Our honorary member Betteke van Ruler has launched her newest book, called The Communication Strategy Handbook. She authored this book with her former student Frank Körver.

The Communication Strategy Framework introduced in this book has been designed as an aid to professionals for making sharp choices toward strategic communication in a most efficient manner. Taking an iterative approach and continually reflecting on whether ones choices remain congruent, will enable a communication professional to continually adapt to changing circumstances while staying in command.

A completely new planning method

The Communication Strategy Framework is a planning method wholly different to the classic step-by-step plans still common in the worlds of public relations and corporate communication, of which John Marston’s widely used RACE model is one example. Rather than showing which choices you have made and why you made them, their main function is to outline intended actions and what those actions will accomplish, and they are strongly focused on control. The authors just don’t believe in plans of that type. The Communication Strategy Framework, by contrast, is an agile method that enables you to continually adapt to changing circumstances while staying in command. It facilitates the communication professional to forcefully and efficiently make the right choices. It compels individuals to think about how communication can contribute to achieving the organization or client’s goals. As a result, it provides a clear picture of the communication strategy in one page by putting superfluous details aside and concentrating on the essentials.

For professionals and students

The Communication Strategy Framework has proven to be an instant eye-opener for communication professionals and students, as well as for managers and their peers. A bestseller amongst professionals in the Netherlands, it is available for the first time in English. This step-by-step guide to creating a communication strategy will help communicators of all types – from professionals and clients to students and teachers. Where classic communication plans can extend to dozens if not hundreds of pages, the Communication Strategy Framework’s preferred method employs sticky notes for quick adjustment and a big sheet of paper showing the entire ‘work in progress’ tacked on the wall. Using this approach, the Framework’s structure shows at a glance whether ones choices line up and whether the choices one has made in the Framework’s eight building blocks are actually congruent with each other. This book invites the reader to take a new approach to strategy development and to present the results of that development process in a more effective way.

If you’re ready to flip your thinking and streamline your strategic planning choices, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.
Sarah Hall, 2018 President of the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations, founder of #FutureProof and a PR and marketing agency owner.

The time is ripe for an academically secure and constructive practical communication framework during strategic judgment.
Prof. dr. Ronél Rensburg, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

The Communication Strategy Framework is a management tool that deserves attention by practitioners and academics alike. It helps to develop communication programs in today’s agile environments.
Prof. dr. Ansgar Zerfass, University Leipzig, Germany.

Betteke van Ruler is professor emeritus of Corporate Communication and Communication Management at the University of Amsterdam and co-owner of The Van Ruler Academy.

Frank Körver is partner at the consulting firm Wepublic, the Dutch affiliate of the global Interel Group. He is also the Dutch co-coordinator of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD).

Buy it now
ISBN-10: 1433156571
ISBN-13: 978-1433156571