a group of people with shared interests or political opinions).

The need for noise

There are more issues on the agenda than ever before. Competition for attention is, as a result, higher. Generating noise (no negative connotation implied) is therefore useful for those seeking to get noticed and remembered. In other words, organisations should – usually – strive for message repetition across several channels. 

Organisations seeking to influence the Brussels machine are getting more expansive on this front. I’ve recently seen briefs for ambitious out of home (outdoor) advertising and multi-market broadcast media campaigns aimed squarely at affecting policy. 

This is all good, if an organisation’s challenge is lack of awareness and understanding. It very often is. I’m delighted that organisations are getting more ambitious and professional, and dare I say, creative, in how they approach policy communication in order to raise awareness and understanding.

But having said all that, awareness and understanding is often not the challenge. “Policymakers just haven’t heard our message,” we keep hearing. Actually, they have, in scores of meetings, at events, and plastered across Politico and social media. But they don’t care, because no influential or sizeable constituency supports the organisation or sector in question.

The need to build constituency (support)

There are not just more issues on the agenda in Brussels. They are also more ‘political’ in nature given greater EU competency on issues that are inherently political, from climate to health. 

In a sense, the ‘bubble’ is no more. What the proverbial woman and man on the street thinks really matters. We’re even seen that bastion of technical policy making, the Commission, being driven more by politics than ever before.

In practice, it means that organisations seeking to influence Brussels need to demonstrate that they have the support of sizeable and/or influential constituencies. It makes no political sense for policymakers to offer support without constituency, no matter how good an organisation’s message is. We tear our hair out when organisations insist on word-smithing press releases or tweets read by 5 people in Brussels, when their challenge is lack of support amongst key constituencies, usually beyond Brussels.

In other words, organisations should therefore be using policy communication (or whatever they choose to call it to) identify, build and mobilise communities of support for their public affairs activities, rather than just repeat the same message to the same audience.

Organisations are more likely to win over policymakers if they can demonstrate support amongst communities in which they are important employers. Or from lots of people in a profession that relies on the product or service they provide. And so forth. Far more than their lobbyist leading a war of attrition in which they repeat an ineffective message across 7 channels over and over.

“Ah but we do that already”, I hear. “We quoted an academic in proof point 12 and a consumer group expressed support once.” Yes, of course we’ve always identified and leveraged relevant others in the public affairs profession. But not at scale, or with a view to building NEW or BIGGER communities of support that can actually help shift the political tide. 

At Rud Pedersen, we work with NationBuilder, the global leading tech provider for political campaigns, to run public affairs campaigns that look a bit like political campaigns. We try to identify publics that will be affected by an issue but may not know it. We inform them (AKA policy communication) in order to build a community of supporters (even if just a few hundred people). We encourage them (if they so wish) to write letters, make calls, inform their communities, attend meetings and events, or at least to provide testimonials and case studies. 

If trying to shape an issue that is highly political in which ‘demonstrating public support’ is an essential determinant of success, this type of activity is essential.

Yet it remains a tough sell in Brussels. “Let’s just commission another report that AGAIN proves that we’re right and then make lots of noise about it.” You may be right, but it doesn’t matter if no one likes you. 

So in summary: noise is great, and done well, usually makes one more likely to succeed. But if the challenge is political viability, not just awareness or understanding, being more ambitious about building political constituency is key to success.

10 commandments of the PRACTICE of public affairs

In public affairs, subject matter tends to be so complex that we spend most of our time making sense of information and its implications. 

Understandably perhaps, but it does mean we spend less time thinking about the actual practice of public affairs itself. 

At Rud Pedersen, where I work, we clearly know that deep knowledge of sectors, issues, stakeholders, and the political process are paramount. But in parallel, we’d like everyone here to think consistently about the principles and best practices of public affairs, in order to deploy that knowledge most effectively. 

To that end, we have drafted 10 basic commandments to consider when conducting EU public affairs, which lay out some of those principles and best practices. Many are pretty simple and probably applicable to other professional services, but they do help to set a baseline.

1. Thou must not neglect any of the 4 Ps

We must always ask ourselves the following, and ensure we apply a suitable balance of the 4Ps depending on the challenge at hand. The 4Ps are reflected throughout the other commandments.

  • People: Who are the people involved? What motivates them? How do they relate to each other?
  • Policy: What are the relevant public policies? What is the debate? How are they likely to evolve?
  • Politics: What are the motivations of the different groups? What do they want to achieve? How can we help them?
  • Process: What happens next and when? Where are the opportunities for engaging? Which moments will be deciding?

NB: we believe Barry Lynam came up with 4 Ps of public affairs. Thanks Barry.

2. Thou must always be able to make a clear business case

In corporate PA, we must be able to articulate the business benefit that we can bring. A business case usually involves one of two things: 

  1. Risk mitigation e.g. defending a product, commercial freedom, licence to operate. 
  2. Opportunity creation e.g. creating competitive advantage, access to markets, funding. 

3. Thou must not mix up objectives, strategy and tactics

These form the core of a public affairs plan, but are often mixed up.

  • An objective is a specific, intended outcome that is measurable and time-specific. It indicates a change like “increase support for position X among priority audience Y by 100% within six months.” 
  • A strategy is a specific, limiting choice as to how we will meet that objective, say “differentiate organisation based on market power in an important constituency” or “leverage groups x, y and z.” 
  • A tactic is a specific action to support a strategy e.g. meet a decision-maker, publish a report, host an event. 

4. Thou must be channel agnostic

The most effective channel will depend on issue salience, timing, the activities of other stakeholders, and scores of other factors. But we are channel agnostic: we will never inherently favour one over another. A stakeholder meeting isn’t inherently better than a social media plan.

5. Thou must understand what influences decision-makers

Drivers of influence depend on many factors, like party or personal predilections. But there tend to be five overarching triggers of influence, although which of these is most relevant depends on the issue at hand: 

  1. Quality of technical input that can help legislators in their work. 
  2. Being perceived to provide credible solutions to pressing challenges.
  3. Proof of economic or societal impact.
  4. A high-quality coalition or network with well-regarded actors fighting the same battle.  
  5. Proof of popular support amongst important constituencies (wide or narrow).

6. Thou must appreciate that Brussels has become more political 

Brussels deals with more files of public interest, we have more pressure groups, a more engaged citizenry, a Commission that seeks democratic legitimacy, and a more powerful Parliament. More than ever, public affairs plans should reflect a demonstrable public interest angle.

7. Thou must understand how personal values affect opinion 

All people (including policy-makers, for they are human too) have personal values that dictate choices. We must understand these and reflect them in our narrative: is the person we are speaking to left-leaning, moderate, or conservative? Messages must, where feasible, reflect the values of those you are targeting as well as your own position and behaviour. A fine balancing act.

8. Thou must try to get in early 

Early detection and activity is far more desirable than getting involved late, as it enhances the likelihood that one may shape a policy, rather than just optimise it at a point where it is developed and public. Do not just look at what’s on the agenda this year and next but think about what might happen 5-10 years from now.

9. Thou must understand how we measure public affairs

It is often difficult to measure success in public affairs as it is usually long-term in nature, involves multiple actors, and activities are not transactional and therefore inherently harder to measure (how does one evaluate a meeting?) But it is measurable, and we should do our darnedest to assess our work.

10. Thou must mix up large-scale and day-to-day activities

Key to success is usually to mix up appropriate larger scale, ambitious showpiece activities (Strasbourg fly-in, key thought leadership report, major event, launch of initiative) and day to day drumbeat activity (intel analysis, stakeholder engagement, material production, media and social media relations) if and when relevant. Clearly, the balance will depend on the challenge at hand.

Wonder what others think?

Using Zoom doesn’t make us ‘digital’

We’ve perhaps been a bit quick to congratulate ourselves in public affairs (and other fields no doubt). Being forced to work remotely has meant we’ve shifted meetings and events to the virtual realm. And we’ve realised it’s pretty doable and we probably should have done it more in the past.

But the self-satisfied back patting (of the virtual sort) is not entirely warranted. We’ve not magically embarked on and completed wholesale digital transformation, by any stretch. 

Embracing digital is not simply about shifting offline activity online. Meetings and events done online remain meetings and events. And arguably poorer ones, in most cases. The situation now reminds me of a few years back, when lots of us thought we were ‘doing digital’ and were great at social media, when all we really did was use it as a replacement for print ads or direct mail. Many of us still do.

Truly embracing digital involves using online means to drastically enhance or scale up activities, not simply replace offline activity. 

In public affairs, the following three areas of digital arguably represent wholesale change far more so than doing stuff remotely:

  1. We can now do advocacy in a highly targeted and methodical manner, and at far greater scale than ever before using data and digital. In Brussels, as issues handled become more political, being able to build, demonstrate and harness support from relevant constituencies is key to success. This is done most effectively through digital. 
  2. We now have a bunch of AI-enabled methods to vastly enhance the quality of intelligence gathering and analysis. We are able to determine public sentiment and likely public responses to policy positions in single constituencies by distilling social and other data. We can also predict positions and coalitions of policy-makers positions more quickly and efficiently by analysing, for instance, past voting behaviour and public statements – at the click of a button. 
  3. Last but not least, digital platforms built specifically to manage public affairs programmes allow us to oversee issues and stakeholders in one place. Consolidated information enhances efficiencies: it saves time and reduces pointless duplication. And it can make us much better. Improved knowledge of what everyone else is up to within an organisation will invariably help raise levels towards the highest common denominator. 

Controversial perhaps, but some of us may even have regressed, convinced we’ve ticked the digital box because we’ve hosted scores of Zoom meetings and spoken on a webinar. Thinking we have is a disservice both to public affairs, which is a far broader and more complex discipline than a bunch of meetings and events, and in particular digital, which should be transforming industries like ours, not just allowing us to do the same old stuff a tad differently. 

Communications in EU Public Affairs: 3 levels of maturity

Brussels is not a particularly mature market for communications. While changing, the media landscape is underdeveloped, and with publics based in member states and traditionally detached from the Brussels machinery, generating and harnessing popular support has tended to play second fiddle to technical policy tinkering.

Perhaps, this makes sense. If one looks at the drivers of influence in public affairs, the quality of technical input remains the key determinant of success. Given that more issues are now being handled at expert group level than before in Brussels, one might argue that it is more important than ever.

But if we look at the other levers of influence, it becomes clear that different methods are needed to shift the proverbial pin on policy. While public affairs folk bicker over what drives influence, most agree that the following drivers are significant:

  • Being perceived to provide credible solutions to pressing challenges defined as political priorities.
  • Having a high-quality coalition or network with well-regarded actors fighting the same battle. Coalitions and networks need not be large in terms of market size: having many legitimate actors can beat having a few big actors on-side.
  • Proof of economic impact. In PA circles we often hear that ‘jobs and growth’ is so overused and defined so arbitrarily that no one cares. Not so. Good, credible data on jobs and growth is very handy indeed.
  • Proof of popular support. A tad paradoxically, given that EU decision-making has become more technical, it is also more political, with EU policy-makers and regulators eager to cement their democratic legitimacy by siding with popular sentiment.

Clearly, which of these is most relevant depends on the type of issue at hand. Lobbying in support of road safety measures or a highly scrutinised chemical will demand different methods. And timing is crucial. If a vote is imminent or a policy is not yet even on the political agenda, different tactics will be applied. But generally, any organisation looking to influence politics and policy will need to position itself towards policy-makers and their circle of influence by demonstrating solutions, market power, credible allies, or popular support; and often to generate popular support amongst key constituents through external environment shaping. In an age of vicious competition for attention coupled with significant mistrust and apathy, positioning and external environment shaping are very challenging indeed. Both call for first-rate communications.

The 3 levels of maturity

In terms of overriding communications strategy for public affairs, organisations have many options. An organisation (or whole industry) that is considered old-fashioned but is actually highly innovative might try to reposition itself to avoid punitive legislation. A company that is marred by the actions of others in the same category but actually operates differently, could look to differentiate itself. But whatever one’s overriding strategy may be, the tactics at one’s disposal remain the same.

And it is in communications tactics in particular that Brussels players have tended to limit themselves to basic awareness raising measures rather than thinking more broadly across three categories that we outline below: amplification, advocacy, and integration with marketing-communications functions.

Amplification is the most comfortable starting point for public affairs professionals applying the broader communications toolkit. It principally involves targeting policy and political messages at policy-makers and their circle of influence through means other than direct advocacy. Tactically speaking, we are talking media relations targeting publications preferred by policy makers or their circle of influence. Or social media to converse with them. Or paid media to push content directly at them. Or search engine ads or out of home ads shown where they are likely to come across them.

This is 101 stuff, yet essential: there is a finite number of meetings one can have; and moreover, message repetition across multiple channels is a prerequisite for recollection and trust-building in any sphere of communication.

But while most of these tactics may appear ordinary, we would never claim that amplification is easy. There is a lot of competition in communications-land and the vast majority of content is ignored or fast forgotten. Amplification efforts need to be professional, creative and on strategy: they should respond to an audience’s interests, needs or values; and must delight, interest, or be of use. And again, speaking tactically, Brussels needs to evolve. Dull press releases expressing delight should perish, replaced with media relations that might actually result in coverage. Instead of dull talking heads videos or blog posts peddling tired case studies, we might wish to try producing excellent content, and maybe even have a go at experiential content creation using VR and 360° video.

Rather than being a starting point, amplification is often the end-point for many EU public affairs professionals doing communications. Which means hardly any of us conduct ambitious ‘advocacy’.

NB: we apply the US definition of advocacy: identifying and mobilising supportive individuals and organisations, so that they might ‘advocate’ on one’s behalf.

While we have been doing some forms of advocacy in EU public affairs for years but calling it things like key opinion leader mobilisation or grassroots campaigning, we have tended not to do it in a highly targeted manner, nor at scale.

The logic behind advocacy is clear: get a credible 3rd party to make the case for you and the legitimacy of your efforts are enhanced. Standard examples include pharmaceutical companies working with patients, or agri-chemicals companies with farmers, or any organisation mobilising employees and citizens in their communities.

The principle behind advocacy – the need to build and demonstrate public support from key groups – is appreciated in EU circles. Some Brussels-based organisations that represent scrutinised industries are even running ambitious campaigns aimed at shifting hearts and minds. But frequently these are traditional one-way campaigns with no mechanism to get involved and build community. But to have any hope of ‘shifting the narrative’ in 2019, scrutinised organisations should look to build a motivated base of advocates who can be called upon to inform and mobilise their networks, lobby in their own constituencies, lead local campaigns – and even be brought to Brussels to lobby.

Advocacy can be more targeted and impactful than ever before through data and digital, and yet we are choosing not to up our efforts, usually because we do not know how, or think it would not work in the EU because of GDPR. Across the pond, most organisations engaged in policy-shaping are using modern strategies and tools to identify potential advocates in target constituencies, and subsequently engaging and mobilising AT SCALE. And they are winning because of it. This is not a fad. We estimate that in ten years, advocacy budgets will match or surpass those spent on ‘traditional’ public affairs. But adoption amongst corporates in the EU so far remains paltry.

Last but not least, better integration with marketing and communications functions is increasingly key to success. Public affairs should be a fundamental part of the marketing-communications mix. It often is, with some public affairs functions even now reporting to CMOs, and many at least sitting in the same building (if not team) as marketing-communications folk.

But why should this matter? The key area is corporate reputation tied to sustainable development goals. Companies are expected to contribute, and many want to or at least acknowledge the need to. 181 CEOs of members of the US Business Roundtable lobby group recently signed a declaration that ends with the following: “Each of our stakeholders is essential. We commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies and our communities.”

While the risk remains that some activity may descend into CSR fluff or at worst greenwashing, many companies choose to go down the path of genuine shared value initiatives, where commercial goals overlap with societal benefits. It is not naïve to note that when the Green Deal was announced recently in Brussels, most companies were genuinely excited about the tight knitting of sustainable development to economic opportunity, which is the hallmark of the programme.

Where does marketing-communications (with PA) fit in? Certainly not to sell a company’s great deeds to an adoring public. Ideally, its role should be far more strategic: to track and gauge public sentiment to help set and realign strategy; and to identify actors with shared goals, build networks, and engage in ongoing, mutually beneficial activities.

This is where the public affairs function can and should really play an essential role. It is the best placed function to understand and engage with non-commercial stakeholders – like policy makers, civil society organisations, and international organisations – that are key actors in the political and social sphere. In other words, public affairs will help to ensure that a company’s efforts respond to real-world needs, and as the key interface vis-à-vis most non-commercial stakeholders, help it become a credible player in the coalitions and networks that will dictate and drive sustainable development.

Many public affairs professionals tend to underestimate the potential that communications has to help organisations meet their policy and political goals, with most stopping at amplification. But given the importance of public sentiment in policymaking, coupled with the complexity of wider problem-solving, in which organisations are expected to participate, most public affairs professionals could step up their efforts in advocacy and integration. They might even have some fun along the way.

Beyond influencer engagement in Brussels

I drafted a post last year on online influencer marketing/engagement, which I’ll build on here. The premise remains that influencer engagement to support public affairs activity in Brussels can be a fairly futile exercise.

Why? Organisations conduct online influencer engagement in order to gain greater visibility and credibility by being ‘endorsed’ by someone influential. But the Brussels bubble is tiny. By extension, the degree of separation between a target and oneself is also tiny. So it’s quite easy to reach a policy-maker. Anyone who has worked in politics nationally always stresses how much easier it is to get a meeting with policy-makers in Brussels than any national capital. The same is true online: visibility is not overly hard. What’s harder is gaining trust and support, so I’d argue that it makes more sense for an organisation to itself be influential by being relevant, useful and interesting online, rather than hoping to amplify its message through others.

Moreover, people who have a substantial following online in Brussels tend to be generalists, while influence on most issues can only be gained by someone with at least a modicum of technical expertise.

I am not dismissing the practice of influencer engagement. While puerile Instagrammers are making influencers less appetising in consumer marketing, it is gaining ground in the more cerebral communications disciplines like public affairs, corporate communications and B2B. Indeed, it is often the most impactful tactic for building online reach and credibility in these disciplines.

But as mentioned, in Brussels, credibility, gaining trust, and standing out from the crowd tend to be the real challenges, not visibility. Therefore, looking to create better content should probably be the focal point online, not seeking the endorsement of influencers.

Having said all that, there is an influencer angle in generating better content: involving experts in content creation. Think pharma companies teaming up with patient groups to co-create content, for instance. I’d argue this is the more impactful approach to ‘influencers’ in a market like Brussels: not treating influencer engagement as an extension of media relations – as a means to get a 3rd party with a big audience to endorse you – but rather, collaborating with people who are influential in a niche in order to enrich your communications output.

3 scenarios for digital public affairs

How can digital means of communications most effectively be used to support a public affairs programme? As with much else, it depends.

A handy starting point is the type of public affairs activity once is conducting: is it technical work on the nitty-gritty of specific legislation; is it building political capital through positioning and relationship-building; or is it public opinion shaping and mobilisation (what our American friends would call grassroots)?

The diagram below (which is a re-design of a previous model) aligns activity with need and key tactics. As ever, comments are very welcome, as I’m not sure I’ve got the model right yet (some people have questioned leaving out social media from the third category, for instance).

Digital public affairs

Wishful thinking in communications: three myths

I’ve heard the following lines in numerous guises over the years.

“We need to avoid the slippery slope”

If opponents are trying to eliminate or seriously hinder your license to operate, they usually try to chip away at it, one step at a time. Think alcohol: opponents may want to ban it, but stepping stones towards a ban include marketing bans and the like. Organisations get this, and term it a “slippery slope”. Their approach is thus to forcefully oppose every step of the “slippery slope”. Which probably seems like the only sensible thing to do. But the truth is, once you’re on a slope, there is no way back UNLESS you reduce the number of people who oppose your right to exist. Fewer foes, more friends. And belligerence aimed at stalling every instalment of a slippery slope will mean more foes and fewer friends, and no return from the slippery slope in the long-run.

“We just need to get our message out”

This might sometimes be the case. But it over-simplifies the environment in which we operate. If you get your message out… Criticism will cease? People will like your more than the competition? People will think you’re truly innovative or sustainable and should get favourable treatment? Investors will come flooding? Perhaps, but unlikely. Focusing purely on message dissemination avoids more pertinent things that need to be thought through first. Why have you not got your way? Why are others more popular? What do they do differently? What do people really think? Who are your friends and foes? Is this really a communications issue or is it systemic? It also diminishes what might be achieved through communications. “Get the message out” implies that people simply need to be made aware. But communications can go deeper than that: it can drive action and advocacy which are far more powerful than a mere message.

“We need to change the narrative”

When the public/media narrative is against you, it makes sense to want to change it. But this implies that it is possible to “change a narrative” through communications. It isn’t, usually. An oft-heard story in Brussels involves a lobbyist for a sugary drinks manufacturer insisting that their industry should seek to shift the narrative from the danger of sugar to the danger of dehydration. Good luck with that. “Changing the narrative” through communications is a fallacy: it implies attention spans are so short, or that people care so little, that they will simply shift between viewpoints having seen a marketing-communications campaign. If the narrative has been determined, trying to shift it without changing behaviour is nigh on impossible. Moreover, attempting it smacks of dishonesty, or avoiding responsibility. Best to address narrative X head-on, however challenging. Only then might the narrative begin to shift, slowly.

Public affairs: learning from marketing

Heard recently in Brussels:

A senior public affairs professional was hoping to convince a bright young graduate to join his agency. She had just completed a round of placements at several communications agencies that were part of the same larger holding company. Being very talented, she had the pick of the bunch. But she was torn between a marketing agency and our friend’s public affairs agency.

He gave her a call to seek to persuade her. “Name your dream client”, he asked. “P&G”, she replied. Makes sense: big budgets, iconic brands. At which point he asked her: “what would you rather do for P&G: sell detergent, or defend their right to exist?”

Now clearly, Mr Public Affairs was selling his discipline and agency, so the bravado (or breath-taking arrogance) should be seen within that context. He is bright enough to know that not all public affairs is quite so existential as defending a license to operate. And that marketing is about building markets, without which there is no business. Hence a tad bigger than “selling detergent” implies.

Nonetheless, his question does reflect where some public affairs practitioners believe they sit in the hierarchy of communications disciplines. Which is a shame, as they are less likely to think that they can learn from others, like marketers.

So what do marketers tend* to do better than public affairs practitioners?

* We’re generalising here: there are plenty of poor marketers and impeccable public affairs practitioners.

Focus narrowly

Ask a public affairs professional what their objective is and they’ll invariably give you ten. No one can meet ten objectives. Their output will reflect those ten objectives. Diluted and confusing, it is less likely to work. Marketers are taught to narrow down on a single-minded proposition: the one most important characteristic of their product or service, and to build their communications around it. Many marketers ignore this tenet, while others have a poor proposition, but generally, they’re better at it than public affairs folk.

Follow a rule-book (roughly)

The practice of marketing is more codified than public affairs. There is a rough rule-book of best practice which people follow, just about. Sure, some follow it badly, and others follow an outdated rule-book, but by and large there is some method to the madness, be it: following a process from market analysis through to execution; defined roles and responsibilities; measurement tied to ROI. Most public affairs professionals, however talented and successful, will have their own definition of public affairs and take on how it should be done. Which means there is no general acceptance of what best practice is. Cue: unnecessary disagreement on process, and poor practitioners getting away with delivering bad work because the bar has not been set high enough.

Outcomes over outputs

Marketers who fail to help sell their product will be out of a job. Most public affairs practitioners will keep their jobs even if they fail to meet the public policy objectives they have been set because their ‘outputs’ are in themselves quite challenging. The following can quite easily be sold as results in themselves: developing relationships with important policy-makers; building coalitions with organisations who are not necessarily friendly; staying on top of complex policy developments and ‘translating’ these for the business; producing meaty positions. Might some public affairs professionals be more successful if they were more accountable for a genuine end-goal, like (most) most marketers are? Probably.

Seek to understand target audiences

Public affairs professionals spend too little time figuring out what their audiences really want or need from them. How many  inspect VoteWatch.eu? Or simply ask: “what would make you support us” OR “what can we do to make your life easier?” Or leverage public sentiment by conducting polling? As far as I can gather, not enough. Market/customer research is compulsory in marketing. It’s no doubt done badly in many instances, but no marketer would ever ignore it entirely.

Differentiate output depending on audiences

Following on from the previous point: some public affairs professionals fail to adapt their message to their audience. Whether speaking to a Finn or a Greek, or a left or right-wing politician, or officials with different portfolios (enterprise vs. environment, say), their message remains the same. Marketers will vary their pitch depending on where a person is in the customer journey i.e. someone who has never heard of you vs. a recent customer vs. a loyal customer will be treated differently, in terms of tone and ask. Again, plenty of marketers get it wrong no doubt, but the principle is at least pretty ubiquitous.

p.s. the clever graduate joined the marketing agency.

You don’t need a digital strategy, you need a communications strategy

It could be argued that ‘digital strategy’ is a misnomer in communications. Why? Because digital strategy should stem from an overall strategy. And strategy – defined simply as HOW to deliver against an objective – is inherently bigger than just one channel.

Common strategies in communications for public affairs ends (and beyond) might be: positioning your organisation based on a certain trait; focusing very narrowly on a specific locale or audience segment; distinguishing yourself from the competition based on something you do differently; or leveraging a certain person (e.g. a leader) or group of people (e.g. employees or an influential 3rd party constituency).

None of these strategies can succeed if delivered on a single channel.

There are of course considerations that relate to digital when developing strategy. One’s choice of strategy may involve a heavier dose of digital if a programme goal is more likely to be achieved through online means e.g. think many grassroots or public rebuttal programmes.

There are also specific decisions that need to be made around digital delivery, which can be deemed strategic considerations, such as: channel selection; tone of voice; who communicates on behalf of the organisation; or the extent to which to engage publicly.

But the bottom line is: actual communications strategy, and the steps that lead to it (especially audience and environment analysis, and alignment of business/organisational goals and communications goals) should ALWAYS be channel agnostic.

“Digital strategy” leads to communication strategy

Having said all that, we should not scoff entirely at the notion of digital communications strategy, for a few reasons.

  • As alluded to above, digital can affect one’s choice of strategy, so communications strategy needs to be developed by individuals with a decent understating of the medium.
  • As also alluded to above, there are numerous strategic considerations to ponder in relation to how a communications strategy should be delivered online.
  • Most interestingly perhaps, digital strategy development often drives better overall communications strategy. Why? Because ‘traditional’ communications programmes often get away with ignoring essential initial planning phases (audience and environment analyses etc.) Digital is often (but not always) scrutinised more, meaning it requires more pre-planning and ‘proof’ that it reflects real-world needs. And in my experience, this planning often makes up for the lack of it in developing many ‘traditional’ programmes.