Communications and marketing begin to merge

Companies are slowly combining the ways they approach marketing and corporate affairs, with these two areas rapidly merging to become a core responsibility for executives. This is according to research from the public relations firm Weber Shandwick. Their survey of the responsibilities held by Chief Communications Officers (CCOs) has found that many have now received corporate oversight…

Companies are slowly combining the ways they approach marketing and corporate affairs, with these two areas rapidly merging to become a core responsibility for executives.

This is according to research from the public relations firm Weber Shandwick. Their survey of the responsibilities held by Chief Communications Officers (CCOs) has found that many have now received corporate oversight for marketing activity.

In fact, the number of CCOs with marketing oversight has increased 35 per cent since 2012. Growth in this trend has been driven by digital media channels which are blurring the lines between communications and marketing, with the two now going hand in hand.

Micho Spring, Weber Shandwick’s chair of global corporate practice, suggested that companies are turning away from these separate structures in favour of combined roles.

The explosion of digital media technologies and channels makes the integration of marketing and communications imperative in developing a cohesive and authentic enterprise narrative,” said Mr Spring.

“For some companies, the dual-structure of marketers primarily targeting customers and corporate communicators primarily targeting other stakeholders only adds an extra layer of complexity to an already highly fragmented media environment.”

The result is that future communications executives will increasingly be relied upon to provide leadership across both these aspects, as companies look to get the right level of oversight for both of these activities.

This process has also created an invisibility between brand and reputation, with these two factors now inextricably linked. As information about a brand becomes readily available online, companies are responding by making marketing and communications workers function under a close management structure.

The results have also been positive for companies following this management route. CCOs with oversight of marketing behaviour can respond more easily to changes in their company standing, making the company more responsive.

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