Communications must produce
business results:
Communications programs
are tools, not goals. Communication is not an end
in itself. Great headlines mean nothing if they
do not help achieve business objectives.
Strategies
that work don’t come off the shelf: No two situations are ever quite the same;
one size does not fit all. Specific communications
plans, proposals, and solutions must be crafted
based on substantial firsthand knowledge of individual
situations.
A small group
shapes perceptions: Twenty, perhaps thirty, opinion leaders
establish the prevailing public attitudes on almost
any topic. Identifying these individuals is central
to the preparation of any communications program;
reaching them early is central to its execution.
Research works: People deeply involved in a situation
don’t always see it clearly. And the conventional wisdom is as often
wrong as right. Fresh, dispassionate research into the needs and attitudes
of target audiences is often critical to effective planning.
Short and simple is what's
remembered: People tend to recall, and act on, only
three sentences’ worth of content. Reducing
complex issues to simple themes isn’t
easy. But it can be done. And it works.
The best way
to persuade is still one-on-one, face-to-face: Getting your message out in the mass media
is often useful and sometimes necessary. But people
are most responsive to direct personal contact.
Highly personalized communication may not be cost-efficient.
But it is effective.
Audiences are interconnected: Investors. Employees. Customers. Competitors.
Regulators. Communities. Media. What happens with
any one usually affects the
others. Good communications programs address the needs of all affected constituencies.
Taking the initiative
is normally the winning strategy: People are most likely to believe the first
account they hear about any situation. When there
are differing positions, the first participant to act or speak has the advantage in credibility and in
setting the terms of the debate that follows.
