As the World Turns
Last week's announcement that MCI WorldCom would indeed buy Sprint Corp. for $129 billion - the biggest corporate merger in history - provided more evidence that it's not a small world after all. Rather, economies of scale are changing as M&A's continue to spawn celestial-sized corporate offspring that span the globe.
The big question for PR agencies is how to best serve the needs of planetary clients in the volatile, but gold-laden international arena. This was the subject of a presentation made by Robert Druckenmiller, CEO of Porter Novelli International, at the recent ICO summit in Lucerne, Switzerland. The event, held Sept. 23-25, was billed as the "World's First Congress for Leaders of International Public Relations Consultancies."
Varied Perspectives
Druckenmiller spoke with PR execs from 24 leading international corporations in preparation for the summit meeting, and from those conversations determined that agencies' efforts to remain globally relevant are being challenged by the fact that no two corporate clients think alike or set the same priorities for global communication. Case in point: Oracle's Margaret Lasecke claimed that financial PR was the area to watch, given the increasing power wielded by individual investors. Meanwhile, Ted Smyth at H. J. Heinz named media relations as a primary hot-button issue. "The power of media stories is far greater now than it used to be," Smyth said. "What we say in one market will probably be picked up in another market. So a good idea.that is compelling for readers can succeed around the world."
In yet another pre-summit conversation, MCI WorldCom exec Mark Weeks stressed to Druckenmiller the importance of local branding on a global scale. In the telecom industry, Weeks said, marcom must be presented in a local context, even if the core messages are essentially the same wherever the company operates. "In order to succeed as best we can in France, we have to be seen to be competing with France Telecom, which means being in the same terms of reference as France Telecom," Weeks explained. "Having said that, the MCI WorldCom business proposition, the character and style and objectives of the business, are common on a global basis."
Universal Concerns
Despite variations in global PR concerns, Druckenmiller noted there were some commonalities in the feedback he received (more than a few execs named reputation management and brand building among their top priorities). As such, he synthesized his findings and expertise to offer the following predictions regarding global communications in the near future:
- Centralization vs. Decentralization. While outreach efforts targeting media, advocacy groups and public officials will remain decentralized (i.e., local), the industry will see a continued strong centralization of investor relations, public affairs and issue management functions at corporate headquarters. Corporate brand management will be increasingly centralized - particularly where the core brand is important to the company's consumer marketing efforts.
- Technology. The industry will see continued growth in the use of technology and the Internet to facilitate global communications. While [intranet] audio and video conferences will serve as the first line of defense in managing cross-border communications, face-to-face meetings will remain a critical key to effectiveness. He noted that Disney hosts a PR summit every year, assembling representatives from around the world to discuss how global issues may affect brand reputation.
- Measurement. Creative incentive programs will proliferate as corporations strive to measure and reward cooperative international efforts tied to global communications plans and goals.
- Agency Roles & Expertise. Agencies will continue to provide leadership in managing global accounts through core offices, but they will also serve as brokers that bring together the best people to serve clients - regardless of the agency name on the door. Agencies also will be forced to invest more in training and development across borders. While Polaroid's Ann McCarthy, expressed an increased comfort level in outsourcing international work to agencies, she added that, "agencies can no longer afford to have all of their bench-strength in the center, and be staffed with weak 'executors' in [other] countries."
Biggest Barriers
Druckenmiller also asked corporate communicators to cite what they saw as the biggest barriers to globalization. In response, they pinpointed restrictive management structures, scarce resources, a paucity of talent, and technological shortcomings. But above all, the near-unanimous verdict was that "mental" barriers most often stymie efforts to create seamless worldwide communications. "Our biggest challenge is to get people in the United States to think globally rather than to just be focused on U.S. media and U.S. public relations strategy," said Baxter's Jill Carter. And this is a roadblock that'll take more than bridges and bandwidth to fix. (Porter Novelli, 212-601-8028).
New Scope, New Titles
What do you call a global communicator? Druckenmiller's conversations with 24 leading corporate clients revealed that international PR execs are now using titles such as:
- Global Public Affairs Officer
- VP, Worldwide Communications and Investor Relations
- Executive VP of Corporate Relations and Communications
- Global Brand Director