Edelman: The Future of Corporate Communications

Edelman: The Future of Corporate Communications

Edelman’s Future of Corporate Communications study examines the current state, evolution and future orientation of corporate communications in today’s multi-stakeholder world. For this, a survey of 218 C-level or senior communications executives at Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 1000 companies was conducted, along with 20 qualitative interviews.

One finding of the study is that the days when communication performance was measured solely on the basis of media impressions and moods are over. Communications managers are therefore well advised to define the measurable value of communications and demonstrate progress against benchmarks and targets. In addition, it is clear that communication executives can be a trusted source of knowledge, providing clarity, greater certainty, and predictive power for strategic decision-making – provided actionable data is available. In this context, the organizational setup of communications is also relevant for the influence on strategic decisions. Communicators who lead a centralized function have a more holistic view of the business and are therefore closer to strategy. This enables enterprise-wide and more effective use of data. It’s a positive development: today, 44% of communications leaders are investing more in CommTech than they did last year, working to further integrate data, analytics, tools and technology into daily operations and improve communications outcomes. In doing so, artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies are cited as one of the top five factors driving today’s communications agenda. The entire study is available free of charge.