Hill+Knowlton, Creating Business value from Investment in Communication

In January, 2015, international communications consultancy Hill+Knowlton Strategies expanded its physical footprint in Africa with the launch of a new office in Lagos, Nigeria.

 

Hill+Knowlton Strategies Nigeria builds on the company’s existing strong presence in Sub-Saharan Africa and further extends the agency’s ability to serve its rapidly expanding

client interests in African countries in a fully integrated way. The Hill+Knowlton Strategies global network consists of some 88 offices, including key African markets such as Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

This article discusses how Hill & Knowlton Strategies Nigeria can create value for companies that invest in Communications.

Proving business effects from communications has always been challenging. Now, in a communications landscape that is fundamentally different from just a few years ago, this challenge may be greater still.

It is not, however, impossible. Academic research unveils strong relationships between investments in communications and financial results for companies: In studies on brand orientation it has been shown that companies with well-articulated brand strategies outperform peers; in studies on reputation management, good stakeholder relations help sustain superior profit outcomes over time; even the level of news coverage of CEOs, a recent study from the University of Cambridge says, has direct impact on the valuation of joint stock firms.

Besides, at Hill+Knowlton we see tangible results time and again, from more sales following product campaigns to increased understanding among policy-makers for our clients’ perspectives.

And yet: the debate over communications’ ROI is far from over. It cannot be. The context for communications has changed and therefore the need to assess value of communications is as strong as ever.

Some significant forces drive change. With the disintermediation of news and technological advances come demands for truth and transparency and for authenticity. Audiences blur, and showing strong character becomes more important. Business to Human, as opposed to Business to Business and Business to Consumer, is the new currency.

As a consequence, for real and tangible ROI in the future, communications needs to change. At Hill+Knowlton, we believe very strongly in what we call 3P Communications: Performance + Purpose = Preference.

Performance is the ability to engage in meaningful conversations with target audiences about the actual facts of the business. What we do, how we do it, and why.

Purpose is a company’s raison d’etre, or reason to exist. It’s about making a difference: To the world, to customers and clients, to your shareholders, to employees.

Preference is the outcome: that audiences start to prefer our products, services, positions and qualities.

Building communications around this model enables a different kind of conversation not only with audiences, but also between the chief executive and the communications director. Basing the communications function’s key performance indicators on the 3P model ensures that investments in communications can be assessed in business terms.

KPIs for communicating performance should be more rational and directed towards specific business challenges, for instance regulatory framework conditions in public affairs, or ability to operate in market.

KPIs for communicating purpose should be more emotional and, for instance, measurable through internal versus external Net Promoter Score – this is what we call PurposeStrength.

Preference is the outcome, so we would propose measures about change in behaviour.

Above all, the conversation about KPIs for the communications function should be rooted in the idea that communications isn’t a campaign but a programme. Campaigns are set-pieces, with beginnings and ends. As such they can be measured separately. The communications function, however, is a full season’s worth of set-pieces.

And the return of investment is, ultimately, when audiences start to prefer the products, views and positions of the organisation.

By increasing their investment in Communications, Nigerian organizations can continue to grow, increase their revenue and thus, boost the Nigerian Economy.

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