Reimagining Corporate Communications

Ruhail Amin outlines how the sector has undergone a cultural and contextual shift to be more involved in brand-building and strategic communication over the years

- Ruhail Amin

Traditionally, the role of Corporate Communications has been all about managing media releases, employee management and forging media relations. Corporate Communication in its re-imagined form is not just about media relations and employee communication, but is being used increasingly for customer relations, strategic communication, crisis management and brand-building. It has now evolved into a highlevel management profession that deals with the core values of an organization.

We speak to some communications professionals who have seen the industry go through a cultural and contextual shift to understand the way the communications industry has evolved over the years.

Says Sonia Huria, HeadCorporate Marketing, Communications & Sustainability, Viacom18, “Over the years, the Corporate Communications industry in India has seen quite a drastic shift, both in ways that it functions and is perceived. Now, Corporate Communications teams have started driving the brand-building process in many organizations. Brands are now focusing on unifying and consolidating Digital, ATL and traditional PR functions, thereby creating synergies and harnessing their collective power. Rather than being in silos, communication and marketing experts are now collaborating. At Viacom18, our brand promise is to ‘open new worlds’. As a central function, communications plays a very significant role in imbibing this message in every network-level project while at the same time weaving in this message in every corporate brand marketing campaign.”