Brunswick Group has jumped onto the ‘future of corporate affairs’ bandwagon, with a new report that suggests that in today’s data-driven environment, there is a growing expectation for the function to prove its impact in business terms.

The snappily titled The Future of Corporate Affairs - adapting to a changing world report points out that CEO turnover is up 9%* and new leadership often brings a reassessment of the seats at the executive table which means the value of communications must be demonstrated not assumed. ‘In short, the function isn’t being undervalued – it’s being re-evaluated,’ it says.

To demonstrate value and earn both the requisite influence and investment, corporate affairs must ‘clearly articulate its strategic purpose and impact in today’s complex environment’, the report advises.

Such a strategic reset enables: 

• Sharper prioritisation of time, resources and focus 

• Stronger alignment with business objectives and leadership expectations

• Clearer metrics to track and communicate contribution to outcomes

Creating such clarity allows corporate affairs leaders to assess what capabilities are required to deliver on the function’s objectives, to evaluate its current structure, identify any gaps and to build a stronger future-facing team.

‘Crucially, this approach allows corporate affairs leaders to make a compelling case for the right investment in skills and structure, shifting the conversation from ‘why we cost’ to ‘how we deliver’,’ the report says.

The report claims that the most forward-looking teams are gaining ground in five key areas:

1) Measuring what matters: reputation as a strategic asset
They are quantifying the value of reputation to better align with business strategy. In pinpointing where it drives impact, they are making stronger cases for more investment.

2) Operationalising experimentation with AI
The most effective teams are using smart, human-led prompts to tackle complex challenges, while retaining human judgment.

3) Elevating employee communications amid transformation
The blurring of lines between external and internal comms is reflected in evolving skillsets and rising salaries.

4) Embedding insight and analytics to demonstrate impact
Corporate affairs leaders are moving to outcome-focused metrics, as demonstrated by an uptick in insight and analytics roles, that help turn reputation into business value.

5) CEO visibility
There is a renewed focus on CEO visibility, with leaders who balance external presence with internal engagement nearly twice as likely to be seen as empowering.

Of course, the upshot of the report is that, if this is all too much for you, Brunswick has a team ready to help. They’re all about the giving.

*Note to Brunswick. It would be helpful for sources to be cited. Your claim that 73% of corporate affairs directors sat on executive committees in 2024, up from 66% the year before, is hard to prove – and doesn’t bear any resemblance to other reports. Does it refer to ALL corporate affairs directors worldwide? Or a subset? Helpful to know… Am sure you’d point out similar concerns to a client, albeit at a much higher fee!

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

The South East Water debacle

David Hinton, chief executive of South East Water, is a drip. His wishy-washy excuse for refusing to speak to the media during the recent water outage is that he didn’t want to be asked about his salary (£400,000, up 30.2% on 2024, and £115,000 in bonuses, if you were wondering).

But that’s exactly why you get paid those big bucks, Dave. Not to be a wet blanket, but instead to lead from the front and communicate clearly in times of crisis. To show empathy. Resilience. A back bone even. Not to disappear down the plug hole.

For those 24,000 homes in Kent and East Sussex left without water for days, you were missing in action. You can justify it however you wish – inappropriate questions from journalists, the need to focus on sorting out the problem, last minute Christmas shopping – but a public apology from the CEO might have partly assuaged customers’ anger. Or even just an appearance in the neighbourhood, perhaps handing out water and listening to customer grumbles?

I recall a crisis expert once telling me that it is rarely the incident itself that most upsets those affected; it is the way they are treated by the company in the immediate aftermath. Service updates which ultimately proved to be inaccurate are never helpful. Bottled water that couldn’t be handed out because the delivery driver was not authorised to do so, and South East Water representatives had yet to turn up, merely added to the indignation.

And then to suggest, as Hinton did at this week’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee meeting, that the lack of water was partly the customers’ fault because so many of them now work from home… all this from a utility whose vision is ‘to be the water company people want to be supplied by’.

When Ofwat asked South East Water’s customers how likely they were to recommend the company to family and friends last year, it recorded a Net Promoter Score of -6, against an industry average of +8, which suggests that even the mighty Specsavers couldn’t sort out this company’s vision.

Perhaps the problem is that Hinton hasn’t grasped these numbers. After all, he showed a remarkable lack of financial literacy when asked to rate South East Water’s performance during the crisis by MPs. Six out of ten was the score he submitted for communications, without a hint of irony. Eight out of ten for the way the crisis was handled! As for ‘preventing the event in the first place’, in Hinton’s humble opinion, that warranted a six. I’d hate to think what would need to happen for a zero rating.

Apologies for the water related puns; they were pouring out.

ESG

Rethinking ESG

It is now 20 years since the Principles for Responsible Investment were unveiled, but more recently the fad for ESG investing has waned and companies have dialled down talk about their work in this area. But a new academic study suggests that strengthening ESG disclosures and performance actually increases a firm’s intrinsic value and its overall market efficiency.

Researchers at Japan’s Kyushu University found that ESG disclosure reduces information gaps in the marketplace, as well as the perceived risk profile of businesses.

Drawing on a dataset stretching from 2015 to 2022, the researchers analysed 2,636 firms across 31 countries on six continents. They found that those companies with better ESG disclosures and performance were viewed as having stronger internal governance, which strengthened trust across key stakeholders, such as investors, customers and employees.

They focused on intrinsic value rather than market capitalisation as it moves beyond short-term metrics, such as costs and profits, to include future opportunities and risks, offering a more stable assessment of long-term value.

Consequently, they argue that better ESG practices bring a company’s market price closer to its intrinsic value, preventing both over- and under-valuations. Similarly, closing information gaps that might arise through incomplete data leads to a share price that more accurately reflects a company’s fundamental value.

Assistant professor Jun Xie said: ‘Investors care not only about the quantity of information, but also its quality. This highlights the need for companies to communicate substantive progress honestly, rather than relying on promotional, greenwash-like messaging.’ [Did you hear that, marcomms? Put down the pen.]

I am currently planning a schedule of events for this year, including the fourth Corporate Affairs Summit in London and the third in Dublin. The first Unpacked event will look at cyber: further details will be released next week. Any thoughts for topics to explore at the summits, or the types of events you’d enjoy, are welcome. Just email me…