✅ Corporate affairs shifts from reputation management to strategic growth driver
Corporate communications, public relations, media and management insight
A new Deloitte report, Volatility and Value: A Study of Corporate Affairs Strategies, Structures and Operations in Time of Uncertainty, reports a significant shift in the role of corporate affairs within large organisations.
The study investigates the function's role from the perspective of corporate communications leaders and senior management. It's highly original and important because these are under-researched viewpoints.
Corporate affairs is the management function that incorporates corporate communications, internal communications and public relations. Definitions vary depending on market sector, operating environment and geography.
Deloitte describes the high-performing corporate affairs department as an organisation's "central nervous system," gathering information, sending signals, and alerting management to risks and opportunities. It's a useful metaphor.
I've set out some of the key findings and arguments from the report below.
Managing risk and building resilience
🌐 Risk management
Teams tackle complex risks, including geopolitics, regulatory uncertainty and reputational challenges.
🎯 ESG focus
Communication strategies are shifting to specific, business-critical ESG topics.
Exploring the relationship with management
🤝 C-Suite integration
73% of corporate affairs directors now sit on executive committees, up from 66% in 2022.
📈 Strategic growth
Corporate affairs is evolving from reputation management and corporate storyteller to a key driver of strategic growth.
The journey to functional excellence
📊 Value demonstration
There is increasing pressure to quantify the impact of corporate affairs on business performance.
🔄 Internal engagement
Change management and employee engagement are priorities. The latter is prioritised over external communications on polarising issues.
Future competencies
🧠 Emerging competencies
Data insights, business acumen, and integrated communications planning are important competency areas for practitioners.
🤖 AI adoption
There is a cautious but growing interest in AI applications for corporate affairs.
The 70-page report offers much to learn about modern corporate affairs practice. I’ve posted a longer analysis on the Wadds Inc. blog.
Have an excellent week.
Research
🚧 PAY GAPS PERSIST: PRWeek UK's 2024 Pay Gaps Report shows limited progress in addressing agency gender and ethnicity pay inequality. While more agencies submitted data than in previous years, the biggest firms remained absent. Some positive trends emerged in gender representation at senior levels, but ethnic minority staff saw a slight decline in senior roles and pay growth. Source: PR Week.
👩💼 MISSING WOMEN: If you want to help drive pay equality, today is your last opportunity to contribute to a study that aims to understand why women are underrepresented in senior public relations roles in the UK. If you’re a woman working in public relations or have left the industry, your input would be welcomed. Source: Socially Mobile.
🚫 BRAND SAFETY: New research by Stagwell suggests brand safety concerns in news advertising are misplaced, potentially costing the media industry significant lost revenue. The study of 22,116 UK adults found that advertisements placed next to hard news topics performed as well as those next to "safer" content, challenging the argument that news is an unsafe environment for advertisers. Source: Stagwell.
Industry
🌟 PR BLOGGING THRIVES: Thanks to Vuelio for naming the Wadds Inc. blog as the top UK PR blog in its annual ranking alongside Rachel Miller, Ronke Lawal, Neville Hobson, Dan Slee, Amanda Coleman and Jessica Pardoe. It’s also good to see the Famous Campaigns, Comms2Point0 and the UK Black Comms communities listed. Social media and platforms come and go, but blogging has an enduring quality. Source: Vuelio.
🔍 AGENCY EXPOSÉ: Clean Creatives has published the 2024 F-List containing the names of 1,010 fossil fuel contracts held by 590 advertising and public relations agencies. The list aims to encourage transparency and change in the creative industry, highlighting the conflict between agencies' work for polluters and growing concerns about climate change. Source: Clean Creatives.
Management
🌿 SUSTAINABILITY RESET: Cambridge researchers argue ESG efforts are insufficient. They call for a new mindset, viewing sustainability as an economic imperative and urging businesses to drive systemic change and compete on sustainability performance to accelerate progress towards a sustainable future. Source: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
📉 SOCIAL MOBILITY STAGNATION: The Social Mobility Commission's annual report spotlights low public confidence, a younger generation doing worse than their parents (especially in terms of pay, progression and housing) and regional inequalities. It recommends shifting from national to place-based strategies to address local opportunity gaps. Source: Social Mobility Foundation.
📤 DELIVERY AS A DISCIPLINE: New leaders often face difficulties in implementing their agendas due to systemic inertia, vested interests and the complexity of operations. A Tony Blair Institute for Global Change paper sets out four key elements for delivery: political agenda, policy priorities, delivery mechanisms and communications. Source: Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Artificial intelligence
🤖 AI CLICHÉS: ChatGPT and other AI writing tools are leading to an overuse of stylistic words and phrases. It results in repetitive, monotonous text that lacks personal touch and can be harder to understand. Solutions include being aware of repetition, asking tools to use clear language, careful editing and customising AI settings. Source: The Conversation.
🔄 OPENAI RESTRUCTURE: OpenAI is planning to restructure its core business into a for-profit benefit corporation, removing non-profit board control. CEO Sam Altman will receive equity for the first time in a company potentially worth $150 billion. This move aims to attract investors and could impact how the company manages AI risks under new governance. Source: Reuters.
🎙 AI HYPE FIZZLES: The excitement about the ability of the Google NotebookLLM to generate a conversational podcast from a document has been quick to fall away. Users have reported the AI tool arguing with itself, promoting fake news and in one instance having an existential breakdown after the AI-generated hosts realised that they weren’t human beings. Source: Reddit.
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