Best Practices for CommTech – Learning from Practice

Two areas, one common goal. What actually sounds simple is often much more complex in reality. But are there solutions for successfully bringing the two worlds together?

It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to get their messages across to their target groups.
According to the Reuters Digital Institute, almost 40% now actively avoid consuming news.

How do you reach an agreement with the legal department on a low-risk, officially permitted use of generative AI in image and film production?
And where does the use of AI avatars make sense?

Antonia Benz is Digital Analytics Manager at Schaeffler and is responsible for processing and analyzing social media data. In her work, she examines digital campaigns and derives measures for optimization.

“Harnessing the power of benchmarking and best practices with AI – and systematically increasing communication success” was the topic of the CommTech webinar at the end of June. Richard Tigges, Director Global Strategic Communications at Audi, reported on AI-supported media monitoring, which reveals benchmarks on a daily basis.

Stefan Moriße has been Vice President External Communications & Media Relations at E.ON Deutschland since November 2022. Prior to that, he had already worked in various communications roles within the E.ON Group since 2011.

An insight into Bosch’s pioneering work in the field of artificial intelligence. The following interview was conducted independently by the YessPress ComTool with its new ChatGPT interface.

Martin Reimund is Head of Strategic Theme Management at Union Investment. In an interview with AG CommTech, he talks about how AI is changing topic and reputation management and how the two areas are connected.

Martin Frommhold, Head of Corporate Communications & Press Spokesman Otto (GmbH & Co KG) talks about the use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom in today’s interview.

Providing sound evidence of communication success is a great wish of all professionals. The CommTech working group has therefore launched an initiative to address the question of how communication successes can be presented in impact levels in a dashboard.

Interview with Reinhard Karger, spokesperson for the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Bihler is Honorary Professor of Communication Science at the University of Hohenheim and Strategy Advisor/Data Analyst in the Communications Corporate Content House at Audi Communications. He is also a freelance member of the practice advisory board of the Austrian Society for Communication and Reputation.

Jan Lukas Kleinschmidt heard about “GPT” for the first time in 2020 – without suspecting the significance this technology would have three years later. As a business information scientist and communicator, he connects tools, content and channels. He is currently responsible for global online communications at BASF Agricultural Solutions.

Maike Molling has been Vice President Strategy & Employee Communications at E.ON Energie Deutschland, the sales subsidiary of E.ON SE, since November 2022. The communication scientist joined the company in 2019, previously working on the agency side as a consultant at LoeschHundLiepold Kommunikation. Maike Molling is massively building up the data competence of the IC at E.ON.

Learn how Siemens optimized their PR strategy by using data in our best practice interview. We highlight the importance of a data lake, the strategic benefits of a data hub, and the practical application of data visualization. Siemens shows how they bring together data from multiple sources to create effective communication tools. We also discuss the importance of sound data governance for the future of data-driven enterprise communications. This information is relevant to anyone who wants to understand the value of data in corporate communications.

Eckhard Klockhaus is founder and CEO of Imory. In an interview with Thomas Mickeleit, he introduces NewsroomGPT, Imory’s first Lighthouse project, and discusses the differences with ChatGPT.

OKRs at Microsoft: Benjamin Lampe (EMEA Head of Communications) shares practical insights on how strategic communication with OKRs leads teams to success and makes goals measurable. He also explains CommTech’s role in OKR adoption.

Stephan Zipperlen is Manager Audiovisual Communications & Formats at Covestro and has been an active member of the CommTech WG in the Technology cluster since 2022. Christof Schmid spoke with him about the current tools and trends around AI in video.

Monica Campestrini has been Data Insights & Analytics Manager Digital Communications at Henkel since April 2022. In an interview with Thomas Mickeleit, she talks about the importance of data analytics for reputation management.

‍Lea Waskowiak joined o2 Telefónica in December 2022 as Specialist Communication Strategy & Analytics. In her role, she is responsible for data analysis and communications controlling on the one hand, and data storytelling on the other.

Nikola Gardeweg has been with Swiss Life for three and a half years and has been co-head of the Swiss Life newsroom since November 2022. Furthermore, in addition to the newsroom, she takes care of all communication topics concerning culture, HR and change projects and the CEO’s social media communication. Maren Lübbecke has been with Swiss Life for four and a half years. She has been co-chief of staff since last April. In addition to the CvD role, she has technical leadership in the social media team, which is also part of the core newsroom team.

‍Johanna Bohlmann is the Senior Communications Manager responsible for (indicator-based) impact controlling of internal and executive communications at Vodafone Germany. Communications consulting for management and specialist departments, as well as the development of new formats, is thus increasingly controlled on the basis of data.

Data-based communication is critically dependent on the skills of people who use digital data and tools in communication. The book project “Success Factor Commtech: The Digital Transformation of Communications” devotes a section to the question of which roles and skills are needed for this digital transformation – and how this will change or has already changed the reality of communications departments.

Christina Rettig is head of Corporate Communications at SCHOTT in Mainz. In an interview with AG CommTech, she describes how her team approaches data-driven communications. She sees a key to this in the integration of communication and marketing. The questions were asked by Klaus Treichel, co-leader of WG1 in the CommTech WG.

Annette Siragusano is Digital Mind and loves agile working. She has demonstrated this in a wide variety of positions. She started working according to Kanban with her communications team at comdirect bank AG back in 2014. In recent years, she served as Global Head of Content Strategy & Cross Channel Campaign Management at Engel & Völkers headquarters.

The European Communication Monitor (ECM) 2022 has recently been presented and CommTech occupies a separate chapter in it. Ansgar Zerfaß, Professor of Strategic Communication at the University of Leipzig and head of the international ECM research group, takes a closer look at the topic in an interview with Thomas Mickeleit.

‍The PR job market is a good seismograph for transformation trends in our professional fields. At the end of June, AG CommTech hosted two renowned headhunters for communicators in a live interview. Gabriele Kaminski and Christian Loecker are managing partners of GK Unternehmens-und Personalberatung from Mainz. CommTech members were able to tune in and participate in the discussion. Richard Tigges from Audi has summarized the most important questions and answers.

Matthias Harenburg is Communication Performance Manager at Siemens Healthineers. Over the past two years, he – together with other colleagues – has developed a cross-channel, interdisciplinary and interactive key performance indicator system for the communications activities of the DAX40-listed medical technology group.

Christina Rettig is head of communications at Schott and co-leader of CommTech Working Group 3 ‘Reporting& KPIs’. As a PhD student at Antwerp Business School / Universiteit Antwerpen, she is currently researching cyber-physical systems and the impact of CommTech on communication departments.

Lea Waskowiak is a communications scientist and has been responsible for data analytics in the Media Relations & Corporate Channels department at Covestro since May 2021. She is also an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Communication Management at the University of Leipzig.

‍‍Christoph Hardt, head of communications at the German Insurance Association (GDV) until February 2021 and in the same role at the Archdiocese of Cologne until the end of January. Christoph Hardt is one of the pioneers of the newsroom par excellence.

Michael Schmidtke is in charge of content flow management and the digital channels of Bosch’s corporate communications. In an interview with AG CommTech, he explains the role data plays in modern communications management and reveals why creativity and fun remain important success factors. The questions were asked by Klaus Treichel of AG CommTech.