Joanne Hart wrote in the latest issue of Corp Comms Magazine published by my friend Helen Dunne, that "if there is one point with which every corporate executive agrees, it is this: this will be a tough year. Nobody is certain how difficult the next 12 months will be but everyone knows they will be among some of the most challenging in living memory.
Insolvency practitioners may be flourishing but everyone else is counting their pennies. Most companies are reducing investment spend or cutting it entirely and projects are being deferred till the end of the year and beyond.
In such an environment, all cost centres come under scrutiny Executives are under pressure from a whole range of stakeholders to reduce expenditure and no function will be immune. In days gone corporate communications and marketing departments would have been one of the most vulnerable areas in a company's headquarters - budgets might well have been slashed and heads of department would have been obliged to make significant redundancies. But there seems to have been something of a sea change in recent years.
This growing awareness of the importance of clear marketing strategy, openness and stake holder communications may owe something to the very nature of what British companies do. Back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, when manufacturing was the predominant industry in this country, there was far less emphasis on PR as companies believed that the products spoke for themselves". As we know today we have all but a service industry and the competitive landscape looks everything but flat.Is Marketing and communications finally being taken seriously as key drivers for both turnaround and financial sustainability? I love to think so. More on CorpCommsMagazine
