ABSTRACT
The Brief introduces the concept of strategic communication and its links to strategic business planning. It explains that the journey students are about to take will explore a new place beyond using the technical skills of communication practice. In this new place, they will need to be aware not only of the vast array of powerful communication tools that are available to them but to know how, why, where and when to use them in the context of a strategic plan. They will now focus on why and how an organisation should communicate to people who are important to it about issues that concern both. The Brief advises them that to do this effectively, they will need to be interested in the world around them and the organisation they work for and what is happening in society and culture, in local, national and often international politics and in the economy.
The Brief notes that strategic communication works beyond the immediate bottom-line profit aims of integrated marketing communication to deal with longer-term public policy issues. This approach does not ignore integrated communication but suggests that unresolved public policy issues influence how organisations deal with market-related communication.
The chapter explains how to use Strategic Communication: Campaign Planning.
