ABSTRACT
Internal communications involves access to and control over information and in any company this equates automatically to power. The pharmaceutical industry is by no means alone in contributing to that bland and sanitized view of internal communications, but it is a regular offender. If internal communications is about helping people – and hence companies – to understand and achieve targets, we might make the assumption that responsibility for internal communications automatically falls within the marketing function. As with all other communications tactics, the principles are the same: establish objectives, audience, policy and purpose and all else will follow — including design. Audio tapes can provide a fast, effective and relatively low-cost communications route. In practice, there is an increasing tendency for in-company managers to decide overall communications strategy and then buy in expertise from a range of external suppliers who work to a brief on a newsletter or video.
