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Issue 4/2016 www.communication-director.com
Practical advice on what content boosts your reach, engagement and ROI
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TL;DR? What the Trump win tells us about political communication in a distracted age
COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
Issue 4 · 2016
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Communication Director
A voice in the crowd Communicating in the attention economy Coping with information overflow Why connectivity isn’t everything ( just almost everything)
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EDITORIAL
Attention is the world’s most valuable currency. Everyone’s a little ADD, nowadays. Constant connectedness and incessant stimuli have made us a restless audience: a recent study by Time Inc. found that ‘digital natives’ subconsciously move between devices and platforms 27 times per hour. What’s more, we’re drowning in content. Anyone can create it: I can make and edit video on my mobile phone, I can write a blog piece powered by Wordpress or Tumblr, I can distribute that content via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For professional communicators, this should be manna from heaven. But faced with such a wealth of opportunities for content creation and distribution, are all our carefully-crafted messages in danger of being swallowed up by the rest? Do they even reach our audiences? In an environment like this, where supply far, far outstrips demand, attention quickly becomes the most valuable currency. Advertisers want your attention before the next YouTube video plays, friends demand your attention on snapchat and Instagram, new media tries to grab your attention with click-baiting headlines. There are also more serious ramifications: the political upheavals that have convulsed the world over the last 12 months raise serious questions about the attention economy. Are we becoming deaf to all but the loudest, most extreme arguments? Do the snap judgements encouraged by a “like/unlike” culture negate the shades of grey that are involved in any adult political argument? These questions and more are explored in this issue’s Issue Focus section; elsewhere you’ll find our usual mix of insights, reports, interviews, best cases, essays and analysis. As we approach the end of a dramatic year, your feedback is important to us: let us know what you’d like to see in Communication Director in 2017 at info@ communication-director.com
da f y dd p h illi p s
Photo: Laurin Schmid
Editor in Chief
Brought to you by the Asia-Pacific Association of Communication Directors www.apacd.com
Communication director 4/2016
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CONTENTS
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Stirring through the ashes The Trump victory is a case study for political communications in an attention-starved world
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4/16
The programmatic era In a time of ad blocking, programmatic advertising promises to provide greater return on investment
Issue Focus 66
Ain’t no clickbait How are legacy media fighting with digital competitors for attention? The Wall Street Journal’s innovative work provides some clues
Communicating in the attention economy
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Oh snap! Unsure of your first steps onto Snapchat? Many big brands turn to young creative influencers to show them the ropes
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74
Bridging the digital divide
Connectivity isn’t everything
How does data help focus distracted eyes? By connecting with audiences and keeping them coming back for more
The first professor of connectivity gives us some tips on how to stay focussed in a hyperconnected world
6 • organisational 14 • leadership
Stop. Collaborate and listen
Knowledgeable Sherpas
Jimmy Wales on what Wikipedia can teach all of us about organisational collaboration
The seven keys that unlock the next stage of your communications career 18 • leadership
10 • pr essentials
Speed, content, format, channel
Just the facts: 2016
The shift in emphasis to social media requires that public relations professionals work differently than before
The year‘s most telling statistics in communications, PR and public affairs
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Communication director 4/2016
CONTENTS
20 • Corporate affairs
Starting a new conversation True transparency is essential if organisations are to be trusted in future
34 • Engagement
56 • agenda setter
Partnering for success
Conference, festival or chaos?
Communicators need to make the case for authentic and humane communications at the workplace
24 • Diversity
Different, not defective For differently-abled employees in India, legislation for the workplace is the only answer
37 • Public Affairs
Super-events like SXSW are revolutionising the way we approach conferences
A healthy relationship Public-private partnerships are tackling Asia’s greatest health obstacles 40 • China
Decoding China’s PR scene Tips on navigating China’s fragmented communication landscape 44 • Gender
Advantage women
26 • Evaluation
Getting the measure To get closer to the c-suite, avoid these five fundamental measurement mistakes
What are the trends driving women’s advantage economically and in business today?
86 • communication Reader
46 • Internal
Books
Calling the right tune How internal communications can help make the strategic case for the profession
Photos: Laurin Schmid; manila; Neilson Barnard / SXSW Interactive
50 • Campaign 30 • Career
Right place, right time A personal account of life-long lessons learned from a communications career in Asia
32 • Postcard from… Hong Kong
Happy on the inside? Reflections on Hong Kong’s communications scene
I know what you flushed last summer
New and upcoming titles for the communicator’s bookshelf
88 • ASSOCIATION
APACD Latest news from the Asia-Pacific Association of Communication Directors
A sticky situation solved with minimum resources 90 • private passions 53 • Evaluation
More than just hoop dreams
The sound of music The healing power of music as a communicative art
Branding basketball in the Philippines is big business
Communication director 4/2016
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organisational
Stop. Collaborate and listen. Wikipedia, which started in 2001 as a hobby project belonging to a small community, has become an organisation that deals with its exponential growth through collaborative thinking and creativity. By jimmy wales
↓ Jimmy Wales speaking at the Kommunikationskongress 2016 held in the Berlin Congress Center / Photo: Laurin Schmid
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Communication director 4/2016
organisational
“ This next generation is very comfortable with the collaborative style in which we at Wikipedia work.”
S
ocial media has changed the world, but much of it is confusing. Quality is not always produced but rather a lot of noise and anger. Wikipedia shows a different path, the collaborative path. It is a place for reasoned discourse, a calm alternative to other spaces online. That doesn’t mean that everything is always calm inside Wikipedia: we are human beings, so we have our arguments. But in general we strive for something quite different and there are lessons here for politics and business. The original vision statement for Wikipedia was to imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. It’s been a few years since then and now we have over 40 million articles, over 400 million people visiting the website every month and active projects in about 230 languages. Regarding our global infrastructure, we now have 10 languages that have over one million entries, 48 languages
with at least 100,000, 128 with at least 10,000 and 234 with at least 1,000. A recent tweet from a teacher explained that she asked one of her students if she knew what an encyclopedia is and the student replied, “Is it something like Wikipedia?” Wikipedia is now 15 years old so, and that means that for students who are entering university today, Wikipedia has existed from the time that they knew how to read and in the last five years or so has supported them in doing their homework or in pursuing whatever interest they have.
What’s in a community? This next generation is very comfortable with the collaborative style in which we at Wikipedia work. But it’s important that we think about the quality of that work. Are we setting a good example for young people? There’s a major strain of work related to what we call community health – making sure that people aren’t being turned off by Wikipedia because it’s too aggressive and angry. Our editing community has certain characteristics: an average age of around 26 and about double the percentage of PhDs compared to the general public. The word ‘community’ is often abused in the context of online – usually people talk about community Communication director 4/2016
when what they’re really talking about is just random interactions among the general public. For example, you can’t really talk about “the Twitter community” because, although Twitter does have sub-communities and groups of people who know each other, Twitter is itself not a community in any real sense. So if your vision of how Wikipedia works is that 100 million people each write one sentence and that magically becomes an encyclopedia, that isn’t really correct. We’ve got about 80,000 volunteers, loosely defined as people who make around five edits per month. But the real community is about three to five thousand people who are organising the work. They are passionate volunteers, the people who really build Wikipedia. They look after everything: they greet newcomers, they make sure the newcomers are behaving themselves (which isn’t always the case) they make plans, and they organise events. They are the true core of Wikipedia, working together under a guiding set of principles. We’ve never regarded Wikipedia as a wide-open free speech zone. We’ve always said, “We’re building an encyclopedia” and “We want to be high quality,” and those are two of our fundamental values. A lot of things are determined by these bigger-picture principles and values.
Outlining collaboration So what are these principles? One is that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. There are a lot of things that Wikipedia is not; in fact there’s a famous page called “What Wikipedia is not”, where we explain that Wikipedia is not a library nor textbook. Wikipedia is not YouTube so, although I really love funny cat videos, they don’t belong in Wikipedia. There’s a lot about the understanding of an encyclopedia that allows us to settle certain kinds of debates: “Should this be here or not?” “Well, does it help to build an encyclopedia?” Another principle is maintaining a neutral point of view. Wikipedia tries not to take a stand on controversial
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ESSENTIALS
Just the facts: 2016 What did the communications landscape look like in 2016 according to the statistics? Drawing on our Facts & Figures section in our monthly newsletter, we’ve picked 10 of the most illuminating results from surveys published throughout the year. From employee engagement to business risks, these are the findings that influenced corporate communications this year.
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6
2
7
3
4
TOP 10 AGILE BRANDS GLOBALLY
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9
10
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The ideal mix of authenticity and adaptability – termed brand agility – arises from the Global Agile Brand Study from Landor. These ten brands all display six agile behaviour traits in different measures. They are adaptive, principled, open, responsible, global and multichannel.
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Communication director 4/2016
ESSENTIALS
Growth in communications influence in Asia Pacific
Over 90% of senior corporate communicators at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Communications Summit agreed the influence exerted by their function would steadily increase over the next two year according to research from VMA Group.
46%
45%
8% 1% Strongly Agree
1
Business Interruption
2
Market developments
34%
3
Cyber incidents
28%
4
Natural catastrophes
24%
5
Changes in legislation and regulation
38%
6
Macroeconomic developments
22%
7
Loss of reputation or brand value
18%
8
Fire, explosion
16%
9
Political risks
11%
10 Theft, fraud and corruption
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
38%
11%
Communication director 4/2016
Top 10 Global Business Risks for 2016 The Allianz Risk Barometer identifies the top corporate perils for 2016 and beyond, based on the responses of more than 800 risk experts from 40+ countries around the globe.
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leadership
Knowledgeable Sherpas Leadership in corporate communications is an excellent basis for senior careers in several directions: this is especially true in Asia Pacific, where the diversity of opportunities can be a doorway to global responsibilities. But how do professionals at the top of corporate communications find the time, inspiration and motivation to make that next move? What are the stumbling blocks to avoid and what are the practical tips to bear in mind? Here are seven keys that unlock the next stage of your career. By Katrina Andrews
A
fter taking on the challenge of a senior corporate affairs position, what can an Asia-based communications practitioner do next? Many worry that such a job represents the highest rung of their career ladder; that, afterwards, only a succession of similar roles in similar companies awaits. It is a concern our report Pathways was designed to address, as we explored the very divergent career paths taken by nine former top professionals in the region. Since their spells as heads of APAC corporate communications for various multinationals, our interviewees have all moved into very different professions – public sector, private sector, non-govern-
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mental organisations, governments, public relations agencies, alternative in-house roles or their own businesses. That diversity alone demonstrates that communications in Asia should never be seen as a glass ceiling but rather as a career launchpad. Many common themes emerged time and again from our conversations with these high-achievers:
1. Don’t be shaped by your career, shape it to you
Common to all of our interviewees was the idea that ambition is a determinedly personal matter. “You need to define ‘success’ in your own terms,” summarised David Kneebone, now leading a public education programme in Hong Kong. “It’s knowing what really gives you satisfaction, and it can take years – even decades – to work that out.” For our interviewees, their careers were not adjuncts to their lives. All of them took seriously the idea that a career was there to be relished. But all were also committed to the idea that their career had a duty to inspire them. This was exemplified most clearly by their impatience with unsatisfactory job situations. Few lingered for more
Communication director 4/2016
leadership
than a year in a job they felt wasn’t advancing their skills and leadership capabilities. Most had changed jobs at least a dozen times, and through many different professions, companies and countries. It was a clear lesson: the successful and fulfilled show the initiative to lead their career from the front.
2. Build personal networks “I was out in Asia with the company,” recalled Tim Cobb of his time leading APAC communications at Merrill Lynch. “But I would often visit New York on business and, while I was there, I was taking 40 meetings a week with the people at headquarters, building up my contact list. That makes the difference when a vacancy opens up, of course it does.” It was an approach that soon landed him the role at Group as Merrill Lynch’s global head of communications. A decade later, while heading up APAC communications for UBS, he repeated the trick – and in even bolder ways. “In the end, I just got on a plane in Hong Kong and flew to Zurich. I decided to combine a long-proposed skiing holiday with visiting UBS headquarters. That was my first time at HQ. And while there, I basically forced everyone to meet me.” Eighteen months later, he was made head of external communications for UBS Group. Career growth is a personal responsibility, and it should be managed as you manage all communications campaigns: by capitalising on your expert powers of persuasion.
3. Take ‘handbraketurns’ in your career to develop broader skills “I’m an evangelist for saying ‘Yes’ to new challenges,” Mark Devadason told us. “I couldn’t be doing the not-
for-profit work I’m doing now – liaising between industries and professions – if I didn’t have a great diversity of experience in my own background.” Many interviewees talked with great passion, even zealotry, about the benefits of taking radical ‘handbrake turns’ in their careers that more conservative careerists might baulk at. Most had jumped between agency and in-house work. Several had taken up completely new challenges – tax lobbying, marketing, training, starting their own agencies. Devadason went from core banking roles at Standard Chartered Bank to become global head of training; from there back into retail banking, country CEO positions and, ultimately, through more contortions, to become head of corporate affairs and sustainability. “Moving around just gives you so many new skills, and that gives you more options further down the line,” he argued. “Ultimately, it also gives you better odds of landing by chance in a field that you suddenly find to be a real passion.” That is precisely what happened to him: his final corporate role sparked a sudden interest in the topic of sustainability, and he now happily sits as a non-executive director on the board of several charities in the field.
4. Grasp opportunities that appear, don’t pass because you’re ‘waiting for something more comfortable’ A high proportion of those career moves for our interviewees had come about not because they had actively sought out a new position, but because one had come up unexpectedly and they had decided to grab it. Rather than say, “That’s outside my comfort zone” or “I’ll think about it”, these high-achievers had leapt at the opportunity immediately. “There are not many people who move to the agency side after 13 years in-house,” said Ruby Fu, the new CEO
“ Our interviewees have all moved into very different professions... That diversity alone demonstrates that communications in Asia should never be seen as a glass ceiling but rather as a career launchpad.”
at Burson-Marsteller China. “But when that opportunity presented itself earlier this year, it was just obvious. Yes, I’ve taken a calculated risk. But what is that ‘risk’, really? Only that, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to corporate communications.” None of our interviewees expressed regrets about opportunities grabbed in an instant – even when they turned out to be false moves. Wesley McDade took an executive job during his early career, before later recognising it as a step too far, too soon. “But here’s the thing: as tough as it was, if I had said ‘No’ to that opportunity in 1998, I would probably still be in Hong Kong
Communication director 4/2016
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corporate affairs
Starting a new conversation We live in an era of profound mistrust. Corporate misbehaviour and scandals affecting even the most august of institutions have eroded public faith in the leadership of large parts of civil society. In a world with more than a billion constantly connected citizens, judgements are formed almost instantly on the basis of corporate deeds – real or imagined – far more than corporate words. True transparency – detailed, honest and sometimes painful – is essential if organisations are to be trusted in future.
Photo: Beppe Raso
By Matt Peacock
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Communication director 4/2016
corporate affairs
“ Corporate transparency programmes defuse the negative; but on their own, they are not enough to secure a long-term licence to operate.”
will always be some people who, as a point of principle, will not believe anything any large company says. But our transparency report did prompt the more reasonable and thoughtful critics to consider that what they had thought were simple answers weren’t, perhaps, quite so simple after all. It also helped people realise that international and national taxation systems were at the root of their concerns, not the activities of a specific company that had at least made the effort to try to explain how those systems worked in practice, so their opprobrium should be redirected accordingly. The report changed the nature of the debate for us. It meant that, for the first time, it was possible to have informed and constructive conversations with a range of different people who cared passionately about the issues for good and honourable reasons.
Secrecy versus transparency
M
illions of people around the world profoundly distrust the companies that we work for, and for two reasons. The first is dishonesty: a belief that companies habitually mislead and obfuscate when addressing real and profound concerns about issues that matter to the public. The second is disempowerment: a belief that companies view people as no more than a fungible commodity with financial logic always trumping social consequence. Those views are widespread and, sadly, they are not exactly without evidence. But it doesn’t have to be like this. Let me tell you about our journey. From 2010 onwards – at the height of the global financial crisis – we faced accusations of corporate tax avoidance. If you wanted to understand what public mistrust felt like, working in one of our stores with protestors outside the door would have given you a good insight. Anyone who has worked in issues and crisis management can tell you that when you are publicly accused of wrongdoing, life gets binary really fast. Either you did wrong – in which case you apologise, explain what happe-
ned, set out what you’re doing to fix it and what you’ll do to ensure it doesn’t happen again and the world moves on (providing you can keep your promises) – or you have done nothing wrong, there is a misunderstanding, in which case you need to come out fighting to tell the world what’s really happening. Our corporate tax challenge was a matter of transparency, not malfeasance. The problem is that accounting standards and international tax norms are highly complex and opaque. It became clear to me and my colleagues across the business that there was a pressing need to explain how tax works in layman’s terms and to do so in depth, with clearly stated principles setting out what our company would (and would not) do – and, moreover, to do so in a public report with numbers that were disclosed on a country-by-country basis. Those discussions led to the first-ever annual tax transparency report published by a company in the global telecoms and technology industry. So did this transparency report persuade all of the protestors and doubters? Not at all. There Communication director 4/2016
About a year later, there was a new issue on the horizon from a completely different direction: the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. His initial allegations appeared to imply illegal collusion between UK intelligence agencies and UK telecom companies, including Vodafone. As we all remember, the allegations quickly gained traction and were reported around the world. This was a difficult challenge. In preparing our tax transparency report, my team and I could speak to all the internal experts in our own organisation and were able to get to ground truth quite quickly. But this issue was different: the problem with national security and secrecy is... it’s secret. If you know about it, there’s very little you can say about it – not least because you can go to prison if you reveal what you shouldn’t reveal. Secrecy and transparency don’t exactly go hand in hand. This was, to put it mildly, a bit of a headache. So we focused on what we knew and what we knew we could say. We knew that our own code of conduct, which applies to everyone who works with us, anywhere in the world, is extremely clear that any form of access to customer data without lawful authority is utterly prohibited. We also knew that our colleagues who are tasked with law enforcement agency liaison – and, to be clear, all telecommunications operators’ licence obligations in all countries require them to provide lawful access to law enforcement agencies – are decent people who act with integrity. So our strategy was to take the same playbook that we ap-
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evaluation
Getting the measure Avoiding these five fundamental measurement mistakes will help you to adopt the perspective of the management team– and find out what really counts. By Genevieve Hilton
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Communication director 4/2016
evaluation
habit to get into – and we know a good habit is truly ingrained when its absence is noticed: just as we feel uncomfortable going to bed without brushing our teeth, we should feel
“Discipline is needed to ensure measurement makes it into the first draft of every communications plan.” uncomfortable writing even the most basic communications plan without a measurement mechanism.
I
f there is one thing that helps get communicators a seat at the management table, it is speaking the language of management: charts, statistics, and metrics. Yet measurement remains one of the biggest challenges for communicators, both in-house and in agencies. How can communicators avoid the most common measurement mistakes and open a management dialogue through measurement?
Photo: Christine Cavalier / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
1. Putting measurement last instead of first Measurement cannot wait. Indeed, in a technical sense a measurement mechanism is often only possible when it is incorporated in the design of the activity from the start. To take a basic example: gathering feedback from a trade show may be as simple as taking an on-the-spot survey. However, whenever I want to do so I find it necessary to discuss in advance the objectives that need to be measured, as well as the survey content that must be developed and agreed before being printed or input into electronic format. I try to settle the mechanics of data collection (print, app, or online) long before
the show begins. When I forget this, the alternative is to end up counting imperfect metrics like “number of people attending the show”, when I should instead be finding out something more like “percentage improved engagement” or, at a minimum, “customer leads produced”. More broadly, it is only possible to measure a communications approach when objectives are set up front. At BASF, an innovation-based company, I would be very surprised to hear any of our chemist-managers confuse the measurement of basic scientific characteristics like heat or strength. Why should the corporate affairs department hold itself to a lower standard? Yet sometimes I still find myself starting to talk about how we will do a campaign without clarifying first why we are doing a campaign – are we trying to increase awareness, build trust, both, or achieve something else? Discipline is therefore needed to ensure measurement makes it into the first draft of every communications plan. Implementing a standard template, with standard headings (Measurable Objectives, Approach, Implementation, Timeline), is the necessary first step to incorporating measurement routinely into communications activities. Rather than a project or a programme, I like to think of measurement as a good Communication director 4/2016
2. Not establishing basic assumptions with management Is positive media coverage desirable? Should our company be attempting to raise awareness or not? The answer should be obvious. Yet not all management team members will automatically agree. Some may fear notoriety for the company, imagining that it will overwhelm the salespeople with unfillable orders. Some think it nice to have, but not worth the risk. Others err in the opposite direction: they have adopted the confused idea that “all publicity is good publicity”. For this reason, if I forget to agree on the ground rules up front, I will certainly end up wasting precious management time later on, going over the basics, or falling into existential arguments about the value of communication. Here are some basics that I attempt to establish if I want to have any kind of fruitful discussion when it comes time to present measurement results: • Do we agree that awareness and/or trust in the brand is desirable? (And: is one more important than the other?) For management team members that feel unsure about the very question of whether having a strong brand is worthwhile, a useful example is the fiscal valuation of brands in acquisitions – it clearly shows that (intangible) brands are worth (real) money. This can be demonstrated generically or with data from peer companies, and does not need to be re-established in every single results presentation. Additionally, comparisons of the pricing difference
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engagement
Partnering for success Communicators need to make the case for authentic and humane communications at the workplace that enhances organisational communication and effectiveness. By Aniisu Verghese
T
o be viewed as a valued business communication partner and to engage employees in a hyperconnected world means revisiting and reinventing current communication practices. Understanding the implications of the new world of work and the workplace can lead to improved approaches for communicators to take while framing suitable interventions and engaging stakeholders. Understanding the implications of the new world of work and the workplace can lead to improved approaches that communicators take while framing suitable interventions and engaging stakeholders. Consider these findings from research reports: • 60 per cent of communicators cite information overload most frequently as a source of concern (The Future of Corporate Communications, Brunswick, 2015) • Interruptions eat up 28 per cent of the workday (Death by Information Overload, Harvard Business Review, 2009) •One in five leaders expect to reshape their business “radically” in response to hyperconnectivity. (The Hyperconnected Economy: Phase 2
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Hyperconnected Organisations, The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2015) •The demographics of the workforce are shifting; by 2020, there will be five generations working side by side. (The Global Information Technology Report 2012, World Economic Forum) •Employees who could choose their own work settings were 1.5 times more likely to work in a balanced environment, and also report higher scores across performance indicators. (Asia Workplace Survey, Genslet, 2016) •83 per cent of CEOs think employees are more productive due to technology (CEO Pulse On Connectivity, PwC, 2015)
Risks and opportunities In a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world where people are unfamiliar with the situations they are in or can’t predict the outcomes of their own actions organisations need to do more to help employees cope with Communication director 4/2016
changes at the workplace and elsewhere. Democratisation of the workplace and technological empowerment of employees brings with it opportunities and challenges. Accessibility, collaboration, information richness, interactivity, always-on experiences and real-time documentation are some of the facets of this new phenomenon. It also brings with it perils of information leaks, misuse and reputation risks.
“The fastpaced communication environment blurs the difference between truth and lies.”
The growing influence of social, digital and mobile communication is seen as one of the biggest changes faced by communicators. Apart from information overload, communicators also face diminishing attention spans and the prospect of managing expectations of multiple generations at the workplace. This has resulted in trust in leadership eroding and increased expectations from the organisation to be more open and engaging. Furthermore, the fast paced communication environment blurs the difference between truth and lies, confusing employees about what to ignore and what to believe. Be it on Whatsapp, Facebook or e-mail the messages that employees receive everyday tend to seed doubts about credibility and purpose. Likewise, employees feel their voice is less heard. In a study by Towers Watson on employee voice, only about 50 per cent of employees in the UK feel that significant action has been taken as a result of previous surveys, and just 57 per cent trust that a survey they participate in will lead to
engagement
Partner
Encourage
Amplify
Invites ideas (forums)
Focus on behaviour change (action oriented
Equip for the future (training, resources)
Share plans (open dialogue)
Celebrate advocacy (buy-in)
Highlight impact (value of effort)
Involve (strategy, community building, progress)
Create space (align internal systems)
Enlist (onboarding, champions)
Tap collective wisdom
Collaborate for shared success
Recognise effort
Reinforce commitment
↑ A model for communicating in a hyperconnected world / Source: Aniisu Varghese
management action, a worrying trend indeed. Hyperconnected workforces also have their downsides. A Harvard Business Review study among business leaders discovered that unmanaged work can do more damage than good in such scenarios, unless significant changes are made to the culture inside organisations. Given this context communicators have a daunting task to keep employees involved, inspired and committed to the organisation they serve while staying aware of the distractions and challenges on hand to help them stay focused. To begin, communicators need to engage more with employees to gauge interest, preferences, barriers and resistances which prevent the acceptance and agreement on messages. For example, The Future of Work study by Deloitte indicates that while differences exist between
millennials and non-millennials at the workplace about their preferences, the expectations are broadly similar. Both these generations expect more informal and unscheduled catch-ups while preferring more face to face and e-mail engagement. Likewise, employees who had the flexibility in terms of choosing their work settings performed better and felt more balanced in the environment.
Facing up to the challenges In such situations the call to stay honest and retain the human touch is growing considering most communication channels are becoming more impersonal. Every year, the WorldBlu organisation lists the Communication director 4/2016
most democratic workplaces – another indicator of the shift towards inclusive and decision making within organisations. They believe that an environment that fosters choice, dialogue, voice, individual and collective mindsets among other principles can become a sustainable and successful workplace. Tapping the power of employee advocacy has seen an increase with numerous social platforms now offering opportunities to map and gauge the reach of the crowds. LinkedIn suggests that just three per cent of employees do share content on social media but that amounts to a huge 30 per cent spike in engagement an organisation sees. With the continued preference for face-to-face engagement, despite the growing pace of digitalization globally, means that organisations and leaders need to balance time
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public affairs
A healthy relationship More so than infectious diseases and other traditional healthcare issues, obesity is fast becoming the top risk factor targeting public health. As the issue grows in Asia, a unique public-private partnership is driving food innovation to tackle obesity in the region. By Steven Bartholomeusz
→ Representatives from Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition. Photo: Amelia Chong.
T
he impact of obesity on people’s lives, healthcare systems and economies is being debated in the media, by academics, industry, governments and regulators, almost daily. Punitive measures like proposed sugar-taxes or more sustained and planned efforts like the restriction of marketing to children are among a raft of measures debated. In Asia, while there has been a sharp growth in obesity rates (a recent study in Malaysia pointed to nearly 50 per cent of the adult population being overweight or obese) the number of people who suffer from hunger also remains steady. This double burden of obesity and undernutrition has become an emerging threat to health and healthcare systems in the region. It requires immediate action, which needs to be driven not only by governments and regulators but by innovations in the food industry pushed by the private
sector, as well as scientists and academics operating in the region.
Collecting expertise Food Industry Asia (FIA) is a non-profit industry association that was established with the goal of harnessing the expertise of major food and beverage companies and responding to the region’s complex challenges in food safety, regulatory harmonisation and effective approaches to public health. With health and nutrition one of its cornerstones, FIA advocates a multi-stakeholder approach to addressing the dual burden of over-consumption and under-nutrition. As part of its efforts to combat this dual burden, FIA is working to raise awareness of the steps the industry is taking in Asia to help address this complex challenge, as well as building effecCommunication director 4/2016
tive partnerships between the private sector and governments throughout the region to meet specific public health goals. Singapore is home to one such unique public-private initiative, the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN), convened by Singapore government agencies including the Health Promotion Board, the Agency for Science Technology and Research, the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and FIA. Set up at the beginning of 2015, ARoFIIN is about leveraging public-private partnership to bring together a range of experts from academia, government, industry and civil society sectors from across Asia in order to initiate and sustain regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of food innovation in tackling obesity and chronic disease in the region. This group of key decision-makers works toward fostering a conducive forum to support dissemination of science-based information on the causes and drivers of obesity and chronic disease, as well as improve clarity on the barriers and enablers for food innovation
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public affairs
and research and development in the region. ARoFIIN leverages effective public-private partnerships and stimulates scalable, cost-effective and multi-stakeholder strategies that seek to drive food innovation and positive change in consumer behaviour.
Research and development To deliver the goals of this partnership, four taskforces have been set up within the ARoFIIN umbrella, with members of Taskforce 2 (which focuses on consumers) having a role in establishing a research consortium to facilitate research and development in food innovation related to diets and consumer preferences in Asia. Taskforce 3 looks at processes and enablers that will cultivate a positive regulatory climate for innovation, while Taskforce 4, with a focus on the double burden challenge, will assess food supply-distribution mechanisms, working toward optimisation of best distribution channels and harmonising dialogue in inter-governmental forums. “To effectively tackle a global issue like obesity, which is becoming more prevalent in Asia, along with under-nutrition, collaboration bet-
“There are great examples within the food industry in Asia of companies working in partnerships.” partnerships like ARoFIIN presents us with a great opportunity to bring a diverse range of multi-disciplinary experts to the table,” he said. FIA believes the food industry has an important role to play in participating and also driving forward initiatives like ARoFIIN. Recognising that healthy eating is a key factor in the fight against the dual burden as well as non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, FIA’s members share
↑The Amsterdam Initiative Against Malnutrition (AIM) works to end malnutrition in Ethiopia / Screenshot: YouTube.com/ Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
ween multiple stakeholders – particularly public-private partnerships – are vital,” says Matt Kovac, executive director FIA. “Public-private
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te products that offer healthier options with more whole grains and fibre, more calcium, vitamins and minerals, more low-fat dairy, more vegetables and fruit, reduced sodium, less fat, less sugar and fewer calories.
Pan-Asian partnerships There are some great examples within the food industry in Asia of companies working in public-private partnerships to deliver successful outcomes related to obesity, under-nutrition and non-communicable diseases. One such example is a partnership that deals with hidden hunger; which is an issue faced by Singapore’s foreign migrant worker population. The food that is catered to them through contract food catering services is typically extremely poor in nutritional value. A partnership between Singapore-based business accelerator platform BoP Hub and healthcare multinational DSM aims to address this problem. An element of the solution they have identified is fortifying the rice that reaches the migrant workers, with essential vitamins and minerals. DSM has developed and patented a state-of-the-art technology to produce extruded rice pellets, which are then mixed into normal rice to obtain fortified rice. DSM also maintains a very successful partnership with the World Food Program (WFP), which focusses on DSM providing scientific support to guarantee optimum nu-
↑BopHub and DSM partner to fortify migrant workers in Singapore / Screenshot: YouTube.com/DSM
common values on the responsible promotion of balanced diets and lifestyles. FIA members continuously improve product offerings to creaCommunication director 4/2016
trition for the WFP beneficiaries whereas the WFP allows DSM employees to contribute to WFP programs in countries like Zambia. Another partnership is the Amsterdam Ini-
china
Decoding China’s PR scene Nothing is straight forward in China, and communication in China remains highly complex and fragmented. Let’s set the record straight on what makes the Chinese media tick and how public relations practitioners new to the landscape should delve into the communication trenches in China.
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have often been asked what it is like to do communications in China. “It’s hard!” and as a Brit would say, “It’s bloody hard.” Time after time, I see public relations effectiveness being compromised by presuming that the way public relations is done in London or Hong Kong can be implemented in China. One crucial mistake that I observe companies making is diving in headfirst without first grasping a clear understanding of how China works. China has more than 650 cities, with a population edging on 1.4 billion people. It has a vast geogra-
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phy with its own peoples, dialects, customs and brand preferences. Treating China as a single market is a flawed concept – it’s closer to the truth to treat China like Europe. Just like how it would not make sense to employ a single strategy across all countries in Europe, a cookie-cutter concept of bucketing all of China into one public relations plan will be totally ineffective in this fast changing and diversified market. China has more than 4,000 years of history and culture behind it, so keep an open mind to adapting and embracing the different aspects of the culture. It is important to remember that in order to succeed in China, your goal should be to communicate effectively across different cultures, not to change the other culture! Don’t be overly eager to cast a wide net wanting to capture Communication director 4/2016
“ It pays to employ selfcensorship, especially if you are in a business focused on user-generated content.”
Photo: www.thinkstock.com
By Cassandra Cheong
china
everyone at one swoop. Keeping focused by segmenting your markets into bitesize parcels and setting priorities is likely to be more effective as you cannot (and don’t want to) reach out to all. Carrying out a solid plan in the already highly competitive and fragmented landscape will pay off with plenty of opportunities for corporate storytelling and effective media relations. The trick is to take universal communication functions and integrate them in a way that effectively navigates China’s unique market forces, government structure, and trends that will result in powerful public relations.
“ Carrying out a solid plan in the already highly competitive and fragmented landscape will pay off.”
Media with Chinese traits With China’s media landscape unlike any other, its sheer size alone can throw you off balance. Here’s a quick snapshot: starting with 42 newspapers in 1968 (virtually all Communist Party papers), it grew to more than 380 newspapers in 1980 and today, China has more than 22,000 titles. Not to mention online websites, which are in the tens of thousands (and still growing). It is important to note that this vast and growing number of media in China is still highly regulated and censored. This means that if you don’t want to get into trouble with the government, it pays to employ self-censorship, especially if you are in a business focused on user-generated content. Self-censorship covers not only words but also images. Failing to do so can result in your website being shut down (with no forewarning), your business licence being revoked, fines and even arrests. So tackling the Chinese media is a whole different ball game altogether. Besides the bigger media landscape, there are little practices in the media industry that can be stumbling blocks to the success of your media strategy if you are not aware of them. For example, the giving of
Building your network ‘media allowance’ (a.k.a transport allowance) to journalists at events is a common practice. Depending on types of media and the seniority of attending journalists, the amount per person ranges from USD50 – USD300. So build them into your budget. Bringing this point across triggered my memory of a first-hand experience on the subtle differences faced by one of our foreign clients in dealing with the Chinese media. An initial request by this client to pitch their story to selected media under embargo was politely declined. We had to explain that local media do not observe embargoes and it didn’t matter whether they sign an NDA or not. It doesn’t stop here. Local media will use Mandarin as the only language of communication, and it doesn’t matter that they understand English perfectly. So arranging for an interpreter is a standard operation procedure in all planning. Also be prepared to exercise (extreme?) patience as members of the media are perpetually late by at least half an hour (and traffic is always to be blamed). So don’t expect your event to start on time. Communication director 4/2016
To be successful in China depends very much on your ability to manoeuvre through the labyrinth of relationships. Yes, the infamous “关 系” (Guān Xì = relationship) is very much alive and kicking in present day China. Building strong relations means remembering your stakeholders on key Chinese festivities such as Chinese New Year, mid-Autumn Festival, etc., with a meal and/or bearing gifts. You will definitely score cookie points if you remember to send gifts for their birthdays, wedding anniversaries, baby’s first month celebrations, etc. However, do note that it’s illegal to give gifts to government officials or to treat them to lavish meals. The underlying principle on relationship building hinges on harmony (avoiding any conflict and maintaining proper demeanour) and preserving face (not to cause the other party to be embarrassed and respect for elders and rankings). The latter is highly crucial when dealing with government officials. Make every effort to know your counterparts by their title and always address, shake hands and hand out your business card to the most senior person in the room first. All meetings should begin with brief small talk but keep away from any political subjects. It pays to invest in relationships because any degree of relationship can only work to the benefit of building a strong brand in China.
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GENDER
Advantage women Gender balance and leadership opportunities for women are increasingly important drivers of reputation in business: companies who have these drivers in place will have a competitive advantage in the long term. But what are the trends driving women’s performance both economically and in business today, and how can communicators help build that advantage? By Elaine Cameron
A
s a futurist it’s my role to track signals of change and I have been tracking the signals of change around women – social, economic, political and technological – for over eight years. To give some context to this, we are living through what is being called the fourth wave of feminism, endorsed by high profile celebrities like Beyoncé and by high-ranking politicians like Justin Trudeau who famously replied, when asked why half his cabinet was female, ‘because it’s 2015’. The fact that this iteration of feminism is now being espoused as much by men as by women is one of its key differentiators. This is driven by the fact that Millennials and Gen Z have a much more fluid view of gender and don’t feel that men and women have to conform to traditional roles any more. This fourth wave has also been propelled by access to technology and the success of social media campaigns such as #likeagirl #thisgirlcan and #everydaysexism.
“ We are living through the fourth wave of feminism, endorsed by celebrities like Beyoncé and by politicians like Justin Trudeau.” Communication director 4/2016
The primary driver of change for women is their rising economic empowerment. Women now control more than $20 trillion of global spending power, representing a growth market which is twice that of India and China combined. There is a multiplier effect in the amount of influence women have in terms of purchases within their family. They have the controlling voice in major ticket purchases on items such as holidays, the family car and healthcare. So it’s not just the power of their own purses, which is already huge, but the even larger power they hold over others as they make or control 85 percent of purchasing decisions.
Affluence and influence Economists and academics agree women entrepreneurs are an undertapped force that can rekindle economic expansion. Female entrepreneurship is soaring around the globe, as are female angels. What’s more, women tech entrepreneurs achieve a 35 per cent higher return on investment. Political representation is on the rise, too, with growing numbers in national parliaments across the world. Women are also higher on the political agenda. Landmark legislation to improve gender equality has passed or is underway all over the world, whether that’s around promoting equal pay or ensuring shared parental leave.
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GENDER
↑ Proportion of women in parliaments: progress over the last decade (regional averages for 2005 and 2015) / Source: BM
Undervalued skills and financial contribution Barriers to advancement However, there is still a significant disconnect between all of this influence, purchasing power, connectivity, ambition, entrepreneurialism, political clout on the one hand and women’s representation in business leadership on the other. The biggest barrier, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan, is the fact that they still have more family responsibilities than men. And they don’t enjoy the same levels of support. For example, senior level men are five times more likely to have a stay-athome partner.
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While women are gaining access to higher levels of management, there is a tendency for them to be clustered in particular managerial functions such as human resources, public relations and communications, and finance and administration. These tend to be areas that are not on a path to the chief executive role. Research by ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities shows that women’s ever-increasing participation in the labour market has been the biggest engine of global growth and competitiveness. An increasing number of studies are also demonstrating positive links between women’s participation in top decision-making
“ Women’s ever-increasing participation in the labour market has been the biggest engine of global growth.”
Communication director 4/2016
INTERNAL
Calling the right tune with internal communication? Too often, internal communication has played second fiddle to the needs of reputation management. But increasingly, communication directors are using it to underline their role as strategic advisors. By Liam Fitzpatrick
L
ogging onto some public relations consultancy websites is likely to give you a limited idea of what internal communication is all about. You’ll find talk of “every employee [being] a global broadcaster for their organisation” and the news that “now more than ever, a company’s employees are one of the most trusted sources of information”. Surely, employee communication is more than another way to boost your external reputation? Is the need for more robust external channels the only reason for its rising importance on the communication director’s agenda? Or is building a powerful brand or maintaining a good name the only tune that the public relations department is interested in playing? Clearly, communications directors today know that they have to have a wider repertoire than old-fashioned media relations. Consistently, internal communication is one of the top concerns when communications directors are surveyed by bodies like the Asia-Pacific Association of Communication Directors (APACD). They are debating how they should orche-
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strate their teams to meet the rising expectations of their peers around the executive table, expectations for value that goes beyond keeping the press happy.
Choose from five objectives From working with organisations of all shapes and sizes I have concluded that there are probably about five good reasons for good employee communication; advocacy is just one. Pretty well every good internal communication operation sets out to either give employees a sense of belonging, encourage them to collaborate, make sure that they understand what is expected of them and how they are performing, encourage them to embrace change and say favourable things outside work. And of course, in virtually every country in the world, employers are legally obliged to communicate about a number of issues such as safety or workplace rights. Communication director 4/2016
Not every internal communication team has to be excellent at all five of these roles; it’s a matter of knowing what your organisation needs. If you are in an industry, such as oil and gas, with acute and stifling skills shortages, your goal might be to promote employee retention. In a sector such as technology or telecoms where rapid innovation and collaborative problem solving is essential, you might focus on
“ Consistently, internal communication is one of the top concerns when communications directors are surveyed by bodies like APACD.” promoting collaboration. Clarity of instruction may be your priority where there are issues around quality, customer service or regulation. And, periodically, every organisation needs help with transformation. And when a team starts thinking about its results or impact, rather than seeing itself as a production house, it has to think about the skills and activities that are going to matter. When the focus is on broadcasting information, having reliable channels dominates; shift attention onto business results such as employee retention, greater innovation or better quality and the team has to broaden the scope of its work.
Playing a supporting role The communication director who has her or his sights set on more than running an internal newsroom needs to manage a wide range
INTERNAL
Normally we say there are five main reasons for having an internal communication operation:
of skills and capabilities. Naturally some things are core, such as the ability to transmit information or craft speeches and presentations for leaders, but when the emphasis shifts to results rather than products so do the resources of the team. Having looked at communications functions over many years we have developed a general model for a ‘communication value chain’. Whilst every organisation will approach the issue in different ways, we see that there are some common elements that recur regardless of sector or
• Persuading people to stay because they are a valued part of a brand, community or an organisation that does important work • Building a community that works in harmony • Helping staff to work better because they understand what is needed and are excited about it • Encouraging them to be advocates • Motivating people to change • Most organisations concentrate on just a couple of these core objectives attempting to deliver them all is not realistic
location. At its core is always a reliable engine room staffed by skilled experts and crafts people. An internal communication department that lacks the capacity to deliver quality collateral is widely thought to be insurmountably weak. This will involve having channels that reach everyone and providing a platform for feedback, offering mechanisms for supporting leadership communication and having the capacity to support campaigns and initiatives as required. Yet, teams also need to understand the orgaCommunication director 4/2016
nisation and its strategic problems. The role of a trusted advisor implies seeking out business problems and proposing solutions rather than awaiting a brief from another function; a brief which might already define (or limit) the value which communication could bring. Being a strategic communications function is more than about doing things well; its about knowing the real issues and defining how communications helps; it’s not about taking orders, it’s about conducting the orchestra.
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campaign
o coincide with the 2015 release of the latest T Jurassic Park movie, a T-Rex-inspired poster was published to promote Keep Wipes Out Of The Pipes/ Image: Sydney Water
I know what you flushed last summer Faced with a sticky problem costing customers thousands each year, a tiny communications team with no budget had to use all their ingenuity and creativity to to kick start an international movement on wet wipes. By Peter Hadfield
S
ydney Water is Australia’s largest water utility company and services 4.8 million customers across an operational area of over 12,000 square kilometers. In 2014 Sydney Water was seeing an increasing trend in faults at our sewage pumping stations. The cause of these faults was largely contributed to by our customers flushing wet wipes. In the past two years alone, Sydney Water has removed over one million kilograms of wet wipes from
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the 675 pumping stations in our 25,000 kilometer network at an annual cost of over six million US dollars. Wet wipes blockages were also contributing to environmental problems by creating overflows into creeks and waterways. These overflows are a general public health risk and there is a safety risk to our staff who have to remove wipes from our network. We didn’t know why customers were flushing wipes so we commissi-
oned a research study. In summary the research found: • Over 12 per cent of all wipes products are estimated to be flushed. • Approximately one in four of the total Sydney population over 15 years of age, almost one million Sydney residents, were flushing wipes • The survey showed that if customers perceive products as ‘flushable’ or biodegradable, they are twice as likely to flush them. • The survey also found 25 per cent of respondents indicated they would reduce wipes usage after kno-
Communication director 4/2016
campaign
wing their environmental impact.We also did our own testing with laboratory equipment to compare the flushability results being promoted by the flushable wipes manufacturers and their reality. Some wipes brands were claiming three hours for their flushable wipes to break down. We stopped the test in our labs at 21 hours and the so-called flushable wipes hadn’t broken down at all. Some of the flushable wipes manufacturers were also claiming on their packaging that flushable wipes break down in the same manner as toilet paper. With the insight of our testing and research, the Keep Wipes Out Of The Pipes programme was launched in mid-2015.
Top: in the past two years alone, Sydney Water has removed over one million kilograms of wet wipes from its network at an annual cost of over six million US dollars. Below: Lab tests revealed the durability of flushable wet wipes / Photos: Sydney Water
Challenges Before we rolled out the campaign we were acutely aware that we faced a few problems: we had to overcome an entrenched behaviour of customers exposed to the ‘flushable’ packaging and marketing by wet wipes manufacturers. We had to bring an issue that exists mainly underground into everyday consciousness, converting an ‘out of sight, out of mind issue’ into one of everyday relevance. We had a small team of primarily two people led by myself, senior media and public relations advisor, and Keiran Smith, who was originally in business communications and took over as media and external communications manager at Sydney Water, with some support of additional expertise across the business. The two of us concurrently looked after a whole range of projects so in no way did we have the luxury to work on this campaign full time. With zero allocated budget for public relations and advertising we had to create an effective campaign with maximum reach and influence, so it was important to proactively engage key stakeholders. We proactively formed an alliance with Australian consumer advocate group CHOICE, who alerted the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission about the claims being made on the packaging of ‘flushable wet wipes’.
We also joined forces with the Water Services Association of Australia and the International Water Association. Building engagement with our 2500 staff through empowerment was an important element in the communications programme. Staff were brought along through staff lunchtime sessions and given access to a pack of key messages they were encouraged to use with families and friends to build word-ofmouth networks to support the programme. We ran an education campaign through school groups and public forums, and we engaged with individual plumbers and the national plumbers’ association through their magazine Plumbing Connections. We discovered that plumbers hate wipes – one plumber said that they were “as strong as Kevlar”, and even though some plumbers told us that one in three of their call outs were caused by pipes blocked by wet wipes, plumbers were still keen
“With zero allocated budget... we had to create an effective campaign with maximum reach.” to actively support the programme. Initially the Keep Wipes Out Of The Pipes campaign was created to reduce problems and costs associated with flushing wipes to Sydney Water and our network. However, we soon learned that customers really didn’t care if wet wipes were causing problems for Sydney Water, so we changed the focus of the campaign to benefit our customers as well as the environment. It became a corporate social responsibility campaign. We focused on the costs that customers would bear as private citizens, to repair their sewer pipes, on their property. This created a huge increase in traction, and we actively asked customers to tell us their flushable wipes ‘nightmare’ stories. Our campaign motivated customers to become advocates and many chose to directly confront the
Communication director 4/2016
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agenda setter
Conference, festival or chaos? Conferences aren’t what they used to be. To attract the most innovative people across industries, a new breed of mega event has upped the ante on content, production and fun. We take a look behind the scenes at three of the best. By jan wisniewski
W
hen you think of a conference, what image springs to mind? Is it a gently dozing audience in a large, airless room, watching presentation after presentation? Or is it something a little looser, a little livelier – and maybe even a little more chaotic? A growing number of events are relinquishing the old hierarchical model of conferences in favour of a grassroots festival atmosphere. Thousands of people descend onto host cities looking to cross paths with other innovation seekers, while organisers seek the right balance between work and play, with varying degrees of focus on tech, business, music and art on offer – and all with just a touch of chaos thrown in. Embracing this chaos may be a vital ingredient to organising a successful event but how does one go about it and what do participants really take away?
A Texan star Every March, the most headline-grabbing example of this new breed of conferences takes over the town of Austin, Texas for 10 days. The South by Southwest conference, commonly shortened to SXSW, counts four separate festivals under its banner: Interactive, Film, Music and Comedy. Of these four, Interacti-
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ve attracts professionals from around the world keen to learn and connect. According to Hugh Forrest, director of the festival, the unique quality of SXSW is the sheer variety of different people flying into Austin. “SXSW registrants range from medical pioneers to mobile technology developers to music industry professionals,” Hugh told Communication Director. “The one point of commonality for all these attendees are that they are very creative and interested in learning new ideas, as well as different ways of thinking.” SXSW Interactive is one of the largest conferences of its kind, attracting over 37,000 registrants in 2016. On the European level, The Next Web (TNW) conference counts among the best attended, boasting more than 20,000 attendees in 2016. Not bad for an event that drew just 300 registrations in 2006 when it was founded by Dutch entrepreneurs Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Patrick de Laive. Boris attributes the growth of TNW – held in a purpose-built village for two days in Amsterdam during May – to the rising number of occupations that are influenced by digital technology. Beginning as an internet conference for developers, investors and entrepreneurs, their audience has broadened as digital innovations have transformed the world of work. “We’re focusing on ‘Generation T’ – Communication director 4/2016
that’s the technology generation,” Boris told Communication Director. “It’s an age independent group that has technology influence their work or daily lives beyond the norm. If you like your iPhone you are not necessarily Generation T, but if you build apps for it or if you are a professional gamer then you obviously are.” Another conference designed for the T generation has also found a home in Europe, although further south in Spain. For the past five years, South Summit has taken place in Madrid during three days in October. The event is a gathering for startups from all over the world but with a focus on Southern Europe and Latin America, which last year attracted around 10,000 attendees. Centred around a startup competition with two main criteria, disruption and innovation, the event is described by Liz Flemming, vice president of international at South Summit, as “A place where startups can come and play, and experiment, break, trial, test and invent.”
The big ring With these events attracting tens of thousands of visitors, finding suitable locations to house the many events is clearly a pressing matter. Though its events sprawl across the city, the core of SXSW activities take place in the Austin Convention Center, located in the heart of downtown. The midsize city feel of the Texas capital coupled with the central location of the main venue allows registrants
“ Finding suitable locations to house the many events is a pressing matter.” to chase fun across town without much effort. But this convenient setup is close to unique in the world of creative conferences. South Summit’s venue history is slightly more colourful, including two years inside Las Ventas, a functional bullring. This year it took place at La N@VE, an old elevator manufacturing warehouse on the southern outskirts of Madrid converted into a conference centre
agenda setter
with four purpose-built auditoriums. “The local government wanted to launch the space as an important part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Madrid,” explained Liz, “so this year they invited us to participate as Spain’s largest startup event. This has allowed us to increase the quality of production for the event”. Production values are another important hallmark of the modern day conference. Patrick de Laive said TNW is always looking to push these further: “Most other events use the same type of stages every year, which makes sense because it saves a lot of money. We always work with the latest technologies, we try out new things onstage that have never been done before, and every year we do something totally different. Our production is a surprise every year.” Wytze De Haan, TNW director of events, described the intensive 12-month planning of the festival village, which relies heavily on a 3D model of the terrain. “The difference between the first version and the 28th, when we finally have the map and all of the buildings in the right position exactly the way we want it, is totally different,” he told Communication Director. “What it really helps with is having a clear goal that you can communicate with all the different people you are working with throughout the year”. Such careful measures are crucial when your event involves five stages for keynote presentations, two business exhibitor areas, an arcade hall, food truck carpark and two live television studios.
Top: President Barack Obama spoke at SXSW Interactive this year (Photo: Neilson Barnard / SXSW Interactive); Middle: Day two of TNW Conference 2016 (Photo by Dan Taylor/ The Next Web); Bottom: Taking the stage by storm on day one of South Summit 2016 (Photo by Dan Taylor/South Summit)
In the thick of it Year-round planning is also a hallmark of SXSW Interactive and South Summit. At Interactive, attendees can expect to find a mix of keynote and panel presentations, party-like networking events and an awards presentation focused squarely on innovation. SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forest explained a registrant’s time at the
event is usually balanced between the conference sessions and the various networking events. However, the most popular attractions are often the keynotes. This is hardly surprising, given the calibre of speaker, such as 2016’s “Attendee In Chief”, Barack Obama. According to Hugh, there is a simple way to avoiding a Communication director 4/2016
35,000-person logjam during these keynotes: “They are simulcast at various other rooms throughout our venue system. So, while all the registrants may not be in the same place for these keynotes, a lot of the registrants are experiencing the same content at the same time during this programming slot.” While a large amount of content for SXSW comes from SXSW PanelPicker – a modified approach to
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Issue Focus
I ssue F ocus
Communicating in the attention economy
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Communicator director 4/2016
Issue Focus
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Bridging the digital divide 62
Stirring through the ashes
How does data help focus distracted eyes? By connecting with audiences and keeping them coming back for more. By Tom Betts
The Trump victory is a case study for political communications in an attention-starved world By David Helfert
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Connectivity isn’t everything
Ain’t no clickbait How are legacy media fighting with digital competitors for attention? The Wall Street Journal’s innovative work provides some clues. Interview with Carla Zanoni
The world‘s first professor of connectivity on how to stay focused and sane in a hyperconnected world. Interview with Darl Kolb
Communicator director 4/2016
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The programmatic era In a time of ad blocking, programmatic advertising promises to provide greater return on investment. By Renato Martignoni
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Oh snap! Unsure of your first steps onto Snapchat? Many big brands turn to young creative influencers to show them the ropes. By Geir Ove Pedersen
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