Politics is changing so public affairs needs to change. Power is more personal and more available. Politics also plays a role in most business decisions and in reputation management. Too many just haven’t realised this yet.
Politics continues to be viewed by many as something that just happens in Parliament. It doesn’t. It takes place not just through formal Parliamentary procedures but also the traditional media and social media. With the continued devolution of power, there is also less of an absolute focus on Westminster and Whitehall.
This spreading of political power has implications for public affairs professionals and campaign. Writers including Tom Foremski, Gary Vaynerchuk, Adam Singer, and Moj Mahdara have discussed how all companies and people are media companies but more account needs to be taken of politics as well. So everyone is a public affairs company.
WHAT HAS CREATED THE SHIFT AND WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
- The wider availability of tools – primarily online tools make political action much quicker and easier. Citizen journalism plays a valuable role in the media and newer tools such as the live streaming Periscope too will open up politics further (we are already seeing this a little in the US presidential nominations). Twitter, Facebook and others allow the easy sharing of information or ideas for action. The power of recommendations by friends is claimed to be a critical influence making social media channels even more important. These tools are also the physical ones as well – smart phones, tablets and Wi-Fi connectivity etc. We all carry huge amounts of processing power in our pockets.
- The wider availability of information – there is more transparency around government now. Some would like more but it is much easier for the people to see what is being said, how active their MPs are, what and how policy is being developed etc. The push is now on data being more openly available as well. With the rise of social media it has become much less likely that things can remain secret.
- New ways of engaging – the institutions of government have appreciated these changes and have attempted to open themselves up. E-petitions triggering Parliamentary debates; tweets to Select Committees etc. show that government is listening and people can have a valuable role of play outside of just voting in elections.
There are some clear implications resulting from individuals being public affairs companies.
So people power is on the rise. They can work alone or together to try and impact on business, government and the media. They understand what they can achieve.
This is not always the same for organisations looking outwards. They do not see that political intervention can result from people using the tools at their disposal. That media scrutiny can come this people power and that politician’s often feel the need to respond to adverse headlines with a new policy, intervention or regulation.
Organisations need to appreciate this shift and allow the public affairs teams to factor this into their actions and campaigns.
- A call to organisations to take their political relations seriously as you never know when the pressure may come.
- The need to appreciate that sources of political power are more diffuse now and each require attention.
- Understanding that social media should not be the preserve of marketing departments, they are engagement channels.
- The development and protection of a strong reputation requires political work as well as media relations, marketing, branding etc.
- That a crisis isn’t just about dealing with the media but needs attention to political audiences and a potentially vast array of other stakeholders.
For all these reasons whatever organisation you are considering, they too are a public affairs firm or should behave like one.
Has your organisation realised this yet?