I'm not sure whether Edleman has the German client in China market. As my experience, though the German clients put the China market as a very high position and mark the growing data in the financial report even the annual report, they have very slow counterattack action to the competitors in the market. In PR campaign or strategy, it's the same situation.

Let me get this straight... Unemployment is at 12% and there's going to be a tax increase?

I've never heard of a country that successfully taxed itself into prosperity. I wish them luck.

First of all I hope you had a good time.
Then, something is wrong with the mood in Germany and the issues you address do play a role. While I agree that PR needs to play a role in straightening the ship, there are several factors which will hinder a PR-induced push.
1. "We" are still running a "each man for himself" kind of race - a fundamental shift to a joint effort is needed.
2. You will have trouble getting enough companies to change to a transparent communications model because the way most of the operate at the moment, profit is valued higher than the humans producing the profit.-> How do you sell "let's all work together for joint success" when companies are closing factories although they are profitable just because the same factories overseas make more profit?
3. Something is wrong with the media. With the current editing e.g. in the main news programm on TV you will have trouble getting the message into the programm.

The process you'd like to see can only come from within companies or from within communities. My guess is that it will take a long while until "we" get there.

Good Afternoon Richard,
I'm a second year student in PR in London, and my opinion is a student's one not a professional one, but according to what I understand of the PR activity, I think that what you said about the PR role in the perception of the positive future of the Germany is not enough.
I was born and lived in France for almost all of my life but my parents come from Cameroon, and I have been particularly concerned with the troubles that French government faces against the CPE (first employment contract) as I found that although it was right, it missed its essential task to communicate with French people, particularly the opinion leader, by explaining why this contract was so important for the future of the France.
I think that like the majority of European Countries, Germany has to face the aggressive competition of countries such as China or, closer, from Eastern Europe countries.
I agree with you when you say that PR is particularly essential in this drastic period to draw a positive picture of our future. It is important to believe in the future. But I think that PRO will miss their objectives as the French government did, if you don't highlight first the economic reality: the truth is that the world is changing. I think that the real transparency is to tell them that being competitive has a price: companies will continue to close their plants to make profit and more and more the labour market will become hard, specially for those people with low academic qualifications or not qualifications at all.
Peugeot closed its plant last week in England, and I think that it will be very hard to explain to all of these former employees that they have to believe in the future, whereas most of them think that they have been betrayed.
Whatever the number of personal blog and internal communication PR people will set, employees won't believe them.
As I said earlier, you're right when you say that PR can help to draw a better image of the future, but I think that this point of view will apply for a particular audience.
To be totally effective, I think that PR should work more closely with the government and the companies to design more tailored messages that address the fear and the angry of thousands unemployed people to show them that everything is done to help them.
Dyane

DE you are right. The best PR is about an honest assessment of the future, so the German people know the true face of global competition. We are going to be key to the success of any strategy because belief comes through understanding and vision. Thanks for writing.

Sara,
Very insightful comment. In fact German companies look to China for a key aspect of a growth strategy.

Sebastian

The tough choices in business require moving jobs and making change. But the context must be explained and the employees given a real sense of the future.

One thing that we really need when it comes to the need for PR is a totally different approach when valuing the potential of public relations. In many German companies today, the battle between PR and marketing is still won by the latter. The mental shift is to use PR to open and develop communities which will then be open to marketing measures. The real challenge for marketers will be the ability to surrender control to the consumer.

I go beyond even the marketing versus PR argument. I think that the management consultants and investor relations folks also win out over PR. The idea that the less a CEO says the better is their mantra. I totally disagree with it. I use Klaus Kleinfeld at Siemens as a model--he writes a blog each week and 7,000 people in the Siemens global empire are reading it. Thanks for writing. By the way, can you have Heiko contact me please

Thanks for the reply. Sure, employee communications need to improve, but that alone will not win over Germany. I agree with Magnus that PR is still seen at the "also-ran" in the marketing mix. I see your vision, but unfortunately you can convince only one at a time to understand the changed media landscape we now live in.

Hi Richard,

What you seem to be alluding to is that a pivotal role that German companies and their suppliers could play is ensuring their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs are properly coordianted and aligned to really addressing the interests and concerns of their stakeholders.

I would assume that in an increasingly complex economy with the EU, with deepening economic, social and environmental inequities, stakeholders (including shareholders, analysts, regulators, activists, unions, employees, community organisations, and media) demand companies be accountable not only for their own performance, but that of their entire supply chains.

Perhaps corporate public relations needs to be this glue that helps all sections of a company comunicate their goals and achievements and ensures that all stakeholders can engage and participate with them to create the trust needed in that society. As you say, they've got some great innovation, heritage and business system prowess upon which to build.

This is an interesting post to say the least. I think the same conditions that exist in Germany are present in the US. American companies need a "Brand America" campaign. Unfortunately with globalization, its forces are prompting every company around the world to compete on price as consumers tend to see more and more products as commodities. Consumers want "more" but they want lower prices in order to consume even more. Innovation may not always yield lower prices initially, the easy way out has been to search for cheaper labor pools thus displacing potential loyal citizens/consumers of the brand. The caveat is that mass media influence i.e. PR will be invaluable in this global one world westernized economic system. At some point this business cycle is going to repeat itself similar to the Age of Mercantilism where governments partnered with business brands and went global to ascertain wealth and build loyalty and national pride back home. At some point I could see in Germany the government capitalizing on innovation by doing Ads that feature Mercedes, BMW and Audi/VW collectively promoting innovation "Buy Germany's best". In any event Pr/Marketing will continue to increase in importance as companies and countries try to inspire and maintain relevance.

First of all: your 3 PR messages would be the right choice. But Sebastian Keil's opinion regarding a transparent communications model is right, I'm afraid. I've managed a workshop for IQPC about weblogs and issues management in Frankfurt last December and worked with a couple of communication officers of several companies you're mentioning above. Their prime interest was monitoring and not dialogue orientated forms of communicating. It's control - not opportunity - that matters. And that's not only an issue concerning blogs: it's an issue regarding corporate communications at all. We'll see more corporate blogs of DAX-companies in future and in front of the firewall. But it'll take much more time than I've ever expected.

You are pointing at a major tension in the stakeholder ecosystem: when consumers keep asking for cheaper prices, and shareholders expect quick returns on their investment, this can only be achieved by exerting maximal pressure on costs and salaries. Outsourcing is one of the ways to achieve this, resulting in the loss of local jobs. Trust disappears in the crack, and that's the problem for brand Germany - as for France, by the way: "design, innovation and caring for the environment" are great ID markers, but it doesn't put Wurst on the table. So you get a brand that isn't trust-based and not inclusive either. perhaps it is time to consider the European business model (Donalf Kalff)wiht its focus on sustainable growth.

Robert,
Fascinating piece on the European business model in today's NY Times on outsourcing. Note that 30% of jobs in Spain are temporary--employers are terrified of having full time employees because in a downturn, the cost of termination is huge. P--add URL of story please.

I think your article hits several points after working at Audi. I think Germany has a lot of problems that the people I feel do not want to realize these problems exist. As an intern in a German company, I can say that the Germans themselves are not happy with a 3% Mehrwertsteuer increase, a 500€ university administration fee and higher cost health insurance payments makes most Germans unhappy as well as very concerned about their country's economic future. Because of this, Germany needs to focus on Arbeitlösigkeit reform as well as overall government reform. The government needs to look at ways to give tax incentives to businesses and provide means possible to reform Germanys pension system. All of these issues raise tough questions with the heavily unionised German workforce making change difficult. Germanys future depends on the willingness of the unions to realise that they will need to give up more in order to globally compete with the world.