The role of the Corporate Communication Director or Chief Communications Officer is gaining more weight in organisations, combining various strategic functions from managing some key intangibles, such as brand and reputation, to communication Marketing is not effective and no longer yields expected results, advertising has become trite and ineffective, traditional public relations fail to reach new audiences and digital communities, communication tools used by companies in the past lost a good part of their capacity to generate value and are no longer useful for companies because the rules of the game have changed. This document was prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership and contains references, among other sources, to the statements made by Joan Costa, an expert on communication, design, sociology, profesor of the University of Mexico and a member of the Corporate Excellence Board, during the panel discussion titled “Communication Innovations in Business and the Mass Media”, organised at the Faculty of Information Sciences, Complutense University in Madrid, on April 10, 2012, and his book “El Dircom hoy” (Communications Director Today) published by CPC Editor.

1. Books
Strategy Documents
L02/2012
Communication
The Present and the
Future of Communication
Director’s Role in the New
Economy
The role of the Corporate Communication Director or Chief
Communications Officer is gaining more weight in organisations, combining
various strategic functions from managing some key intangibles, such as brand
and reputation, to communication.
Marketing is not effective and no longer yields Such is the approach chosen by Joan Costa, an
expected results, advertising has become trite expert on communication, design and sociology,
and ineffective, traditional public relations fail and a University professor. An approach that views
to reach new audiences and digital communities, organisational values and their manifestations
communication tools used by companies in the in the form of attitudes, behaviour and actions as
past lost a good part of their capacity to generate the basis and substance of differentiation produced
value and are no longer useful for companies by the brand and recognition associated with the
because the rules of the game have changed. reputation of a company.
Many of the strivings, hopes and expectations that How we have arrived here
the society used to pin on political and religious The role of the Corporate Communication Director
institutions, are now associated with businesses. has gone through many changes since the 80-90s,
That’s why a good CCO (Chief Communications when in some countries, including Spain, this
Officer) needs to find out what society wants from function assumed the important task of developing
his or her organisation and provide a quick and integration and global vision of all issues faced by
effective response to these expectations by internal companies.
and external alignment of the organisation.
This document was prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership and contains references, among other sources,
to the statements made by Joan Costa, an expert on communication, design, sociology, profesor of the University of Mexico and a
member of the Corporate Excellence Board, during the panel discussion titled “Communication Innovations in Business and the Mass
Media”, organised at the Faculty of Information Sciences, Complutense University in Madrid, on April 10, 2012, and his book “El
Dircom hoy” (Communications Director Today) published by CPC Editor.

2. Managing But if one had to single out one reason for the Figure 1: The five areas of identity / image
Communication in clear rise of the role of Communication Director in
the Framework of
the New Economy: organisations, it has to be the impressive growth of
the Present and telecommunications, IT and exponential increase of
the Future of information flows brought about by these changes. Area of the Area of
Communication
Director’s Role This resulted in the decline of the idea of division word visual sign
of workflows, separation of processes and dissipation
of relations. Technologies and economics have been
developing hand in hand since the 70s, leading to
the decline of industrialism and a mechanist vision
Area of Area of
of the company and the society.
environment behavior
The death of taylorism and its best student, fordism,
was a fertile ground for the holistic view of the
Area of the
​​
company “for” the society – as opposed to the view objects
of the company “versus” the society – as predicted
by the experts on industrial organisation on the
80s, such as Jens Rasmussen from Denmark, who
Source. Costa, Joan (2012): El DirCom hoy.
suggested the idea of organisation as a living system,
or business strategist from North America Richard
In their turn, these spheres correspond to three areas
“If one had to E. Freeman, the author of the stakeholders theory.
that jointly describe the new action ground of the
single out one Communications Director of today, although still CCO:
reason for the not in all organisations, is someone in charge of top
executive tasks of the company, a decision-making 1. The area of institutional communication:
clear rise of member of the Managing Committee, responsible related to the top management and
general view of the company.
the role of not only for communication, but also for the
business in general, whose mission is to align one 2. The area of organisational communication:
Communication with the other in order to create more value for the related to HR and internal culture.
3. The area of market communication:
Director in company, that then will be shared with the society.
related to commercial activities as well as
organisations, it From periphery to the centre of interaction with the market and clients.
has to be the the decision-making process
In this context Joan Costa quotes the famous
This trend is confirmed by the growing role of the
growth of new CCO at the time of developing strategic global
saying of Pascal “I cannot understand the whole
without understanding its parts, and I cannot
technology, vision of the firm, that would integrate external
understand the parts without understanding the
stakeholders of the company and cut across the
IT and whole organisation, against the background of
whole” to emphasise the need for this function
to be polivalent and polifunctional, able to
exponential managing and promoting intangible assets and
understand and align the entire organisation,
overcoming limitations of the function that used
increase of to come down solely to information relations and
at the same time acting not only in the area of
business, but integrating it in the society.
information relations with the mass media.
flows” Responsibilities such as reputation, corporate 12 new principles to guide
brands, CSR, business ethics, organisational culture, the activity of the CCO
business vision, sponsorship and patronage clearly go As it has been mentioned above, the new focus
far beyond the traditional functions and shift CCO of the Communications Director’s role in general
towards a new concept where tactic and short-term is determined by the changes in the organisations
activities are carried out by his or her team, leaving and the impact of technology on business
him or her the responsibility and time to focus on transformation. However, to be more specific, the
activities associated with long-term value. focus is due to a set of new principles that drive
corporate activities, 12 in total:
Therefore, Communications Director operates in
five different spheres, from the ones traditionally 1. The return to a strong corporate structure
associated with this function to the new ones as opposed to divisional structure.
that emerged recently, passing through the whole 2. Greater emphasis on talent and knowledge
universe of communication: as opposed to mechanistic approach.
3. The need to involve the employees
1. Sphere of the words rather than use them as resources.
2 Sphere of the symbols 4. The importance of interpersonal relations
3. Sphere of the objects as opposed to centralisation.
4. Sphere of the environments 5. The importance of uniform organisational
5. Sphere of the behaviours culture as opposed to fragmentation.
Books 2

3. Managing Figure 2: The areas of communication
Communication in
the Framework of
the New Economy:
the Present and Presidency
the Future of
Institutional Communications
Communication
Corporate Relations
Director’s Role Corporate Image
Corporate Development DirCom
Organizational Communications
Corporate Culture
Internal Communication Human
Marketing
Resources
Marketing Communications
Advertising
Trade promotion
Branding
Communication Direction
Source. Costa, Joan (2012): El DirCom hoy
6. The culture of service and attention to ever are the true basis for financial achievements of
individuals as opposed to industrialism. a company, regardless of its sector or activity.
7. Commitment to total quality rather
than to product quality. Conclusion: companies want to be
“Companies 8. The rise of intangible assets and their value
brands, products turn into services.
want to be as opposed to emphasis on tangible assets.
9. Construction of the public image
The new concept of corporate communication
brands, and rather than its projection.
management has to be viewed in the current business
context and the relationship that exists now between
products 10. uilding institutional reputation rather
B
than emphasising business reputation.
companies and the society. Instead of fighting,
turn into 11. he role of ethics in behaviour of companies
T
companies now cooperate with the society, markets
and persons when it comes to creating value.
services. as opposed to short-term vision.
12. mplications of social responsibility
I The paradigm shift implies a more holistic and
This is the as opposed to egoism. integrated role of the CCO due to the fact that
result of These principles were shaped by the society
communication is no longer a one-way street, it
has become interactive. Another reason is the
the mindset and economy of information, and in their turn appearance of new action principles that make
shift, where are bringing about the society and economy
of reputation thanks to the current levels of
companies reinvent the function and consider it
from a strategic and global perspective.
the stratgic transparency, requirements and control – a direct
becomes consequence of the factor analysed before, the
explosion of information. They are therefore a
Companies want to be brands, and products turn
into services - this is the new reality and scenario
more reflection of the new economy. And in this new that we are facing today. This is the result of the
important economy, communication management is looking
for its new role and place in the organisations.
mindset shift, where the strategic becomes more
important than the tactic, the whole more important
than the than the partial, the personal more important than
tactic” The importance of this role is determined by the
drive of companies to recover their social role in
the artificial, the creative more important than the
imitation, the close more important than the far,
addition to the economic function and to develop the human more important than the mechanic.
a long-term view in addition to the usual concern
about survival and success in the short run. This
trend leads to the rise of the communication
function, which apart from establishing relations of
the organisation with its environment, including its
internal stakeholders, will turn this relationship into
the main source of value, connect the organisation
with its reality and expectations and based on that
will develop a new meaning of being a company.
Thus the main function of the Communication
Director or the CCO is not only to make these
principles compatible with economic requirements
– turnover, margin, profit and dividends – but also to
demonstrate that these principles today more than
Books 3

4. Leading by
reputation
©2012 Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership
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