• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

      PRNigeria logo fearured image

      EFCC Arraigns Ex-Convict, Other for Naira Abuse in Lagos

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Nigeria Customs Partners China on Smarter Ports, Officer Training, Reforms

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Customs Moves Against 223 Importers in N379bn Permit Breach

      Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

      How Customs is Tightening Borders to Stop Illicit Cash Flows –…

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Codeine, Tramadol Worth ₦20.5bn Seized as Customs-NAFDAC Cooperation Deepens

      Acting Controller General of Customs, Nigerian Customs Services, NSC, Ag. CG Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      Adeniyi Inaugurates Lagos School Renovated by Nigeria Customs 

  • National
    • Abike Dabiri CEO NIDCOM

      NiDCOM Urges Restraint as Ghanaians Protest Against Nigerians Over Alleged Crimes

      Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar with the President of NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku during the unveiling of the National Reputation Management Group at Abuja on 15th October 2024.

      NRMG Charged to Lead Battle Against Fake News, Reframe Nigeria’s Image

      Police Officer

      Again, FCT Police Raid Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 66 Suspects

      IMPR Interns

      Unpacking Dr. Fatima Binta’s NIPR Vision: A Candid Chat with PRNigeria…

      Dr. Ahmadu Fatimah Binta

      Beyond the Clinic: Dr. Fatimah Binta Reveals PR’s Impact on Medicine

    • Government
      • Abike Dabiri CEO NIDCOM

        NiDCOM Urges Restraint as Ghanaians Protest Against Nigerians Over Alleged Crimes

        Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar with the President of NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku during the unveiling of the National Reputation Management Group at Abuja on 15th October 2024.

        NRMG Charged to Lead Battle Against Fake News, Reframe Nigeria’s Image

        Super Falcons wins WAFCON Trophy

        Falcon’s WAFCON Glory: Tinubu Committed to Sports Development – Minister

        Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

        Nigeria Customs Partners China on Smarter Ports, Officer Training

        NYSC Corps Members in Camp

        Tinubu to Honours 210 Ex-NYSC Members for Meritorious Services

  • Security
    • 3,000 Terrorists Killed, 120,000 Surrendered in Two Years — Defence Chief

      Police Officer

      Again, FCT Police Raid Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 66 Suspects

      Troops Avert Terrorists’ IED Attack in Borno

      Military Troops during operations

      Troops Eliminate Terrorists, Disrupt Logistics Supply in Borno

      FGC Yauri schoolgirls

      Kidnapped FGC Yauri Schoolgirls Defy Odds, Graduate with Distinction from Top…

  • Features
    • Leon Usigbe

      Death, you can’t be Proud of this By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem 

      Tinubu’s Plateau Gambit – Yilwatda, 2027, and the Return of the…

      Ozumi and a recipient of a wheelchair

      Wheels of Hope: How a Simple Gift is Reshaping Lives at…

      Late Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari and Mansur Liman

      “Buhari: A Blunt, Honest Leader Who Laughed at His Own Predicament”

      Intelligence Synergy: Reshaping Nigeria’s Security Architecture, By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

  • State
    • Police Officer

      Again, FCT Police Raid Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 66 Suspects

      Troops Avert Terrorists’ IED Attack in Borno

      Military Troops during operations

      Troops Eliminate Terrorists, Disrupt Logistics Supply in Borno

      Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      NSCDC Mining Marshal Seals Illegal Lithium Mine in Kebbi, Uncovers Alleged…

      NAF Air Personnel

      NAF ‘Rattles’ ISWAP Terrorists with Decisive Blow in Lake Chad Region

  • Event
    • Founder Image Merchant Promotion Ltd, Yushau Shuaib, Nigeria Customs CG, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the IPRA representative during the 2024 GWA awards in Belgrade, Serbia

      IPRA Celebrates 70th Anniversary, Hosts 2025 Golden World Awards in Ghana

      IMPR Interns

      Unpacking Dr. Fatima Binta’s NIPR Vision: A Candid Chat with PRNigeria…

      Dr. Ahmadu Fatimah Binta

      Beyond the Clinic: Dr. Fatimah Binta Reveals PR’s Impact on Medicine

      FGC Yauri schoolgirls

      Kidnapped FGC Yauri Schoolgirls Defy Odds, Graduate with Distinction from Top…

      Super Falcons wins WAFCON Trophy

      VON Apologizes for Erroneous WAFCON Report, Cites Possible Security Breach, Identifies…

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Features Interrogating Strategic Communication by Arthur-Martins Aginam, PhD 
  • Features

Interrogating Strategic Communication by Arthur-Martins Aginam, PhD 

By
Arthur-martins Aginam
-
October 5, 2023
Dr. Arthur-Martins Aginam, Columnist Spokesperson's Digest
Dr. Arthur-Martins Aginam, Columnist Spokesperson's Digest

Interrogating Strategic Communication by Arthur-Martins Aginam, PhD 

This article was first published on spokesperson’s digest. Click here to view

Marketing communication has evolved substantially since its emergence as a tool of persuasion about a century ago. While Public Relations and Advertising are two of the better-known sub-disciplines in the field, Strategic Communication has, in about the past two decades, become something of a fad in marketing communications theory and practice. Yet, Strategic Communication is sometimes imprecisely defined leaving questions about the difference, if any, between it and traditional Public Relations and other marketing communications, for that matter.

One thing is clear though, as a fast-emerging field of practice, Strategic Communication is somewhat wide in scope, drawing from a diverse range of traditional marketing communication fields. These include, but are not limited to, Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Lobbying, and Management, among others.  While the specific activities and approaches of these disciplines may differ, they are all geared towards communicating purposefully to advance the mission and interests of an organization. Such an organization could be a profit-driven company, a non-profit entity, a public sector (governmental) organization, a political party, an activist group (social movement) etc. Everyone organization, even individuals need communication to thrive.

Each of these organizations, relative to their mandate and objectives, is desirous of effectively engaging their stakeholders (primary, secondary or tertiary), employees, customers, investors, and in some cases, the public at large. In such an effort, a broad range of communication activities becomes critical. However, the absence of an overarching or unified approach to such communication activities, as is often the case, informed the need for a more strategic, integrated and even proactive approach to communication. In corporate governance, this is broadly referred to as Silo Mentality- a situation where departments or teams in an organization fail to share knowledge or collaborate with one another, leading to difficulties in achieving long-term goals.

The imperative of a major paradigm shift in organizational communication is further driven by new technologies that have resulted in a converging media landscape and the blurring of communication genres. This has led to growing awareness among organizations that hitherto traditional fields not only share common purposes, but also a great deal of similarity in the strategies for achieving their communication objectives, which if well managed, will not only enhance efficiency but also reduce redundancy.

As I observed in this column last week, despite its salience, Strategic Communication is still largely an emerging field of theory and practice, which understandably suffers from conceptual clarity. For example, a cursory internet search of the term Strategic Communications throws up numerous postulations most of which converge around the following elements- Communication that is planned, with well-defined goals and messaging, targeting specified publics and audiences to advance the interests of the organization or person doing the communication.

Well, every good PR plan does all of the above and more with the exception of bad practitioners who not only fail to plan but often indulge in reactive PR which I liken to firefighting. As we know, firefighters are never able to salvage everything from a burning building, same way hitchhikers may get to their destinations but almost never on their own terms.

Read Also:

  • 3,000 Terrorists Killed, 120,000 Surrendered in Two Years — Defence Chief
  • NRMG Charged to Lead Battle Against Fake News, Reframe Nigeria’s Image
  • Again, FCT Police Raid Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 66 Suspects

So it all begs the question: if Strategic Communication is basically Public Relations, why then the need for a distinct new term? This problem is further compounded by the fact that many prominent organizations, including some of the world’s leading multilateral agencies, deploy the term Strategic Communication with little to no effort at clearly conceptualizing it.

As an emerging field of practice, Strategic Communication embraces an integrated and cross-disciplinary approach that not only refines but also creatively draws from traditional communication fields and even the social sciences to address the complexity of 21st-century organizational media and communication realities.  To do this effectively, it has to be holistic, uber-creative and adaptable to the ever-changing technologies that continue to radically transform the communications landscape of today; top among which are fragmented audiences and delivery platforms. Just as most things in our 21st-century postmodernist world, this is arguably as much of a consensus as we can get about Strategic Communication.

This is because even the notion of strategic communication as integrated marketing communication remains disputed. For some, while integrated marketing communications, (also sometimes referred to as convergent communications) is narrowly concerned with the ‘strategic’ coordination of audience/customer needs, concerns and interests; Strategic Communications is much broader in scope dealing with how an organization communicates holistically across its various endeavours to advance its mission. In this context, the organization is viewed as a ‘social actor’   perennially engaged with diverse range of actors- employees, government, communities, customers, investors, among other stakeholders, with the overarching objectives of advancing its interests.

Notwithstanding the persisting conceptual fuzziness, Strategic Communication is arguably the most extensive in scope of all existing fields in marketing communications. It is a large canopy that encompasses almost every field of communications practice from traditional marketing to Public Relations, Advertising, Political Communication, Social Marketing and Behavioural Change Communications, among others.  It is not only integrative but also a medley of hitherto distinct marketing communication activities in a digital world where traditional media walls have collapsed and disciplinary boundaries increasingly blurred.

For example, universities across the world are now replacing Advertising and Public Relations courses with Strategic Communication in an effort to integrate the common strategies of both disciplines to enhance their complementarity. It is expected that students will students emerge from such interdisciplinary programs armed with the comprehensive skills and knowledge required for the communication challenges of the 21st century.

The same applies to journalism programs where increasingly traditional journalism courses are being replaced with courses on Multimedia journalism to prepare future journalists for career opportunities in converged media environments.

As an emergent unifying framework, Strategic Communication is not only holistic but also strives to be innovative by adapting to a changing world. In light of ever-converging communication channels, it is increasingly difficult to differentiate between advertising, sales promotion, public relations, sales promotion, advertorials, e-commerce, and sponsorships, among others.

Despite concerns by critics of strategic communication that it is largely top-down and exploitative by privileging top management interests over everything else, the new era of digital communications has made such total control of the means of communication difficult, if not impossible. In such a ‘democratized’ media environment, Strategic Communication remains an important option from all organizations- governmental, corporate and non-profit.

**Next week’s topic will focus on Locating the ‘Strategic’ in Strategic Communication drawing as much as possible from the Nigerian context.

*Arthur-Martins Aginam, PhD, is a communication scholar and PR specialist

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Interrogating Strategic
Previous articleIMPR Calls for Entries for 2023 Security and Spokesperson’s Awards
Next articleIdris Harps Value Reorientation among Citizens
Arthur-martins Aginam
Arthur-martins Aginam
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Department of State Security Service DSS

Army, DSS-Backed Hybrid Forces Neutralize 45 Bandits in Niger Operation

PRNigeria Young Communication Fellowship 2025 logo

PRNigeria Opens Application for 2025 Young Communication Fellowship

Troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA

Troops Kill Three Terrorist Leaders in Sokoto Ambush, Recover Weapons

Leon Usigbe

Death, you can’t be Proud of this By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem 

Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

How Customs is Tightening Borders to Stop Illicit Cash Flows – CG Adeniyi 

FACT-CHECK: Did a N10bn Lafia Flyover Collapse Three Weeks After Commissioning in Nasarawa?

Tinubu’s Plateau Gambit – Yilwatda, 2027, and the Return of the Machiavellian Strategist By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice

NAF combat-ready Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operators

NAF Bolsters Battlespace Dominance with New Combat-Ready UAV Operators

PHOTOS: How Nigerian Military’s Coordinated Air and Ground Assault Crushed Terrorists in Warari Operation

Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)

NYSC Seeks Stakeholder Support to Enhance Orientation Exercises

Late President Muhammadu Buhari

Walson-Jack: Buhari Was a Pillar of Integrity in Nigeria’s Public Sector

CDS Musa

CDS Hails ‘Produce for Lagos’ as Blueprint for National Security

Recent Posts

  • NiDCOM Urges Restraint as Ghanaians Protest Against Nigerians Over Alleged Crimes
  • 3,000 Terrorists Killed, 120,000 Surrendered in Two Years — Defence Chief
  • NRMG Charged to Lead Battle Against Fake News, Reframe Nigeria’s Image
  • Again, FCT Police Raid Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 66 Suspects
  • Troops Avert Terrorists’ IED Attack in Borno
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
3,000 Terrorists Killed, 120,000 Surrendered in Two Years — Defence ChiefNRMG Charged to Lead Battle Against Fake News, Reframe Nigeria’s ImageAgain, FCT Police Raid Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 66 SuspectsTroops Avert Terrorists’ IED Attack in BornoTroops Eliminate Terrorists, Disrupt Logistics Supply in BornoIPRA Celebrates 70th Anniversary, Hosts 2025 Golden World Awards in GhanaUnpacking Dr. Fatima Binta's NIPR Vision: A Candid Chat with PRNigeria InternsBeyond the Clinic: Dr. Fatimah Binta Reveals PR's Impact on MedicineKidnapped FGC Yauri Schoolgirls Defy Odds, Graduate with Distinction from Top Northern SchoolFalcon's WAFCON Glory: Tinubu Committed to Sports Development - MinisterNSCDC Mining Marshal Seals Illegal Lithium Mine in Kebbi, Uncovers Alleged ₦500bn Mineral TheftNAF 'Rattles' ISWAP Terrorists with Decisive Blow in Lake Chad RegionArmy, DSS-Backed Hybrid Forces Neutralize 45 Bandits in Niger OperationAnambra Police Bolster Security with New Armoured Personnel CarrierNigeria Customs Partners China on Smarter Ports, Officer Training, Reforms
X whatsapp