Influence, commitment, creative sobriety, technology…. Communication is changing, our work and also our challenges!
To find out more, the We Are COM team and ISCOM, the Higher School of Communication and Advertising, conducted a unique survey* among communication students and professionals. So, was our business experience in the hands of AI? Has TikTok replaced TV? Is CSR the only real problem? or all at once and more?
Changing communication
Notoriety, image, sales? In 2023, communicators’ goals are more specific than that. And above all they gravitate massively around relationships – lasting, committed – between companies and their public. Therefore, for 36% of respondents, the priority objective is to create commitment and preference. Only 3% cite generating direct sales as their primary goal.
The communication areas to prioritize for communicators are environmental commitment (81%) ahead of social commitment (71%), transparency (41%) and innovation (39%), main signs of a paradigm shift.
In this context, on the communication channel side, digital accounts for the lion’s share. In fact, 45% of communicators believe that it is necessary to invest first in social media, before content marketing (23%), events (9%), press relations (8%) and sponsorships (5%). Offline advertising is a priority for only 1% of respondents.
Note, however, and despite the increase in the number of communication channels to invest in, communications budgets are stagnant. Only 19% of communicators surveyed reported an increase in their investments in 2023 compared to 2022.
The communicator sketch in 2023
The communicator today is an all-rounder! Both a data analyst and a literary analyst with a sharp pen, he must be innovative, connected and proactive. Their commitment can also have significant consequences on their way of working: 65% of communicators consider themselves more “worried” than “light”. A strong trend that marks a real empowerment of communication professionalsand a real point of attention for all businesses.
Influence for everything and everyone
While the French parliament recently regulated the activities of influencers, brands have long used opinion leaders on the internet to promote their businesses, successfully.
Therefore, for 82% of those interviewed, the use of influencers is an advantageous practice for commercial communication. New fact, Influence is also popular for other aspects of the brand, such as CSR (39%) or employer brand (53%).
However, setting up influencer campaigns in business isn’t always easy. In question: credibility and trust in these personalities who sometimes respond to codes very far from those of the brands.
And tomorrow, what future for the flu? These obstacles do not hinder the development of these partnerships. Furthermore, 81% of the communicators interviewed think that there will be even more of them and 48% even believe that they will be more credible.
Companies grappling with their (multiple) responsibilities
Carbon footprint, employee well-being, diversity and inclusion, production process… There is no shortage of themes for corporate commitment in 2023. Faced with this diversity, companies are judged to be very pragmatic by communicators. According to them, if organizations today communicate their commitments, it is above all for the sake of reputation (28% of those interviewed mention this criterion first), then to promote their actions (26%) and give meaning to their values (17 %). ).
However, companies are acting with great caution caution when it comes to communicating your commitments. The fear of being accused of greenwashing/wakewashing comes first for 78% of those interviewed, immediately ahead of the lack of concrete evidence (75%).
Key figures: 51% of communicators think that companies don’t know (yet) how to address this complex issue. A percentage that rises to 65% in companies with fewer than 50 employees.
Creative sobriety, gradually a reality
In this context of social changes, a concept is emerging among communicators: creative sobriety. Defined by 58% of them as the fact of “do less voluntarily to do better”, summarizes the tension between the objectives of communication and the reality of targets and organizations.
This new sobriety is already having concrete consequences in the daily lives of communicators : 79% declare an impact on a personal level (limitation, modification of their individual behavior) and 74% on a professional level (company policy).
To go even further, interviewees emphasize that consumers make the decisions. Furthermore, 49% of them think that the end audience will be decisive in changing the behavior of companies, compared to only 16% for technological advances!
Artificial Intelligence VS. ecological sobriety?
While ChatGPT is on everyone’s lips, communicators judge that above all ecological sobriety will be the great theme of tomorrow’s communication (78%)ahead of artificial intelligence (69%), data (47%) and influence (34%).
A result to be related to the characteristics of the brands that will matter most in the months to come for those interviewed. In fact, if innovation is cited “only” by 55% of those interviewed, responsibility (87%), commitment (86%) and transparency (74%) constitute, according to the communicators, the core values of organizations anchored in French society in 2023.
In summary
*Survey carried out online by We Are COM between 25 January and 1 March 2023 – Base of 330 respondents divided between students and professionals, working in mainland France and French overseas territories.
