Archive for the ‘Strategic Communication’ Category
Lesson 299 Global Higher Ed as Public Diplomacy
Posted in Higher Education, International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on December 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Lesson 298 Why Go There When There’s TV?
Posted in Higher Education, International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on November 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »
By watching the news over the last few months it’s possible to see the Greek government as totally dysfunctional, its people too lazy to work a full day, its political leaders as ego driven, and its approach to its membership in the EU as naive.
My wife and I just spent almost three weeks touring Athens and many of the Greek isles. We experienced a Greece that is actually functioning fairly well in spite of high unemployment. Christmas decorations are appearing everywhere, and most restaurants are doing fine. People complain about their extremely high taxes, but I must say that their “enjoy-life everyday” lifestyle came off to me as a healthy alternative to the relentless success-driven world from which I retired!
Simply put, being there was a much different experience than just seeing it on television or in textbook photos or on videos. For example, standing on the Acropolis and walking slowly around the Parthenon is truly an emotional experience. These are familiar images we have all seen in books, magazines, and movies. But when you are actually there you cannot escape the thrill of putting your feet on the same ground where ancient people walked, worked, fought, worshiped, lived, and debated ideas.
At archeological sites and in museums throughout the Greek isles and in Athens my wife repeatedly commented on how breathtaking it was for her to see the actual artifacts and paintings that she had only seen in art and world history textbooks. Being there connects you directly with the same places where artists painted, philosophers taught, and the historical events that we read about really happened. Now you are the director of your own movie. You decide where to point the camera. You alone determine what to spend more time exploring.
Just walking streets and neighborhoods gives you a good impression of how people live each day. And talking with only a few of them can provide new insights about their core values and life goals. You find that they can be different from yours, but still engaging and understandable.
And sometimes you may also be disappointed. For example, you may find that many of the charming towns and villages you have seen in travel photos and movies have become overcrowded tourist traps much of the year. But this too is a real life lesson about how the world is constantly changing and the price that is being paid for progress.
Observing people’s daily lives, absorbing cultures and values, making foreign friendships, encountering political and religious conflicts, seeing poverty that you can’t change with your own eyes, and even experiencing the consequences of global warming for yourself… all this and more changes people forever.
Yes, the digital technology revolution can bring great images of the world to the campus experience. And we certainly must use this new and traditional media to enrich our classroom conversations and dialogues. But with the globalization of higher education all of this should just be the preparation for students spending more time experiencing the world first-hand.
One final thought about being there: A new level of fear came over me after experiencing the terrorist killings in Paris while in Athens. After all, I had just traveled through the history of this ancient land and there was no way now I could ignore the fact that many great societies came to an end because of this kind of extreme intolerance coupled with a disregard for the value of human life.
So, what will it take to bring about tolerance in this world! I still believe that the globalization of higher education is a huge step in the right direction. But last week in Athens I must say it felt like we are now in a race against time.
Lesson 297 Communication Lessons for a World in Crisis
Posted in Higher Education, International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on November 19, 2015| 1 Comment »
Reflecting over 50 years of struggling to help people and institutions make themselves better understood I offer the following lessons:
1. Once people have made a commitment to a point of view it is almost impossible to change their minds. So in the case of ISIS today, military and/or political solutions seem to be the only immediate options.
2. But it is not too late for mayors and city managers to collaborate on both communication and action initiatives that will enable Muslim groups to feel better connected to genuine opportunities. Hopelessness and despair in the multi-cultural ghettos of the world’s great cities can still be addressed.
3. This is also a moment that top Muslim leaders can and should seize to plan and launch a major communication campaign to explain Islam to the world. This is because the world’s news media will be looking for new breaking news stories right now, and the timing is especially right for this one. But to be effective at a time like this a story must cut through mounds of negative information clutter. And to do so it must be a completely positive, simple, and endlessly repeated description of what Islam stands for and what it does not.
4. This is also a “right time” opportunity for the leaders of the Western world to unite behind their shared democratic values. However, for this to ring credible politicians and prominent leaders in every country will have to be willing to find the right common language to “rally” everyone behind their president or top leader, no matter political background or past mistakes. Common cause must become the unifier. Blame must be left for historians. Dissent can be accommodated, but not at this time among the leaders.
It’s true that 24/7 news coverage can make it difficult to get beyond many momentary crises. But continuing news coverage in a crisis of ISIS magnitude might prove to be helpful. It can provide an opportunity for the Western world to unite around shared values, a catalyst for addressing ghetto neighborhood hopelessness, a new opportunity for top Islamic leaders to make their religion better understood, and a perfect “teachable moment” for educators and students everywhere around the world.
Lesson 296 University Advancement and Globalization
Posted in Higher Education, International, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on November 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »
On Monday I met with the executive editor of the Economist news magazine in London. Because it is so current and comprehensive those who work there still call it a weekly newspaper, and many international leaders will argue that it is the most influential business and political publication in the world.
My TCU John V. Roach Honors College classes and Bob Schieffer Communication College seminars have been enriched by “live” dialogues with this noted international journalist. We have “Skyped” him in to converse with students, and we have also visited with him in the board room at the top of the Economist building in London.
Today my discussion with him was about the future of higher education. He is responsible for the new media initiatives at the Economist as well as its annual publication, The Year Ahead. So I presented ideas from my new book The Transition Academy (CASE Books), and he made observations based on his daily immersion in the turmoil of international news.
When all was said and done we agreed that on-line education is improving and will establish itself as a convenient alternative for many students around the world, that residential institutions will have to combine new media enhancements and experiences with face-to-face dialogues in order to succeed, that all of higher education is rapidly becoming a global industry and every institution will have to adapt, and that “university advancement” is a misleading term for what might better be called “university business development.”
Advancement is a term that is intended to cover university fundraisng, alumni relations, strategic communication, marketing, and even government relations. I have even described it as including everyone involved with advancing the institution. But it has become misleading to many, and my meeting today at the Economist convinced me that as the industry becomes more global we really do need to find a better term.
Lesson 295 Preparing Institutions for Tomorrow
Posted in Branding, Higher Education, Integrated Marketing, Lessons Learned, Planning, Strategic Communication on November 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Last week I had the pleasure of working with a group of trustees committed to preserving the values and distinctions of a hundred year old institution. But they also understood that planning for the future will require using new communication tools and adapting to the needs of a generation that grew up with those tools.
We first discussed the increasing power of brand identity. In this digital media world people seem to affiliate with an institution as much for what it stands for and the total experience it delivers (values, culture, traditions, relationships, regional characteristics, consistency, program distinctions, etc.) as for its particular fields of study.
We also discussed how in an information cluttered world an authentic differentiated brand identity can actually achieve greater visibility, as well as greater distinction. And we explored how an authentic brand description can be adapted to connect with different age groups and market segments, and how each segment will have its own preferred media platforms… some digital and some traditional.
At the heart of this institution’s educational experience has always been face-to-face conversations about social justice, gender, diversity, world religions, church and state, and more. So we discussed how all this can be preserved while adapting to the needs of new generations. Internet searches, easy to access media material, shorter talks in class, teleconferencing with experts from around the world, all can be used while preserving the added value of face-to-face conversations and forums.
What was most impressive about this group was that they could see how a contemporary vision for the future, and new methods of teaching, can remain grounded in its founding mission.
Lesson 294 The Case of Latin America
Posted in Higher Education, Integrated Marketing, International, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on October 29, 2015| 2 Comments »
The EU is a collection of separate countries that came together to prevent the possibility of another world war, as well as to compete more powerfully in the international marketplace. However, right now a common currency and shared issues in higher education seem to be the only things they have in common.
Latin America is made up of many separate countries too. Each has its distinct culture and political environment. As with the EU, it is almost impossible to refer to Latin America as a unified entity. Few if any would see it as a common market.
I had the honor this week of kicking off a conference attended by university marketing and communication professionals from many of the countries in Latin and Central America, the United States, and Puerto Rico. I talked with them about my new book, The Transition Academy, and about my lessons learned over 50 years adapting marketing and communication strategies and tactics to the challenge of making academic institutions better understood. I found that on these topics they indeed did have a lot in common. They were all experiencing government cutbacks, the impact of the digital technology revolution both inside and outside their institutions, and the widespread effects of globalization.
The participants talked to me about how social media tools were changing their students, as well as how they were marketing their institutions differently. They were interested in more sophisticated approaches to brand identity development, and ways to get more support for their work inside their universities. In other words, they have the same internal politics issues that we all do. They asked about the importance of world rankings, and how smaller institutions can respond to related constituent pressures.
In other words, I experienced with this group what I had previously experienced in Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia, and even South Africa. While some of the specifics are different, many of the big issues we face in the academy are the same. While we compete for students and money in some cases, we also can come together and share common concerns and lessons.
Latin America is not a common market. But the universities of Latin America do have many issues in common and problems they can resolve together. And when I suggested that the ultimate potential of all this interaction was a global industry that developed truly international leaders and the expertise to solve our most pressing international problems, no one seemed to object.
Lesson 293 Governments, Think Tanks, Universities, and Soft Power
Posted in Higher Education, International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on October 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Lesson 292 Public Diplomacy and Higher Ed
Posted in Higher Education, International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on October 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism hosted a Summit on Global Leadership in Public Diplomacy at the US Institute of Peace in Washington this week.
In his welcoming remarks the Center’s director explained that the term “public diplomacy” was originally coined 50 years ago by US Diplomat Edmund Gullion to denote “coordinated governmental engagement with foreign publics,” but that over the years the concept became much “more expansive.”
My interest in the topic also began almost 50 years ago as a graduate student studying communication and international relations at American University. And I must say that over the years my teaching and writing embraced the more expansive concept of “people-to-people” communication. For me, government-to-people implied promoting the current administration’s foreign policy. But people-to-people implied a more mutual exchange of traditions, values and human aspirations. In short, for me the “idea of America” seemed best conveyed directly by its citizens. And so I also came to view international higher education as a highly effective form of public diplomacy.
At the Summit this week there were participants from universities, the state department, government contractors, NGO’s, and others. The speakers covered the full “expanse” of public diplomacy concepts and tools from traditional face-to-face exchanges, to uses of social media, to video projects, to MOOC’s, to establishing cultural centers abroad, and more. Common themes ranged from cultivating the ability to have civilized conversations with people with whom you do not agree, to listening first and then accepting a goal of reaching win-win agreements.
One panelist said that “credibility in communication is established by WHO is sending the message.” I certainly agree. And so everything I heard affirmed my contention that international higher education is indeed a pure form public diplomacy. It promises to produce global leaders, enhance cross-cultural understanding, and gradually focus more research on international problem-solving.
Lesson 291 Shooters, 24/7 TV and Higher Ed
Posted in Higher Education, Lessons Learned, Media Literacy, Strategic Communication on October 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »
This week the anchor of Meet the Press acknowledged he would avoid mentioning the name of the recent community college shooter out of concern for television’s unintended consequences. And yet he did not put this critical issue on the table for his expert panel of journalists to analyze and discuss.
It seems that each time another shooter goes on the rampage his unstable mental situation is the only factor pundits and politicians can agree on. And yet the more I study such situations, the more it seems to me that the celebrity making potential, and mass visibility of going out in a blaze of glory, are likely to be important contributing factors in stimulating copycats.
There is little doubt that television is at it’s best when it makes drama. It’s in its very nature. Otherwise it’s boring. Live 24/7 television coverage requires drama to hold audiences. Competition between media for side stories enhances that drama. And emotional victim interviews add even more drama.
What does it take for sick-minded, angry and isolated individuals to also want this kind of mass visibility and celebrity? The temptation to copy this drama could be overwhelming. And yet while all of this is unfolding on television, the issue is never discussed.
So what implication does this have for higher education? Ever since the television revolution of the 1960s I have been discussing “media literacy” with anyone who will listen. Media revolutions always change how everything works… from family interaction, to what it takes to win elections, to individual behavior.
If a global higher education industry can educate international leaders and help solve world problems, it can also advance media literacy. And with so much dramatic violence in the world to report, understanding media must become still another core competency.
Lesson 290 The Pope, Obama and Higher Ed
Posted in Higher Education, International, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Strategic Communication on September 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The Pope’s appearance before Congress and Obama’s presentation to the United Nations were both historic moments. They were impressive performances and could be seen as interesting topic agendas for international higher education initiatives.
The Pope addressed most of the pressing issues the planet faces these days, from reversing global warming to breaking the cycle of poverty. He made his concerns about the consequences of capitalist greed very clear, argued that everyone deserves equal opportunities, and reminded the entire world about the universal appeal of the “golden rule.”
But two other points also stood out to me: If you listened carefully he also called for an end to polarization, pointing out how destructive it is for the common good. In addition, he pointed out that US universities have an enormous research capacity to help solve the world’s most serious problems.
On a different but compatible note, Obama’s speech to the United Nations was a clearly articulated case for preferring diplomacy over military action whenever possible. Following the speech, however, a pundit quipped that this was vintage “professor” Obama, missing a perfect opportunity to talk more practically.
My reaction, however, was that all practical solutions begin with “big ideas” and diplomacy and public diplomacy are the perfect “big ideas.” And furthermore, a global higher education industry will help lay the groundwork for effective diplomacy, while itself functioning as a powerful form of public diplomacy.
In the final analysis, both the Pope and the President were challenging the US and the rest of the world to put greed aside and educate everyone everyday for the common good. A global higher education industry will certainly help bring that about. (more…)
Larry D. Lauer 