All kinds of relations, including foreign and personal, depend on equal understanding between people. Sometimes good communication skills can be enough to establish common ground, but other times mindsets and beliefs are far too different to reach any kind of understanding. Whether they develop through nature or nature, a person's ideas and beliefs shape the way the world is seen and even the strongest communication skills cannot break through fortified belief systems.
Unfortunately, the world itself developed in different systems and stages, causing divisions between economic structure, political systems and living standards. Information also suffered a major division, especially during the technology boom. While we may not notice it, information is received very differently in first, second and third world countries. It can be filtered, altered, tweaked or even completely censored to control ideas and beliefs in different countries.
Frank Roby, CEO and founder of Concero Global, Inc., talked about the power and fear model in global communications and how it applies to both developed and developing countries. "There are third world situations in first world countries and first world situations in third world countries," said Roby.
The model places the following attributes to the different developing levels as follows:
First world: Truth or guilt
Second world: Honor or shame
Third world: Focus on survival, sense of limitation, live in fear
The model describes important ideas that can be labeled to each specific level, but sometimes these ideas can be seen over all three levels. Communication therefore takes on the task of relating information to all the different ideological systems while remaining focused and unbiased. The key is to connect the levels so that information does not get treated differently, causing information to fall subject to misinterpretation. "Things aren't isolated from each other, they're connected," said Roby.
While the world may be connected, information doesn't always stay connected the same way. Some governments censor the internet while others censor the newspapers. Radio managed to stay under the radar and programs like the BBC global radio has provided hundreds of countries with reliable information until recent budget cuts.
Due to lack of funding, BBC decided to cut out 69 languages from its global radio to stay within a smaller budget. Not only does this take away the ability to receive unbiased information, but it creates an opportunity for a government to control information through other media outlets. Those countries may start to shape their ideas and beliefs differently without accurate news and it would dramatically impact relations with the rest of the world.
As Roby discussed, unfortunately messages will be lost to those countries until a new solution can be found. As long as we continue to strive for truthful news and messages then we can continue to make an impact in all three levels of the world. Power and fear exists in all three levels, but information works to manage that balance by using communication as a channel. "Relationships strive for balance and communications works to achieve that balance," said Roby.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Power of the Majority
Social media has been the hot topic of communication professionals for a while, but now that the buzz about its potential has begun to die down companies are beginning to see its real effects. Social media not only contributes to the ease of communication, but it affects the dynamics of corporations and its audiences.
Matt Gobush, manager of corporate communications at ExxonMobil, talked to us about the changing influencing environment in corporate communications and the way new technology has changed the structure of audiences.
One of our previous speakers, Mike Lake, discussed target audiences as well but made it clear that the general public was divided with fairly solid lines from the upper opinion leaders and policy makers, at least in the world of online gaming politics.
Even if some industries will continue having strict differences between audience members, social media will somehow blur even the strongest lines into a more cohesive and interdependent audience. In the end it comes down to the strength of communications and the ability to accurately target your audience with correct messaging. "It's a universal skill and experience you can apply to a lot of areas," said Gobush.
Matt Gobush, manager of corporate communications at ExxonMobil, talked to us about the changing influencing environment in corporate communications and the way new technology has changed the structure of audiences.
He presented the above pyramid of audience levels and explained how these numbers are beginning to change in dramatic ways. For companies who do not deal directly with general consumers, it made sense to target only the top 15% of the public with policy makers and opinion leaders. The attentive public made up about 25% while the general public made up about 50%.
Social media has now begun to collapse the pyramid because "technology is empowering the attentive public and influencing policy makers," said Gobush. With new technology and media, the general public is no longer kept in the dark and it allows everyone to voice opinions and ideas in large numbers that cannot be ignored by corporations and policy makers.
One of our previous speakers, Mike Lake, discussed target audiences as well but made it clear that the general public was divided with fairly solid lines from the upper opinion leaders and policy makers, at least in the world of online gaming politics.
Even if some industries will continue having strict differences between audience members, social media will somehow blur even the strongest lines into a more cohesive and interdependent audience. In the end it comes down to the strength of communications and the ability to accurately target your audience with correct messaging. "It's a universal skill and experience you can apply to a lot of areas," said Gobush.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Battle Between the Franchise
It is inevitable that global companies face some sort of crisis once in a while, but many are well prepared with large teams of communication specialists. Brinker International manages over 1,500 restaurants worldwide and yet their crisis communication team consists of only 4 people, making it difficult to tackle some heavy crisis issue if one were to develop.
As part of that small group, Maureen Locus, the head of communications for Brinker International, discussed the difficulties of managing crisis communications in company owned restaurants as well as franchises.
While franchises, which are privately owned by individuals, are under certain contractual agreements with Brinker, they do not always abide by the same rules when it comes to communications and crises. For example, all franchises are given guide books with information about mission statements and other cultural aspects of the company to ensure consistency. They are even given numbers to call the specific help department when dealing with a major issue, but franchises do not always take advantage of Brinker's Restaurant Support Center.
Locus cannot control how or when information about a crisis is received from a franchise, so it becomes even more difficult to handle brand management when dealing with franchises over company owned restaurants. Despite this obstacle, Locus and her team do the best they can in dealing with crisis situations as they develop. The best way to handle any situation is to first make sure team members are briefed on some talking points and then to keep consistent messaging with the media.
Throughout it all though, whether it is a franchise or company-owned restaurant, Brinker makes sure the culture is extended to every team member in the company. At the end of the day, the most important thing is the Chili's or Maggiano's experience as it pertains to the guests as well as the team members. As Brinker states in its motto, Life is short; Work happy. Even if crises cannot be as controlled with franchises, Brinker's communication team strives to protect the brand as best as it can and ensure the longevity of its culture.
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| Chili's and Maggiano's: The Two Brinker Brands |
As part of that small group, Maureen Locus, the head of communications for Brinker International, discussed the difficulties of managing crisis communications in company owned restaurants as well as franchises.
While franchises, which are privately owned by individuals, are under certain contractual agreements with Brinker, they do not always abide by the same rules when it comes to communications and crises. For example, all franchises are given guide books with information about mission statements and other cultural aspects of the company to ensure consistency. They are even given numbers to call the specific help department when dealing with a major issue, but franchises do not always take advantage of Brinker's Restaurant Support Center.
Locus cannot control how or when information about a crisis is received from a franchise, so it becomes even more difficult to handle brand management when dealing with franchises over company owned restaurants. Despite this obstacle, Locus and her team do the best they can in dealing with crisis situations as they develop. The best way to handle any situation is to first make sure team members are briefed on some talking points and then to keep consistent messaging with the media.
Throughout it all though, whether it is a franchise or company-owned restaurant, Brinker makes sure the culture is extended to every team member in the company. At the end of the day, the most important thing is the Chili's or Maggiano's experience as it pertains to the guests as well as the team members. As Brinker states in its motto, Life is short; Work happy. Even if crises cannot be as controlled with franchises, Brinker's communication team strives to protect the brand as best as it can and ensure the longevity of its culture.
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