Strategic Communication can mean either
communicating Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. Communication processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of...
a
conceptThere are two prevailing theories in contemporary philosophy which attempt to explain the nature of concepts . The representational theory of mind proposes that concepts are mental representations, while the semantic theory of concepts holds that they are abstract objects...
, a
processA business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...
, or
dataData management comprises all the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource.- Overview :The official definition provided by DAMA or Boucher: "Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the...
that satisfies a long term
strategicA strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. The word strategy has military connotations, because it derives from the Greek word for general....
goal of an organization by allowing facilitation of
advanced planningProject management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives...
, or communicating over long distances usually using
international telecommunicationsTelecommunication is transmission over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags or heliograph. In modern times, telecommunication typically involves the use of electronic devices such as the telephone,...
or dedicated global network assets to coordinate actions and activities of operationally significant
commercialCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
,
non-commercialA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
and
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
business or combat and
logisticLogistics is the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources, including energy and people, between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of consumers...
subunits.
Strategic communication at its nascent ancient application begun with the first attempts to transmit knowledge through
writingWriting is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and the recording of language via a non-textual medium such as magnetic tape audio.In Eurasia writing began as a...
either to the following generations, or to locations remote to its origin.
Strategic Communication can mean either
communicating Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. Communication processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of...
a
conceptThere are two prevailing theories in contemporary philosophy which attempt to explain the nature of concepts . The representational theory of mind proposes that concepts are mental representations, while the semantic theory of concepts holds that they are abstract objects...
, a
processA business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...
, or
dataData management comprises all the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource.- Overview :The official definition provided by DAMA or Boucher: "Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the...
that satisfies a long term
strategicA strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. The word strategy has military connotations, because it derives from the Greek word for general....
goal of an organization by allowing facilitation of
advanced planningProject management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives...
, or communicating over long distances usually using
international telecommunicationsTelecommunication is transmission over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags or heliograph. In modern times, telecommunication typically involves the use of electronic devices such as the telephone,...
or dedicated global network assets to coordinate actions and activities of operationally significant
commercialCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
,
non-commercialA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
and
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
business or combat and
logisticLogistics is the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources, including energy and people, between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of consumers...
subunits.
History of strategic communication
Strategic communication at its nascent ancient application begun with the first attempts to transmit knowledge through
writingWriting is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and the recording of language via a non-textual medium such as magnetic tape audio.In Eurasia writing began as a...
either to the following generations, or to locations remote to its origin. The need to increase the distance and speed of transmission may have been one of the factors behind the domestication of the
horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
which remained the primary mode of communication until the invention of the semaphore, and later the
telegraphThe electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electric signals. The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission of coded text messages over wire...
.
Definition of strategic communication
Strategic communication management is defined as the systematic planning and realization of information flow, communication, media development and image care in a long-term horizon. It conveys deliberate message(s) through the most suitable media to the designated audience(s) at the appropriate time to contribute to and achieve the desired long-term effect. Communication management is process creation. It has to bring three factors into balance: the message(s), the media channel(s) and the audience(s).
Application objectives
Strategic communication (SC) provides a conceptual umbrella that enables organizations to integrate their disparate messaging efforts. It allows them to create and distribute communications that, while different in style and purpose, have an inner coherence. This consistency can, in some instances, foster an echo chamber that reinforces the organizational message and brand. At minimum, it prevents contradictory, confusing messaging to different groups across all media platforms.
Defence application
Strategic Communication (STRATCOMM) is getting the right message, through the right media, to the right audience at the right time and with the right effect. Effectively reaching and communicating clearly to a targeted audience with specific constraints. While originating as a military term it has branched out into the corporate world in relating to communicating with a clear purpose or message.
This is a relatively new term of art for the military counterpart to
Public DiplomacyIn international relations, public diplomacy is a term coined in the mid 1960s to describe the conduct of foreign policy by engagement with foreign publics. It has been closely associated with the United States Information Agency, which used the term to define its mission...
. It emerged as a major focus for defense transformation as a result of a
Defense Science BoardThe Defense Science Board is a committee of civilian experts appointed to advise the U.S. Department of Defense on scientific and technical matters...
study by the same title. See also Information Operations.
The UK Defence Academy's Research & Assessment Branch have taken the lead for development of UK Military Strategic Communication development - see "Strategic Communication : A Primer" by Cdr Steve Tatham RN
http://www.stevetatham.net and, for an example of its application in the field of conflict, "Tactical Strategic Communication!".
Commercial application
Strategic Communications in Commercial Environment is the non-military application of strategic communication principles and techniques are a new way for organizations to respond to a changed business landscape that results from today's networked communication environment. Back in the day, organizations could segment publics and audiences and target unique messages to each one. Employees, investors, partners, citizens of local communities, potential buyers and consumers could each receive messages that were not widely known or shared by the other groups. Now, all potential publics and audiences can access information about the organization. Providing dissimilar, even contradictory information is no longer possible and may even be problematic. Consumers see information targeted to investors and partners, employees see messages sent to members of the community. In short, with little effort, almost everyone can see almost everything.
Within organizations, the need to integrate communication efforts is moving the authority for creating messages from silos (media relations, investor relations, public relations, advertising, sales and promotion, community relations, corporate training) into corporate headquarters. When organizations adopt strategic communication processes, the message-originating departments -- although they were never fully autonomous -- must report to corporate communications units that issue guidelines for all organizational communication programs and efforts.
The term "strategic communication" means more than just getting the right message to the right people...and so on. It also means ensuring that communication programs meet the objectives of the organization. In order to meet those objectives and to obtain sufficient evidence to suggest that a program can or will meet them, SC is typically supported by a detailed research plan. Once the objectives are clarified, research to define audiences, to measure current attitudes, and to test ways to change those attitudes must be undertaken. Once the coordinating unit develops concepts, there will be focus groups and/or surveys to identify the most effective concepts. Final messages are also tested. The early research that shapes the message is called "formative evaluation." After implementation of the communication program, "summative evaluation" takes place. This research answers the questions: Did the program reach its goals? What effects did the campaign have? What remains to be done?
Research support for communication programs has long been a facet of advertising and, more broadly, marketing campaigns. In the commercial marketplace, sales are often the measurement for success and failure. In PR, the metric has generally been "clip files," the number of mentions in the editorial press: the more clips and the more influential the publications, the better. The underlying assumptions of strategic communication begin by rejecting these silos and adopting more robust measurements at all stages of program development, implementation, and post-campaign evaluation.
Public administration application
Educational institutions are responding to the perceived need for new ways of planning, developing, and implementing communication programs. In the last two years, a growing number of educational institutions offer programs in strategic communication, usually at the master's level. Prospective students can search the Internet for available programs.
Educational institutions
Bachelor of Arts:
Seattle University
Masters Degree:
- Columbia University
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Oregon - John Turnbull Center
- Antioch University
- George Washington University
- University of Mississippi
- University of South Florida
See also
- Main list: List of basic telecommunication topics
- Information theory
Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Historically, information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on compressing and reliably storing and communicating data...
- Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
- Telephone
The telephone is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound, most commonly the human voice. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world, and has long been considered indispensable to business, industry and government...
- Television
Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
- Two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive , unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content.Two-way radios are available in mobile, stationary base and hand-held portable configurations. Hand-held radios are often called walkie-talkies or handie-talkies...
- Irregular Warfare
Irregular warfare is warfare in which one or more combatants are irregular military rather than regular forces. Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare, and so is asymmetric warfare....
Sources
The National Society of Strategic Communications Professionals. 2009.
http://www.nsscp.org
Tatham S A Cdr, RN. 'Strategic Communication : A Primer' Published by UK Defence Academy Dec 2008.
Download at
http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/special/08(28)ST.pdf
External links