Communicators as Asset Managers
I'm at the IABC Conference in New Orleans for a few days. As always, most sessions focus on "getting communicators a seat at the table." (A message I've heard form more than 20 years, but who's counting?)
Diane Gayeski's presentation "Managing Communication as a Business Asset" made a lot of sense. Gayeski, a professor at Ithaca College, maintains that there are clear assets to great communications and it's the communicator's job to preserve those assets.
Gayeski talked of the value of these intangible assets: brand, customer loyalty, employee loyalty, corporate culture, knowledge and communication and feeback systems. "These are worth more than lunch money," she says. These are the type of assets used by analysts to value a company.
She reminds us that as managers of these assets, it's up to communicators to talk about them in hard numbers and measure them consistently.
"Scratch out your current title on your business card," says Gayeski, suggesting that you find a new title that includes all the important aspects of the company that you manage
.
