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Edition 5 - September 2004

Putting Business Communications on the Agenda in Brussels

Sam Rowe

Over the past decade Brussels has firmly established itself as the political capital of Europe, with its 25 member states, a population of over 370 million, and serious economic clout.

This status has brought a complementary focus on the opportunities that Brussels can offer for business communications. This goes beyond dialogue with bureaucrats to broader communications with the industry, media and NGO stakeholders, who are now gathered in the heart of Europe.

In short, Brussels has become a natural hub for communications across Europe. Corporations are increasingly choosing to coordinate their pan-European communications from Brussels and to create campaigns aimed at their different sectors and geographies as part of an overall strategic European approach.

As businesses have gravitated towards Brussels, it has also become a ripe ground for serious business and communications talent, and has attracted professionals from across the Continent who bring diverse perspectives and the linguistic skills to test and deliver meaningful communications.

And yet "European communications" continues to be something of a myth: 25 countries may be unified within the EU, but they retain very clear national identities and patterns of behaviour. No one working in the corporate communications sector in Europe today is so foolhardy as to think that a one-size-fits-all approach will work when targeting such a broad audience of stakeholders.

The corporate and political melting pot of Brussels has enabled communications professionals in the city to fast track their experience of how to approach communications across Europe. We have found that solution is to develop an overarching strategy and programme that draws on a European "hook", such as a piece of legislation or research, to create a unifying European theme, and then to tailor it with the most appropriate approaches for the different countries being targeted.

With the obesity debate still raging we have worked with a major food company on core messages relating to healthy eating and nutrition. The specific messages and the vehicles used to communicate them have then been tailored for each market, depending on cultural eating habits. Not only diet, but the way in which food is prepared and eaten can vary a great deal across markets and hence the message is not simply focused on what people eat, but needs to take into account the different eating patterns.

It’s worth remembering that Brussels is not only a hub for European corporate campaigns, but is also a focal point for the creation of awareness campaigns for hundreds of industry trade associations with member companies scattered throughout Europe, and for not-for-profit organisations. These bodies are often looking for communications support to pull together a clear and consistent European message and position from their various national stances, and then to deliver it through a variety of events, sponsorship and media opportunities in Brussels.

We are working with a not-for-profit body committed to encouraging dialogue between the US and Europe, for example, on publicising the results of its annual survey into the differing attitudes towards economics, politics and security on either side of the Atlantic. The data is the same, and the core message of creating dialogue underpins all our work, but the content of the messages changes for each country as the most interesting and relevant data is highlighted for each market.

Trade associations and not-for-profit organisations are actively engaged with the EU institutions, but they also need to ensure they are delivering a consistent message in their communications to all stakeholders, from regulators to member companies and the whole industry supply chain, not to mention the media across Europe.

The Brussels press corps now ranks as the world’s largest, with some 900 journalists representing around 600 media outlets from around the world. While the corps is closely focused on following the institutional agenda, it nevertheless needs to reflect how legislation is likely to affect or be received by business. Hence journalists are always keen to hear from corporations and organisations willing to comment and present the business response to a policy document or legislative proposal.

While Europe celebrates its diversity and national differences, it is nevertheless obvious that a unified approach to a unified continent is the only sensible and cost efficient option for multinationals and organisations operating in today’s marketplace.

All of which means that Brussels, as the political capital of Europe, will also continue to grow in importance as the European centre for corporate communications. If you want a French view, go to France; and if you want a Polish one, go to Poland, but if you want a European view – then come to Brussels. Perhaps we finally have an answer to the question famously posed by Henry Kissinger: "If I want the opinion of Europe, who should I call?"

By Sam Rowe, director, Weber Shandwick in Brussels.

© 2004 Weber Shandwick