Every several months, it seems, we in the professional communication discipline have a spirited discussion about what to call ourselves. The marketing world seems to be winning that discussion (in the end, it’s all about selling something…), and then the Public Relations side (note capitalization) surges forward (in the end, it’s all about building and sustaining relationships with various publics…), and even the legal/compliance/HR peeps jump in with risk management and mitigation. I wrote about this debate last year.
They all are right.
We scholarly types seem to like “strategic communication” as an umbrella term that includes everything. Note that “communication” is singular in this description. Merriam-Webster defines it thus:
- a: a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior
also : exchange of information
In BGSU’s online MA in StratComm, that’s how we define it. MC 6001 is the course that lays it all out, employing all four of the channels (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned, or PESO as Gini Dietrich tagged it). MC 6001 doesn’t start there, though; the methods by which this communication occurs are really the last step in the strategic comm process. We use AMMO, RPIE and several other pithy acronyms to explain how organizations plan and execute their stratcomm — it’s the center of the coursework to actually BE strategic, connecting comm planning to the business and other objectives of the organization.
Our program is intended to serve early career professionals looking to move up, and others to expand their perspectives (such as people in advertising looking to get with the 21st century and embrace all of the methods at our disposal). The biases, therefore, of PR vs Marketing really are irrelevant. A modern professional communicator must understand and use all of the tools at our disposal depending on the audiences (stakeholders), objectives and messaging.
That’s why the culminating assignment in the course is writing an integrated plan that must include research, measurement and evaluation.
It does occur to me that PRSA’s combination of test, portfolio and presentation to attain accreditation is probably attempting to do the same thing we are in this class. That’s good. Our world needs MORE strategy and less of a tactical view. In the end, the future of our discipline has to be more than merely production of creative works — AI is no longer politely knocking on that door, it’s grabbed a Chat GPT battering ram and the door jamb is splitting open.
To succeed in MC 6001, you have to broaden your thinking, embrace the tools you learn and stretch your approach. Students seem to agree that this is a valuable exercise, and personally, I don’t know of any other way to operate!
Ready to make communication YOUR business superpower? Investigate the BGSU MA in Strategic Communication, Sean Williams, Coordinator, and associate teaching professor.
Hi @mark! How’s retirement?
Strategy by its nature requires that – you might remember the AMMO method – who are we interacting with and what do we want them to think, feel and/or do?
We make the assumption that the organizational business objectives are defined, and that all we have to do is make the comm objectives match them up. If that’s not the case, then truly, we cannot be strategic communicators and need to hold the firm’s feet to the fire!
Cheers !
To be honest Sean, I’m thinking defining the business objectives clearly is not only the most important skill but the first step as well.