The vast majority of professional disciplines that make up the global economy have been affected in one way or another by the emergence of the Internet and its development, progressively bursting in and transforming our day-to-day work. But there is one in particular that is immersed in a real revolution, motivated by the innovation and technological development behind it, is the one practised by communication professionals.. Our increasingly sophisticated skills are advancing - or must advance - in line with an increasingly complex relationship with the organisational environment, which we must be able to manage effectively and, above all, immediately. Blockchain, artificial intelligence, bots, smart data, business intelligence, augmented reality, hypersegmentation, millennials, generation Z... are concepts that have landed in our day-to-day lives and of which corporate communicationas a strategic management tool for organisations, must be nurtured in order to contribute to the achievement of their business objectives.
These new terms are landing hard in the daily reality of communication practice and have developed following the innovation that was invested in them. Thanks to innovation, we professionals have a communication ecosystem at our disposal which, however, is neither sufficiently known by all dircoms nor, consequently, used correctly.
Innovation has made us witness a revolution that has marked the passage from one era to the next in less than twenty-five years, and its identification with communication is so great that one without the other is inconceivable.
Both concepts give rise to two independent but complementary lines of work in our field: communicating innovation and innovating communication. The first would be defined as the application of the set of strategic communication techniques to the adoption of innovation in the organisation, in its products, services, processes, in short, in its culture. On the other hand, innovating communication is applying new ideas, concepts and practices to communication as a business strategy with the intention of being useful for increasing the organisation's productivity.
Backbone
It is unquestionable that innovation is a priority for companies not only to increase their competitiveness but also for them to survive in a market, in an increasingly global society that faces challenges that were unimaginable in other times. But if this is not accompanied by an adequate communication policy, the achievement of its objectives is questionable. Communication must form part of innovation from the very moment it originates in the organisation: a truly innovative entity will be committed to communication as a strategic axis and backbone of the same towards the team and employees, in order to direct relations with an increasingly demanding environment.
And vice versa, if we do not innovate in communication or if the innovations that are taking place in communication are not absorbed by us as professionals, we will be missing endless opportunities to consolidate our discipline as a priority in the decision-making bodies of companies and we will lose effectiveness in our contribution to the achievement of their business objectives.
By Marta Muñoz FernándezThe European Commission's Director of Communication Spanish Federation of Technology Centres, Fedit and member of the Innovation Committee of Dircom, Association of Communication Managers