Stories or structure? Trends and developments in (digital) Communication

Stories or Structure?
Trends and developments in
(digital) Communication
Translation & adaptation of my
presentation for Yacht Noord Nederland
28 september 2013
Luc de Ruijter
Sunday 29 September 2013

Reflection
Historians tend to reflect (and I am an historian by education)
What is the perception of change in the Communication
domain?
The bigger picture: crises
Trends
Digital connections
Accountability

Reflection
Improving as a professional starts with asking questions
The Digital (Communication) Revolution forces
communication professionals to change
What are our ambitions in change?
To tell the story (of what is changing)?
or
Realizing change in Communication?

Whiskey is a dog

Whiskey is a dog
And not all dogs are called Whiskey
Media are communication
But is all communication media?
No
Most communication is happening
outside the media:
participation, collaboration, interaction
Most communication management is media however

Whiskey is a dog
Communication < Information
What is our perception of Communication?
What is it we are looking for online, both as internal and
external users?
What drives our online behaviour?
So what drives the behaviour of our colleagues and clients?

Whiskey is a dog
What is our focus in digital Communication
Editing and presentation?
Logistics and functionality?
Are we dealing with
Virtual shopping windows?
The digital warehouse?

Revolutie isn’t rebranding
Current crises mark a period of profound, revolutionary
changes
Thomas Sankara, the “Che Guevara” of Burkina Faso, my country of residence at the moment

System crisis

System crisis
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/06/26/the-origin-of-the-worlds-dumbest-idea-milton-friedman/
It’s not only Communication
as a domain that’s in crisis

Ecological crisis

Ecological crisis
News value
Short term
Media values
Effects

Ecological crisis
News value
Short term
Media values
Effects
Sustainable value
Long term
Key values
Return

Ecological crisis
News value
Short term
Media values
Effects
Conventional Communication
media focus
Sustainable value
Long term
Key values
Return

Reputation crisis

Communication crisis
New communication environments, new players, new roles
End of media monopolies (and monopoly driven influence)
Confusion amongst media managers about what to do
Tendency to rebrand old communication
With recurring problems with conventional communication
issues, e.g. recognition by management and accountability

Question
What exactly is the focus in the Communication domain?
Rebranding or changing?

Some Trends

Reputation
From trust us (thought from the sender perspective)
To show us (asked by the user/client)
License to operate
Note: Old reputation management is shared owner of the
reputation crisis
Will old style reputation management change anything in the
plummeted trust in reputation messaging?

From Corporate Brands to Employees as a Brand
From What’s in it for the business?
To What’s in it for me?
From webmanagement
To webgovernance
BYOD
Employees as a brand
http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/2013-trends-in-digital-com

Digital transparency forces the removal of all kinds of
communication curtains that belong to the Paper Era.
Intranet and website are “open kitchens”
Open creates trust: seeing is believing
Sending messages creates distrust
Engaging and interacting creates empathy
Communication becomes
communicating

The proof of the pudding is in the eating,
not in the packaging (or the promise)
Messages offer promises;
websites and apps offer and create real experiences
Make complexity easy
Move from Big Bang (one time event)
to Long Wow (the daily experience)
The experience economy
starts only now

Internal Communication

Most internal communication happens in collaboration,
amongst colleagues
When ‘the communication in a project wasn’t good’, the
‘communication’ problem has nothing to do with messages
and media
Internal communication processes are an increasingly
important factor for creating and maintaing a positive
external perception of a brand or organisation

Digital collaboration is more than just implementing IT(!)
Collaboration as a Long Wow = a very strong message
Make collaborating easy (eg. by BYOD)
Business platforms = new focus for Communication
Employees interact with information
Information forms the relations in each network

The network connects
People in a network connect themselves (they don’t need
messages that tell them to connect)
Modern professionals (and clients/users) are self reliant and
independent
The connection between users doesn’t need conventional
communication interventions
Make connecting as an interactive activity possible
and don’t spend words or messages on it

Information connects
Having more systems and the newest media gadgets doesn’t
help connectivity. They tend to do the opposite: more media
create more silo’s
Move from (having) more media to (creating) better (meta)
information structures
Move from the presentation to the logistics of digital
communication
Facilitate interaction processes instead of controlling ‘the’
message

Question to ask yourself as a communication professional:
Where is it I can create communication value?
Which are the (communication) challenges of my employer?
Adding communication media and content products?
Facilitating better collaboration and information processes?
Accountability

It all starts with asking (yourself) questions
Fact: The Digital Revolution requires professionals in
communication to change
So what direction is it you prefer?
Telling stories about (how others need to) change?
or
Changing the ways we interact as a community?
Reflection

Luc de Ruijter
www.linkedin.com/in/lucderuijter
@lucderuijter
www.lucderuijter.nl
http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/author/luc-de-ruijter/
http://www.managementsite.nl/auteurs/luc-de-ruijter
2007 2010 2010 2011 2013
By far most of my publications
are in Dutch

Stories or structure? Trends and developments in (digital) Communication

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Destaque

Destaque (8)

Semelhante a Stories or structure? Trends and developments in (digital) Communication

Semelhante a Stories or structure? Trends and developments in (digital) Communication (20)

Último

Último (20)

Stories or structure? Trends and developments in (digital) Communication