Argyle Commmunications

Last week, I led a workshop on public relations for senior officials at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Some may find this surprising, because intelligence agencies are known more for keeping secrets than communicating proactively. The fact that CSIS is thinking differently today shows that its leaders understand just how much the rules have changed in an era of communication without control.

When I worked in the Canadian government in the late 1980s and early 1990s, “no comment” was the only comment you would usually hear from representatives of the national security infrastructure. Today, they see communication as a truly strategic function that facilitates cooperation from citizens, confidence from government and attraction of young talent: what three things could be more critical to success? more »

A year ago, as the ‘Arab Spring’ moved from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya and beyond, many commentators credited the social web with the astonishing, almost viral spread of revolutionary spirit. But while social networks gave activists and ordinary citizens an unprecedented ability to organize and communicate, it was the combination of social and mainstream media that gave the movement its true power – and its legacy for global communication.

After a fruit vendor’s tragic self-immolation following his humiliation by the Tunisian authorities in December 2010, social networking helped spur local protests; however, when the influential Al Jazeera network carried the news abroad in January 2011, an international movement was born.

There’s a lesson here for all organizations, even those with less revolutionary aims. We hear and read too much about the shift away from mainstream media in favour of the social sphere. Reach and influence do not come from choosing between mainstream and social media; they come from combining the two. more »

There’s an irony in this week’s dramatic departure of the co-CEOs of Research in Motion: these visionary men changed the way the world communicates, and yet led a company that struggled to communicate effectively in the very environment it helped to create. RIM’s rigid communications style seemed increasingly out of place in a world that prizes communication without control.

The Blackberry makers aren’t the only ones struggling. For generations, business schools taught managers to be highly controlled in their marketing and communications: whether it’s the brand strategy or the media interview or even the tweet via the corporate account, many executives still weigh every word with caution, and manage communication with a high degree of centralized control. more »