ABSTRACT
The Reflection helps students contemplate the journey they began in Chapter 1 and the experience of compiling their own strategic plan. As they reflect on the ideas and practice that informed Strategic Communication: Campaign Planning they’ll recognise how systematic planning based on research, rational decision-making and ethical practice lead to success. The book’s discussions cover why decisions to communicate are made, how messages can be effectively given to people who share issues with organisations, what techniques can best do that, when they should be applied, and how success can be assessed. Students have been encouraged to think about strategic communication in a new way: how it works in the mid- and long-term time frames, or horizons, of business planning and in an organisation’s non-market environment.
This approach has led to an understanding that strategic communication is about more than enhancing an organisation’s bottom line. It is about communication that deals with longer-term topics like reputation, issues management, lobbying, credibility, corporate social responsibility, organisational positioning and strategic counselling.
At the end of it all, the book’s exploration has guided students to take a quantum leap from the skill development and basic writing abilities that consumed much of their university studies, to high-level strategic thinking, planning and ethical practice. That will be vital knowledge as they progress through their careers in strategic communication.
