On the Road Again – Part II

My trip around the world with Page VP International Peter Debreceny, first reported here, continued through India, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and France. In each place, Page members came together to discuss the challenges they are facing and to share insights and suggestions.

As we found in Japan, Australia and Singapore, there are more similarities than differences as CCOs are stepping up in unprecedented ways, but also encountering challenging headwinds.

In Mumbai, Page members were hosted by India Country Chair Madan Bahal of AdFactors PR, who was inducted into the Page Hall of Fame at the recent Page Annual Conference for his strategic leadership counsel to many leading companies in India. 

In India, stakeholder demands for a focus on societal value and ESG were again front and center. As elsewhere, concerns about greenwashing accusations have led to some concerns about pulling back, but more often the response is to double down on making the commitments real. Members agreed that demonstrating actual progress on ESG while also delivering strong financial results is the best answer.

One significant difference in India is the positive national economic outlook, meaning that CCOs are under less cost pressure than elsewhere. However, the desire to improve the strategic communication function’s ability to demonstrate its contribution to business results is strong. In fact, one member commented that she is seeing significant pressure for the communication function to support product sales.

In the UAE, we gathered in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai under the auspices of Brian Lott of Mubadala, chair of the Page Board of Trustees. We had quite a lively discussion of the stakeholder capitalism issues, along with the same increasing need for better leadership skills, global socio-economic-political expertise and CommTech capabilities that we encountered at every stop on this trip.

The economic outlook in the UAE, as in India, is positive relative to many other parts of the world. However, the country has special concerns about supply chain issues, as nearly everything its people require is imported, and most private companies feel a need for alignment with national goals and priorities. There was also interesting conversation about the remarkable progress they are seeing in neighboring Saudi Arabia, including significant economic development and also liberalization of religious and cultural restrictions.

In Germany, 40 Page members from 14 countries gathered for the Page International Exchange, where the conference was themed “CCO+: Global Transformation in a Time of Momentous Change.” 

There was a strong consensus among attendees that they are, in fact, stepping up to address the critical issues, while also experiencing significant stress and accompanying challenges to themselves and their teams. In addition, there is a growing view that it may be time to explore a new name for the function that is more reflective of the broad strategic contribution that CCOs are making, which exceeds the somewhat limiting communication description.

We did a deep dive into many of the issues that are challenging CCOs, including the need for transformation with Heineken CCO and Chief Transformation Officer Stacey Tank; stakeholder capitalism with Martin Jetter, the chair of Deutsche Börse and also of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa; the challenging geopolitical environment with Bill Klein of FGS Global, a former U.S. diplomat who served in China and Ukraine; and the energy transition with Equinor CCO Jannik Lindbæk, BASF Nina Schwab-Hautzinger, E.ON CMO Axel Löber and DNV CCO Ulrike Haugen.

We also had a discussion, led by Sandra Macleod of Echo Research and David Mounde of Deverill Executive Search, of what the role of the CCO and the strategic communication function may look like in 2030. Here are some highlights from the suggestions by our members:

• The strategic communication function should be a flexible, multidisciplinary team that sits at the center of the business.
• Every member of the organization should be involved in communication.
• The strat comm function should advise the leadership team on strategy based on the multistakeholder view, and must integrate societal purpose with business purpose.
• We must energize stakeholder aspirations.

We ended our journey with a short stop in Paris, where CCOs are supporting their enterprises’ diligent focus on ESG. European regulators are demanding significant commitments and progress on sustainability, and French companies are intensely focused on that, with an eye to creating innovative approaches that align sustainability goals with business success.

As we return home following this three-week trip around the world, we are energized by the enthusiasm among our members for reconvening and sharing their insights and observations about the dynamic challenges that all of us are facing. Our enterprises are dealing with unprecedented challenges, and they increasingly understand how vital the CCO contribution can be.