Communication agencies have moved on from simply managing their clients’ reputations to guiding organisational resilience and playing a role in the business bottom line.
It takes a forward-thinking business to understand that strategic communicators should have a seat at the boardroom table. Our discipline has been evolving since the 1940s and today is not a mere tactical support function, to be called upon once the strategy has already been set, but rather sees practitioners engage with communication teams from the start to ensure all courses of action align with the organisation’s mission and values.
While many of the rules from the old PR handbook still apply, today’s modern strategic communicator must plug into advanced analytics and strategic planning to understand audience dynamics. It is no longer just about press releases, media tours and crisis control – our role is to empower boards with insights, influence policy decisions, and shape investor perception through purpose-driven storytelling and stakeholder engagement, with the end goal of growing a resilient organisation.
In today’s volatile business environment, with scrutiny from all sides – regulators, members of the public and stakeholders – communications must be embedded in a company’s strategy from day one. Gaining this level of trust from the C-Suite won’t happen by nature – it must be nurtured. Perhaps more than any other department, communications teams must be able to quantify our work through credible measurement. No longer are we judged by column inches alone, we need to talk leads generated, sentiment shifts and stakeholder support which in turn result in better organisational outcomes, such as a share price which doesn’t decline during a crisis.
Once strategic advisory teams have proved themselves indispensable to the leadership team, we become a vital cog in the engine room – part of the business, rather than just part of the brand. We are responsible for guiding resilience during crisis – be this political instability, a pandemic or a product recall – as well as internal culture, ESG positioning and risk management. We must ask the difficult questions but also bring calm through reassurance in troubled times.
In South Africa, the stakes of transparency and influence are high, and many companies have borne the consequences of broken consumer trust, through leaked memos, racially-insensitive adverts or poor service. As communicators, integrity, timing and tone are our North Star. Strategic communication comes to the fore most when it comes to shaping policy and public affairs. PR professionals can help organisations enter the policy discourse not just as commentators, but as experienced role-players that can offer up valuable evidence.
In keeping with global trends, South African communications agencies must move beyond transactional, day-to-day media relations and into long-term strategic counsel that considers how communications intersects with risk and strategy.
At Resolve, we regard ourselves as partners to our clients’ businesses, helping to align reputation with strategy with the end goal of driving business growth. In a political and economic environment where one reputational misstep can kickstart a national debate or result in regulatory action, the opportunity to shape perception is one that must not be missed.
Lauren Cohen
Account Director
