This was a presentation on the changing role of PR and corporate communications based on new drivers like transparency and Web/PR 2.0

1. The Corporate Communications/
PR function
Importance and Relevance for Business Leaders
Matt Tidwell
Sr. Dir., Corporate Communications
Saint Luke s Health System -- Kansas City, MO

2. Times have changed?
You bet.

3. Widget, Inc.
500-employee manufacturer of injection supplies
Traded on NASDAQ
Non-union workforce
Suburban KC headquarters

4. Widget, Inc.
1998
Customers
Employees
Shareholders
Analysts
Beat reporters
Legislators
Widget, Inc.
2012
Customers
Employees
Shareholders
Analysts
Beat Reporters
Bloggers/citizen jours.
Social media consumers
Regulators
NGO's/Nonprofits
Legislators
[[Internal clients]]

5. So what?

7. Start with the premise...
• Audience analysis, the first step in planning, makes or
breaks your planning process
• The BEST plans pay the most attention to the
audience analysis

9. R
R
R
R
Company
R
R
R
R

10. What else drives complexity?

11. Transparency
PR 2.0

12. Content Creation

13. Transparency
• It s demanded and essentially non-negotiable
• PR/Corporate Communications is often the caretaker
of reputation and therefore the caretakers of
transparency
• Private companies/organizations don t get much of a
pass

14. Author: MaryLee Sachs

17. PR 2.0
PR 1.0 (1996)
PR 2.0 (2012)
News releases
Engaging with communities
Spin
Relevance
Speaking in messages
Genuine conversations related to subject
matter of peers
Wire services
Social/conversation tools and networks
Building lists
Building relationships
Communicate to ______
Communicate with _______
Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, Brian Solis

18. What was that about PR as a management
function?
According to data from Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), a private-equity firm, spending on public
relations in America grew by more than 4% in 2008 and nearly 3% in 2009 to $3.7 billion. That is
remarkable when compared with other forms of marketing. Spending on advertising contracted by nearly
3% in 2008 and by 8% in the past year. PR s position looks even rosier when word-of-mouth marketing,
which includes services that PR firms often manage, such as outreach to bloggers, is included. Spending
on such things increased by more than 10% in 2009.
- The Economist, Jan. 2010

19. THANK YOU
 Matt Tidwell, APR
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Saint Luke s Health System
Kansas City, MO
 Email: mtidwell@saint-lukes.org
Twitter: @matt_tidwell
LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/mrtidwell
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