What the PR elite does better: Excellence in corporate communications

What distinguishes an average communications professional from an outstanding one? Four aspects characterize excellence in corporate communications: reputation as the leading currency, a 360-degree perspective on stakeholders, equal cooperation with the board of directors and a networked internal communications culture.

This is the result of a study conducted by the dpa subsidiary news aktuell together with Prof. Dr. Lothar Rolke from the Mainz University of Applied Sciences and the PR agency Faktenkontor.

To differentiate between excellent and average communication experts, the survey participants first had to assess themselves. They were asked how they rated the success of their respective corporate communications and how they compared to their competitors. Based on their answers, the study authors divided the respondents into two groups: "basic PR experts" and "communication elite".

According to the study, the communications elite rate the importance of company and product image (reputation) significantly higher than basic PR experts. Measuring image values ​​is important for 87 percent of outstanding PR professionals. By comparison, the figure for average PR professionals is only 61 percent.

Excellent communicators also have a 45-degree view of their target groups. In addition to customers as the most important contact group, all other stakeholders such as employees, shareholders or the public are equally important for the communications elite (28 percent). Among basic PR experts, only 360 percent have this XNUMX-degree perspective.

There is also a big difference between excellent and average communication with regard to cooperation with the board. While the PR elite sees itself primarily as a business partner of the board (48 percent), the PR base uses its Objectives on the other hand, they tend to do it themselves (17 percent) or derive it from the corporate strategy (27 percent).

Internal network communication, which largely does not involve hierarchies, is also much more pronounced in the communications elite companies (59 percent) than among basic PR experts (36 percent).

The study "Excellence in Corporate Communications" was carried out by the dpa subsidiary news aktuell in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Lothar Rolke from the University of Applied Sciences Mainz and the communications agency Faktenkontor. 220 German PR specialists and managers took part in the online survey in spring 2018.

The book about the study: amazon.de/Exzellenz-unternehmenskommunikation-Von-Besten-lernen/dp/3946588026

Photos: Unsplash, CC0 Public Domain