Strategic communication: Advice from the Defense Department

The past month of financial crisis gave us two examples of what strategic communication is not

Strategic communication is the public relations community’s hot new catchphrase, our current version of “thinking outside the box” or “shifting the paradigm.” While the term “strategic communication” has found its way firmly into corporate boardrooms and is appearing on more and more corporate communicators’ business cards, the term remains largely undefined. 

This past month the financial crisis gave us two examples of what strategic communication is not. During an appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, a hearing that many expected would lead to a financial bailout of the U.S. auto industry, we witnessed a dramatic change in attitude when the Big Three CEOs—just moments after asserting they had taken every action to balance their books—admitted they traveled to Washington, D.C., aboard private jets.