The role of strategic communication in driving marketing-decision making

The recent disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic and major social movements like Black Lives Matter have increased the relevance of strategic communication, which shapes how firms are perceived by publics and affect consumers’ behavior towards their offerings. Over the last decades, the academic literature has begun to focus on the topic of strategic communication (Argenti, 2017; Holtzhausen and Zerfass, 2015; Macnamara, 2018; Sandhu, 2009; Zerfass and Huck, 2007) as the omnidirectional diachronic ongoing process of meaning construction (van Ruler, 2018), emphasizing the role of communication departments in complex organizations and, in particular, the importance of communication alignment between organizational objectives, vision, brand and identity (Botan, 2018). Indeed, strategic communication is an “emerging field of knowledge bridging established research fields such as public relations, organizational communication and marketing communications” (Falkheimer and Heide, 2022, p. 15), also defined as an emerging interdisciplinary paradigm (Werder et al., 2018). In this vein, Heide et al. (2018) interpret strategic communication as a discipline that embraces complexity and interdisciplinarity with the aim of fully grasping the different nuances of the organization, without neglecting strategy, orientation, and organizational objectives. One of the first definitions of strategic communication by Hallahan et al. (2007) interprets the concept of strategic communication as the purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfill its mission. However, this definition has been superseded by other interpretations of the concept, that focus in more detail on how strategic communication can support the organization in fulfilling its mission (Volk and Zerfass, 2018). In this vein, strategic communication has been defined as an overall strategy to improve the strategic positioning of the organization (Argenti et al., 2005). Zerfass et al. (2018, p. 493) define strategic communication as “the purposeful use of communication by an organization or other entity to engage in conversations of strategic significance to its goals”. In this definition, therefore, strategic communication refers to both messaging and listening activities, including dialogues with stakeholders, social media monitoring, information from employees, etc. In other words, this new role of communication is considered strategic when it becomes substantial or significant for the development, the growth, the identity or the survival of the organization (Zerfass et al., 2018). Indeed, according to this perspective, strategic communication offers a concrete contribution to the decision-making organizational process in an evolving business context (Invernizzi et al., 2012), as it represents a critical organizational management process (Romenti and Invernizzi, 2011; Falkheimer, 2014). In general terms, according to Volk and Zerfass (2018), the common thread of strategic communication studies is the emphasis on the notion of “purposeful”, “intentional” or “objectives-driven”. Falkheimer et al. (2017), for example, argued this concept is key for the development of effective business strategies, as strategic communication can contribute to business success. To achieve this business aim, Argenti et al. (2005) showed that strategic communication requires an integrated and multilevel approach – according to this framework, each communication function achieves specific objectives through the most appropriate channels and the most effective methods. Invernizzi and Romenti (2015), in particular, identified four contributions of strategic communication for the organizations, namely “alignment role”, “energizing role”, “visionary role” and “constitutive role”. More specifically, the two authors interpreted strategic communication as a support to the organization to achieve alignment with external expectations, and in particular, as a support for monitoring the activities and the organizational context, capable of providing key inputs to align corporate strategies with stakeholder’ expectations and ensure the organization survival and legitimacy. Indeed, according to this perspective, strategic communication lies at the intersection of management strategy and communication (Thomas and Stephens, 2014). More specifically, Jarzabkowski et al. (2007) identified a link between discourse and the social practice of strategy, defining this practice as a set of interactions and negotiations of multiple actors that they draw upon in accomplishing that activity. In addition, recent academic studies highlighted that strategic communication is not managed only internally by the organization, but, for the achievement of its strategic objectives, it also includes external actors and practices, such as the so-called “strategic social media influencer communication”. Indeed, according to Enke and Borchers (2019), strategic social media influencer communication is assuming an increasingly key role both in strategic communication studies and in business practices. Social media influencers represent third-party actors who have a considerable influence on organizational stakeholders, through the production and distribution of content and interaction with stakeholders (Freberg et al., 2011). Hence, in this perspective, strategic social media communication is conceptualized as the strategic use of communication in which influencers, on the one hand, perform activities of strategic relevance to organizational goals, on the other hand, influencers take an active part in interactive processes on topics relevant to the organization, adopting a moderating role (Enke and Borchers, 2019). More in general, strategic communication has a multidirectional and complex nature which must be managed in harmony with the organizational context (O’Connor and Shumate, 2018). In this perspective, strategic communication involves the interconnection of organizations, messages, and stakeholders, and plays a key role in creating and maintaining business relationships between the parties (Knudsen and Lemmergaard, 2014; Merz et al., 2009). Indeed, recent strategic communication studies adopted a multidimensional network perspective, which allows scholars to analyze the diverse types of networks that strategic communication helps to create, maintain, and dissolve. In this regard, O’Connor and Shumate (2018, p. 400) reveal that “both the network strategies created, and the outcomes of those strategies are described in network terms”. According to the two scholars, in particular, as the affiliation network around an organization increases, so does the number of actors who share the organization’s message. In summary, three factors determine the results of a company’s engagement efforts: (1) the prior state of the affiliate network, (2) the effectiveness of the organization’s network strategies, and (3) the effects of the strategies network of other organizational actors (O’Connor and Shumate, 2018). In addition, a study by Young and Pieterson (2015) showed that strategic communication professionals should also leverage the capital that derives from the composition and structure of the interpersonal network to facilitate information flows in networks. It is believed that networks are beneficial to access unique and non-redundant sources of information. Purpose of the paper. Given this scenario and considering also the complex and multidimensional nature of strategic communication, it is necessary to reconsider its role in driving innovative business decisions. We pose the following research question: RQ. How does strategic communication drive decision-making processes in marketing? Specifically, this research aims to investigate the role of strategic communication in companies from different industries and to explore how corporate communication could drive companies’ activities and impact innovative business decisions considering the transformations in nowadays society.