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2 January 2019

North American Communication Monitor findings

The North American Communication Monitor (NACM) is the first survey of its kind in North America, supported by The Plank Center. Findings have been presented in November, tracking the trends in fake news, issues management, leadership, work stress, social media skills and job satisfaction.

The NACM becomes part of the Global Communication Monitor series, the largest regular global study in the field of strategic communication and public relations. The series, initiated and led by Ansgar Zerfass with renowned PR professors across the world, has analysed trends in the field for more than a decade and covers more than 80 countries across Europe, Latin-America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Go to NACM findings

27 June 2018

North American Communication Monitor

Survey complements monitor studies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America
The global series of studies on the status quo and trends in strategic communication initiated by Professor Ansgar Zerfass from Leipzig University has been expanded by an important building block. The North American Communication Monitor now examines developments in the United States of America (USA) and Canada every two years. It complements the European Communication Monitor, which has been conducted annually since 2007, as well as the Asia-Pacific Communication Monitor and Latin American Communication Monitor, which are also conducted every two years. The studies use the same methodology and largely identical survey instruments, which are developed and coordinated in Leipzig.
The NACM is conducted and funded by the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at the University of Alabama.
In the ever-changing world of artificial intelligence, big data and “fake news,” The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations seeks to better understand the rapid changes in the communication industry and to explore the status quo, qualities and trends of communication management in North America. The survey addresses topics including “fake news” and how to tackle it, how communicators provide insights for decision-making, as well as leadership performance, job satisfaction and personal stress among communication professionals in the United States and Canada. Characteristics of excellent communication departments will be identified and benchmarked against results from other key markets in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America.
The NACM is led by five professors from universities affiliated with The Plank Center, including Drs. Bruce K. Berger and Karla K. Gower, The University of Alabama; Drs. Juan Meng and Bryan H. Reber, The University of Georgia; and Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, from Leipzig University in Germany.
“Not only will we have a better understanding of the communication industry in North America, we will have a greater opportunity for global comparison on issues regarding integrity and trust in what we see, hear and read,” said Karla Gower, Director of The Plank Center.
The NACM becomes part of the Global Communication Monitor series, the largest regular global study in the field of strategic communication and public relations. The series, initiated and led by Zerfass with renowned PR professors across the world, has analyzed trends in the field for more than a decade and covers more than 80 countries across Europe, Latin-Americaand the Asia-Pacific region.
Almost 35,000 communication professionals worldwide working in diverse organizations have been surveyed. Comparative data will be made available for key markets worldwide, e.g. China, India, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and the United States.
“The NACM is a continuation of the Plank Center’s goal to build a research-based foundation of knowledge regarding the values, qualities and dimensions of leadership in public relations,” said Bryan Reber.
In addition to this study, the Center has conducted more than 35 research studies in areas of public relations leadership, mentorship, and diversity and inclusion.
Empirical work for the NACM has already been completed. Results will be released in October 2018 in Chicago and will be available online afterwards.

Go to NACM website

About the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations
The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations is the leading international resource working to support students, educators and practitioners who are passionate about the public relations profession by developing and recognizing outstanding diverse public relations leaders, role models and mentors. Founded in 2005, the Center is named after Betsy Plank, the first lady of PR. Betsy’s legacy and vision continues on in the Center’s programs and initiatives to advance the profession and public relations education. For more information, please visit plankcenter.ua.edu.

13 June 2018

ECM 2018 results: world’s largest survey in strategic communication validates fake news as an indefinite challenge for organisations and society

Berlin, June 13^th 2018 – Results of the European Communication Monitor 2018 have been published today at the European Communication Summit in Berlin. This year’s edition of the largest survey of the communications profession and trends in strategic communication is based on almost 3,100 respondents from 48 European countries, providing valuable insights for public relations, corporate and political communication. A PDF report with full results from the study as well as the methodology is available at www.communicationmonitor.eu.
Besides key trends like fake news, the survey explores communications’ contributions to organisational success as well as the work environment for communication professionals in Europe. Work engagement and stress, job satisfaction and its drivers as well as the status of leadership in communication units are explored with additional detailed analyses for 22 countries. Comparable global data for North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific make the Global Communication Monitor series even more relevant.

Key findings

Professionals working in communications are fully aware of the fake news phenomenon and how it influences public debates and leads to mistrust; but only a quarter experience its daily relevance
Government-owned, public sector and political organisations across Europe are particularly affected by fake news;
More than one quarter of European communication professionals has serious stress problems;
Job satisfaction overall is slowly decreasing in Europe’s communication sector

Mistrust in times of fake news and a volatile environment

Despite the persisting debate about fake news across Europe (agreed upon by 55.8 per cent of the respondents), this does not filter into the day to day experiences of communication practitioners (24.4 per cent). The most affected by fake news are government-owned, public sector and political organisations (44.6 per cent have been affected at least once in 2017/2018). Professionals based in Russia report the strongest impact of fake news on their organisations (53.2 per cent), followed by Serbia, Slovenia and Poland (all more than 40 per cent).

The sources of fake news follow the origins of the debate with social media being the main source of misleading content (81.3 per cent), but mass media (59.6 per cent) can also originate this form of information. Most communication departments and agencies are not sufficiently prepared to identify fake news: Only 12 per cent of affected organisations have established advanced routines.

Information insights for decision-makers

In today’s digital and mediatised world organisations face a plethora of rapid-fire information that is ubiquitous. Hence, it needs algorithms for data processing and interpretations. Collecting and preparing such information as well as keeping decision-makers and (internal) clients up to date with useful information is a core task for communicators and helps them to fulfil their role. The results of this year’s monitor show that providing information to decision-makers is indeed a common practice across Europe. For 64.7 per cent this is a core task that helps to gain recognition for communications (68.0 per cent agree) and it offers great opportunities for positioning their unit (56.8 per cent).
By far the most important and most frequently provided information by communication specialists is about news in ‘gate kept’ media (mass media with professional journalists) and social media. Media monitoring reports and curated news briefings are provided regularly by respectively 74.6 and 59.6 per cent of the communication departments and agencies.
However, only monitoring reports about the published discourse in print outlets (newspapers, magazines) are provided on a daily basis in the majority of organisations (54.8 per cent). Daily insights on what is going on in social networks or on television are delivered less often (by just over 36 per cent). Only 28.4 per cent of the communication departments and agencies in Europe provide executive news briefings on a daily basis, i.e. advanced types of reporting with edited or curated content that delivers deep insights for decision-makers.

Job satisfaction and work stress in the communications profession

Longitudinal comparison with previous ECM surveys in 2010 and 2014 reveals a slow decline in overall job satisfaction. 28.9% of the surveyed practitioners would like to change their current employer within the next twelve months, and 5.2 per cent want to move out of the communications sector all together. However, three quarters of the communication professionals in Europe are satisfied with their job. Overall satisfaction is the strongest in consultants or agencies (79.0 per cent) and in countries like The Netherlands (86.2 per cent), Finland (81.5 per cent) and Germany (81.2 per cent). The strongest drivers for job satisfaction are interesting and manifold tasks, career opportunities and appreciation by superiors and (internal) clients.

Communication professionals are often expected to be high performers in a hard-working culture. No wonder that four out of ten communication professionals (39.0 per cent) in Europe feel tense or stressed out during their working day. At the same time 25.0 per cent do not have the appropriate resources to manage this experience. A cluster analysis reveals that one in four (27.9 per cent) has serious stress problems (reporting stress and not being able to manage it). Following this theme, Portugal, France and Austria report the largest proportion of communication professionals with serious stress problems.
The most important drivers of work stress are the need to be constantly available outside working time to access emails and phone calls, too heavy a work load, the lack of opportunity for growth or advancement, information overload, as well as long working hours. The latter is most significant for professionals working in consultancies and agencies.

Leadership makes a difference

A supportive work environment enables practitioners to exploit their competencies and accomplish organisational goals. The study measured the status in communication departments and agencies across Europe by assessing organisational culture, trust in the organisation, leader performance, overall job satisfaction, and work engagement. Advanced statistical analysis shows that engagement is the key factor that links strongly to all other aspects. Engagement can be influenced by leaders, so in the end leadership makes the difference: educating, mentoring and promoting leadership skills should be a priority in the field.
Enhancing leadership performance, however, is a continuing challenge for the profession. The study reveals that every fifth communication leader (19.2 per cent) lacks leadership skills. A lack of performance at higher levels is clearly visible – especially when noting that subordinates rate the strategic involvement, ethical orientation and knowledge of the highest-ranking communicators clearly worse than the leaders themselves.

Statements from the EUPRERA lead researchers

Professor Ansgar Zerfass, lead researcher of the survey, explained: “During the last 12 months we have experienced significant events on the world geo-political stage with impact and implications for strategic communication. What stands out most of all from this year’s Monitor is the rising importance of building and maintaining trust by 39.5 per cent of all the respondents. The fact that fake news and propaganda have become more important and traditional mass media is losing ground makes public communication in general – and the communication sector specifically – more competitive than ever before. The public battlefield of meaning is fully erupted from the offline to the online world and back and forth.”

Report is available online

These are some of the key results found in the 12th annual European Communication Monitor (ECM), a survey based on interviews with 3,096 communicators in 48 European counties. The monitor was launched today in Berlin. A full report is available online at www.communicationmonitor.eu.
Notes for the editor:
The ECM is annually organised by the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) and the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD), supported by premium partner PRIME Research, a member of the Cision Group, digital communications partner Fink & Fuchs, and media partner Communication Director magazine. The communication monitor series is known as the most comprehensive research in the field worldwide covering more than 85 countries – the European survey is complemented by bi-annual surveys in other regions like Asia-Pacific, Latin and North America.
A free PDF report with full results as well as a video featuring highlights from the study is available at www.communicationmonitor.eu.

Press contact for interviews and more information

Professor Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, Lead Researcher, EUPRERA, zerfass@uni-leipzig.de, Phone +49 341 97 35040

26 February 2018

European Communication Monitor 2018 launched: survey invites respondents to share insights and experiences

Practitioners working in communication departments and agencies across Europe are invited to take part in this year’s European Communication Monitor (ECM). The online survey is available at www.communicationmonitor.eu. The ECM is known as the largest scientific study of the profession worldwide. It has been identifying trends in the profession for more than a decade. Its annual reports provide invaluable insights for leaders in the field.
This year’s monitor addresses highly debated topics such as the challenges of fake news and how to tackle them, how to provide information for decision-makers, leadership in public relations, job satisfaction, and stress and work-life-balance of communicators. The survey will identify characteristics of excellent communication departments and explore commonalities and differences across Europe. Country-to-country comparisons and benchmarks of different types of organisations (companies, non-profits, governmental, agencies, etc.) will make the results relevant for everybody in the field.
The ECM 2018 also marks the start of the next exciting phase for this joint endeavour of academia and practice. The data gathered in Europe will be complemented by similar surveys in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and – for the first time – in North America. With more than 80 countries covered and 50,000 participants to date, the Global Communication Monitor series is the only truly global study of strategic communication. Ansgar Zerfass, Chair Professor at Leipzig University and leader of the study series, says: “We are proud that the leading universities and researchers in all major countries are active collaborators of this initiative. This helps us to take an informed international perspective. Renowned and strong partners from the profession assure that we explore relevant topics and that filling in the survey is inspiring for respondents.” All results of the studies are available for free. A new website with reports, publications, videos and interactive self-assessment features will be launched later this year.
The European Communication Monitor is organised by the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA), representing almost 500 academics in the field, and the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD), a membership organisation of leading professionals, both headquartered in Brussels. It is supported by premium partner PRIME Research, a global leader in communication research and a member of the Cision Group, as well as Fink & Fuchs, Wiesbaden, as digital communications partner. The academic team running the survey includes professors from 23 renowned universities ranging from Amsterdam to Madrid and Milan to Moscow, with new colleagues e.g. from Vienna, Lisbon, Louvaine and Zagreb joining the team for the next years.
Practitioners filling in the questionnaire at www.communicationmonitor.eu will receive a full report of the results. They can also participate in a prize draw for 5 Amazon Echo Dots. Privacy is fully respected and participants cannot be identified.

Contact
EUPRERA
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, Leipzig – Lead researcher
Prof. Dr. Ralph Tench, Leeds – President
Boulevard du Jubilé 71, B-1080 Brussels, Belgium
Email info@communicationmonitor.eu
EACD
Inge Wallage, Managing Director
European Association of Communication Directors
37, Square de Meeûs, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Mobile: +31627093979
Email: inge@wallage.nl

About EUPRERA
The European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) is an autonomous organisation with nearly 500 members from 40 countries interested in advancing academic research and knowledge in strategic communication. Several cross-national and comparative research and education projects are organised by affiliated universities.
In order to spread new methodologies and research results, EUPRERA organises a highly regarded Annual Congress each autumn in collaboration with a selected university or college in Europe.
www.euprera.org

About EACD
The European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) aims to attract, inspire and engage current and future communication leaders to drive excellence in our profession. We offer communication professionals a platform to connect, deepen their expertise, share best practice, establish and promote relevant standards. The Association also publishes leading content through its magazine, Communication Director. The EACD currently has more than 2,000 members.
www.eacd-online.eu

About PRIME Research
PRIME Research is a global leader in strategic communication research with operations in nine research hubs and serving clients in 35 countries in the Americas, Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Asia. PRIME leverages its corporate and brand reputation research expertise to foster better communications and business decision-making.
www.prime-research.com

About Fink & Fuchs
As a specialist for the communication of change and technological transformation, Fink & Fuchs has been the strategic partner for companies, associations and public clients for 30 years. The communications agency employs 80 people in Wiesbaden, Munich and Berlin. It is one of the three most recommended agencies in Germany (brand eins, Statista-Ranking) and has been awarded three times as the agency of the year (PR Report / Holmes Report). Its more than 60 customers include Cisco Germany, Computacenter, Hasbro, Mobotix, Salesforce, Schott, Techem and federal authorities and ministries. Fink & Fuchs helps shape the further development of the communications industry in the presidium of the GPRA agency association.
www.ffpr.de/en/

29 June 2017

European Communication Monitor 2017 results presented today

World’s largest survey in strategic communication demonstrates increasing influence of the communication profession in organisations and societal debates.

Professionals working in communications are fully aware of the trend towards increased visualisation in society, however every second professional has limited visual competencies
Social bots are seen largely as a threat for society and organisations – an explanation why only a few organisations already use social bots
A cultural turn towards hyper-modernism changes the way organisations communicate with their stakeholders

Brussels, June 29^th 2017 – The European Communication Monitor has been surveying trends in strategic communication for more than a decade. This year’s edition is based on a record number of 3,387 respondents from every European country, ensuring it makes once more an outstanding contribution in the area of strategic communication and providing valuable insights for professionals working in public relations, business or political communication. Moreover, this year’s Monitor deals with the cultural transformation towards hypermodernity and offers detailed insights for everybody working as communication managers for small, medium or large organisations in the public or private sector. Comparable global data for the Latin American and Asia-Pacific regions make the Monitor even more relevant.
Visual trend offers huge potential for strategic communication
The fact that we live in a visual society and social media and mobile communication boost all types of visuals is clearly observable and broadly recognised by European communication managers. However, 53.3 per cent of the surveyed professionals have low visual communication skills – compared to 12.1 per cent with high visual competencies. That is also true at the organisational level. More than 80 per cent of the professionals have implemented standard guidelines for their visual communication. However, only 36.7 per cent have developed advanced guidelines and less than five per cent have advanced management processes for visual communication.
ECM17-Graphic02
Personal competencies of communication professionals are low in nearly all fields
of visual communication – also in the areas of online videos and infographics
Source: European Communication Monitor 2017

Social (ro-)bots are largely neglected in Europe
Despite the growing commercial and political application of social bots findings from the ECM 2017 data demonstrate that this phenomenon is largely neglected by many communication professionals in Europe. Only one third follow the debate about social bots and 15.9 per cent have no idea about the topic at all. In this context social bots are mainly seen as a threat for public debates and organisational reputation alike, although four out of ten respondents do also see opportunities arising from them. 73.2 per cent of all respondents agree that social bots present ethical challenges for the profession.
ECM17-Graphic03
Communication practitioners in the German speaking countries are more attentive to the debate about social bots
Source: European Communication Monitor 2017

Hypermodernity challenges old paradigms in strategic communication and for organisations
A hypermodern society is a society in overdrive, characterised by a culture of hyper consumption, hyper change, and hyper individualism. A large majority of 71.5 per cent of the European communication professionals witness the cultural transformation towards a hyper modern culture in their country. The transition from a postmodern to hypermodern culture is the strongest in consultancies (57.2 per cent) and private companies (51.8 per cent). Organisations with postmodern and hypermodern characteristics are ahead in sensing the trend towards an overarching consumer mentality. Most of them think that it has already changed communication with stakeholders and a large majority thinks that it will change their communication in the next three years.
Quality management and Benchmarking
Quality management and continuous improvement is less common in communication departments and marketing, compared to other organisational functions. If communication departments assess their activities at all, they focus predominantly on the performance or impact of messaging activities. Holistic benchmarking approaches against externally validated standards seem to be less relevant.
ECM17-Graphic05
Quality management and continuous improvement is less common in communication departments, compared to other organisational functions
Source: European Communication Monitor 2017

Statements from the EUPRERA lead researcher and the president of the EACD
Zerfass Professor Ansgar Zerfass, lead researcher of the survey, explained: “During the last 12 months we have experienced significant events on the world geo-political stage with impact and implications for strategic communication. While the European Communication Monitor continues to track the specifics of the communicator’s role we are also interested in mapping and monitoring the influence of wider societal issues, from economic and cultural developments to technological change, and understand their implications on practice.”
“What stands out most of all from this year’s Monitor is the recognition of the important operational and strategic contribution that communications makes to an organisation’s success, with more than 70% approval rates, with the communications function emerging as a key supporter for daily management and the operations of other departments,” said Herbert Heitmann, president of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD). He added: “However, top management is not aware of the full range of contributions that communications can deliver. More efforts are necessary to close this expectation gap.”
A joint study by academia and practice, the ECM is organised by the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) and the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD), supported by partner PRIME Research, a global leader for media insights, and media partner Communication Director magazine. The communication monitor series is known as the most comprehensive research in the field worldwide covering more than 80 countries – the European survey is complemented by bi-annual surveys in other regions like Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

A PDF report with full results as well as a video featuring highlights
from the study is available at http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/

Press contact for interviews and more information

Professor Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, Lead Researcher, EUPRERA, zerfass@uni-leipzig.de
Dr. Herbert Heitmann, President, EACD, herbert.heitmann@eacd-online.eu