In the study of the resource corpmedia.by and the communication agency PRCI. Storytellers found out that among the employees of 100+ corporate publications that are published in Belarus, only 60% clearly understand what tasks they should solve. Account Director of the PRCI communications agency Kristina Kryuchkova shared her experience on how to make a corporate publication effective.

Preliminary results of the study of corporate media (to be completed in March 2015, conducted through an online survey) show that the total one-time circulation of corporate print media in Belarus is about 140,000 copies.

At the same time, 40% of the interviewed specialists who represent this or that publication, when asked what tasks their media faces, either did not answer, or ignored the question, or have no idea what to say.

Account Director of PRCI Communications Agency

I will share my observations and conclusions about what is happening with corporate publications now, and how the specialists who work in them can build effective communication.

Corporate media market

In some industries, almost all key players have corporate publications. For example, in the petrochemical industry there are about 20 corporate publications (OJSC Naftan, OJSC Grodno Azot, the main filling station networks). The catch is that almost half of them come out "by inertia" - almost since the budget was allocated for it. This means that companies should either close the publication, or consider how it can be useful.

In addition, there are noticeably more corporate publications. Since 2010, the Belarusian information space has increased by at least 40 corporate media.

Example. About 7 years ago, Itransition's staff grew to 500 people in a short time. This led to a number of problems and incidents - up to the point that one day CEO did not recognize at the reception. Then it became clear that it was necessary to introduce a corporate publication in order to tell about the company in person and explain what its goals are.

Frame from the film "Intern" (2015). Directed by: Nancy Myers

The market is changing. Many publications began to change the format. For a long time, the target audience of many corporate publications were customers and employees at the same time. This is wrong, because the content for these target audiences should be different. If a publication for clients shows a picture of the world from the company's point of view, then a newspaper or magazine for employees is about internal processes, not for prying eyes.

Example. The management of Priorbank in 2014 reformed its corporate publication. Instead of the general magazine "Priortimes", it was decided to prepare two independent publications - the magazine "Priorities" for clients and the electronic magazine "Our Priorities" for employees. The decision was successful, this was confirmed by the feedback from readers of both publications.

From experience, corporate publications in Belarus are either aimed at employees only, or mixed. Very few do 2 editions - it requires a lot of resources.

Example: printing a newspaper (600 copies, 16 pages, A3 format) costs about $1,000, not counting the salaries of employees (if they are hired additionally).

What tasks should an intracorporate publication solve?

Tasks are not directly related to profit, but indirectly related to it. When an employee understands the goals of the company and perceives them as his own, then, of course, he works more efficiently and more responsibly.

Tasks for publication can be:

• Employee retention
• Increasing loyalty and engagement
• Closing of vacancies at the expense of own forces
• Strengthening cross-functional collaboration

Example. Olivaria Brewery OJSC newspaper, Carlsberg Group, has a regular column in which employees from different departments debunk myths about their work. In a recent issue there was a great material about the work of a business analyst - "8 Myths About Analysts".

By learning the inner workings of other departments, employees get a clear idea of ​​the responsibilities of each specialist in the company.

How to solve problems effectively?

Engage employees in offline activities. Standard headings (for example, "The General Director's Word", "Our Achievements", "Our Awards", "Tourslet") are boring, you don't want to read them.

Example. It was decided to make the New Year issue of the Itransition corporate newspaper in 2015 light, without serious content and professionally oriented texts.

On the eve of the corporate party, six employees met with Oksana Knyazeva, founder of the marketing and personal branding bureau Knyazeva Bridge, to find new looks for themselves. Oksana worked out the image with each project participant, and their photos were published in the newspaper.

The participants appreciated the idea very well.

Let the publication be both electronic and printed (if the budget allows). In my opinion, the presence of only the electronic version "slows down" the involvement of employees. Many keep those issues where it is written about them, show them to their relatives.

I know of cases where employees did the filing of corporate newspapers. Some hang newspaper clippings on the wall. They are very motivated by the opportunity to appear on the pages of the publication.

In addition, perhaps not all employees have computers (for example, factory workers) to do for them mass mailing with the electronic version of the publication. And not every monitor is convenient to read a newspaper text.

Include direct speech of the leader. During a crisis, many are under stress, and the words of a leader can give the necessary sense of confidence in the future. Employees need to know that management is analyzing the market situation and that the company is open about problems.

Example. Last year Itranstion changed its CEO, and its founder Sergey Gvardeytsev openly commented on the new appointment in a corporate newspaper. He told why this happened and why this particular person took the post, so that rumors would not be born and false conclusions would not arise. These were words written by him, not by a PR specialist.

Do it professionally. Approximately half of corporate publications in Belarus are published by the efforts of the company's full-time employees (usually this is the marketing department). They mostly do the job, but there are exceptions:

1. For some, this is a “commitment”.

2. The task was charged to a person who does not have competencies. For example, he does not know how to write interesting texts or take high-quality photos, he has poor layout skills.

3. The employee is overloaded and cannot regularly prepare the publication.

But no one knows the company better than its employees.

To whom to outsource the publication

If internal resources do not allow preparing a quality publication, there are 2 options:

1. Communication agency services. It works with internal contractors and is comprehensively responsible for the product.

2. Freelancers. To publish a newspaper or magazine, you will need the services of such specialists:

• Copywriter - from $800
• Concealer - $100
• Photographer - from $300
• Layout designer/designer - from $500

Prices are for a small newspaper - 10-12 pages.

Probably, it can be cheaper than the work of the agency. But it is quite difficult to control several disparate contractors.

The number of corporate newspapers and magazines successfully competing with traditional media is growing rapidly. The high level of design, rich content, thematic originality make them an important tool for managing corporate culture and an indispensable source of information for employees, customers and partners.

Business development leads managers to understand the need for introduction throughout the company unified system management. In world practice, corporate publications have long become one of the most important channels for targeted communications between a company and its staff, business partners and customers. For example, in Europe their total one-time circulation exceeds the circulation of conventional media.

The requirement for greater information transparency is caused not only by the introduction of new financial and non-financial reporting standards, but also by a noticeable change in the attitude of owners and top managers to social responsibility business. All this leads to the fact that with the help of corporate media, more and more target groups are involved in an open dialogue - clients, independent journalists, shareholders, residents of the community of the place where the enterprise is located, etc.

As a result, the circulation of the most successful publications is growing, formats are changing in accordance with new requirements, companies are attracting experienced professionals to work on their own media. The corporate publication rightfully becomes the "visiting card" of the company. It is possible that in the near future the corporate media sector will become an independent "media space" - at least today the situation is developing in this direction.

Many experts believe that the quality and level of a corporate publication should be higher than any other media. For example, until 2000, an English bank Barclays PLC, whose staff is about 75 thousand people, there was no unified information policy. The bank issued more than 35 different publications, so that its employees simply got lost in the information "noise", receiving five or six different publications at the same time. In the course of an internal corporate study, it turned out that employees do not have a clear idea of ​​either the relationship between departments, or the company as a whole, or its tasks. The bank's management decided to reduce the number of publications and increase the content of corporate newspapers and magazines with information that is important for each employee. A three-level content model for a corporate publication (CI) was proposed: materials of a strategic nature - about the goals of the company, the tasks of divisions - presented in an accessible and exciting way; operational lighting actual problems companies; information about the daily life of people in the units. This model was embodied in a new corporate publication - a magazine Barclays Globe. It allowed the management to streamline internal corporate information flows, organize a dialogue with clients and, importantly, significantly reduce the budget (from 6 to 1 million dollars).

The corporate culture is made up of complex relationships: owners with top managers and ordinary employees; managers - with subordinates; employees - with colleagues and management; companies - with external partners. In these relationships, common values, behavioral norms and rules, rituals and myths are formed. Corporate communications management is an important task for the HR department, because it is a strong, creative corporate culture that, like a magnet, keeps professionals. It largely determines the reputation of the company, and ultimately - its competitiveness and commercial success. That is why many people today are ready to invest a lot of money in a corporate publication project.

The presence of "their own" magazine or newspaper strengthens the impression of the reliability of the company. This is important for creating a positive image - who wants to deal with a one-day company? An organization that understands that it is necessary to conduct an open dialogue with staff and customers on the pages of corporate media, build relationships, wins in the competition: its reputation in the labor market improves, which means that professionals come to work, employee loyalty increases, the quality of their work increases and customer satisfaction.

At exhibitions, acquaintance and communication with suppliers are much more successful if the company shows itself "in all its glory" - it demonstrates a binder of bright magazines, and presents a fresh issue to a new client. And the personnel department can hand out a newspaper to applicants for vacant positions- read, get acquainted, look closely ...

Recently, there have been noticeable changes in the management of corporate publications: they are increasingly becoming the most important element of public relations and corporate relations departments. With the help of internal magazines and newspapers, management explains to employees its vision for the further development of the company, informs them, motivates and inspires.

All more executives understand the need to develop a corporate publication. But how to organize corporate media in practice? A project to create your own newspaper or magazine is always complex, it is at the intersection of several areas of activity: personnel management, PR, advertising, marketing, journalism, management, psychology. Complicates the task of corporate media workers and the lack of full-fledged educational and methodological materials.

Corporate Edition

What is a corporate publication and how does it differ from a "non-corporate" one? What types of CI have already been invented by experts in this field of activity? What functions are expected of him by managers?

Corporate Edition is a means mass media issued by an organization at regular intervals to maintain contact with employees and the general public ( rice. one). CI is an integral part of corporate culture and one of the most important means of internal communications.

Rice. 1. Classification of corporate publications

Internal corporate edition- an information resource issued with a certain frequency, reflecting the official position of the company and intended mainly for its employees.

External corporate edition- an information and advertising resource issued with a certain frequency, intended for customers and partners of the company.

Target audience of CI:

• internal: all employees of the company and members of their families;
• external: business partners and clients of the company.

Types of clinical trials, features of their target audience and main tasks are given in table.

Features of types of corporate publications

	Subtype	The target audience	Tasks
Internal	Intracorporate publications ( Business-to-Personal - В2Р)	Company staff, business partners, families of employees	“Create a sense of family at work, build confidence in management, clarify organizational policies, engage employees in cooperation with management, arouse interest in management affairs” ( Sam Black)
External	Editions for clients ( Business-to-Customers, B2C)	Clients, end users	Increasing customer loyalty to the brand, increasing sales
	Publications for partners business ( Business-to-Business - B2B)	Partners, consumers of goods and services in the business environment	Formation of the company's image in the business environment, strengthening business contacts
	Event editions	Visitors to exhibitions, special events	Creation of the image of the organizers; management of information flows about participants
	Reports	Shareholders and investors	Trust, investment attractiveness

As a tool for internal and external communications, corporate media perform a number of important functions:

• Informational. Explanation of the mission, strategy and goals of the company.
• Ideological. Creation of conditions for the formation and strengthening of the corporate spirit, increasing the devotion of employees and their labor productivity.
• Organizational. Connecting remote regional offices, branches, subsidiaries with the parent company (management company), establishing feedback channels for employees and management.
• Image. Maintaining the image of the organization. CI is both a tool and an integral part of the image, since the quality of its execution serves as a kind of indicator of the company's development level.

In the 21st century, the main actors in the competition for the consumer are employees who are in direct contact with customers. It is their professionalism and dedication that create the image of the company, which is why internal communications aimed at mobilizing staff are so important.

The practical benefit of organizing a corporate "mouthpiece" is obvious. At the same time, the complexity and complexity of this project should not be underestimated, and problem areas should not be overlooked. Such serious problems can be:

• variety of target audiences;
• territorial disunity of company divisions;
• lack of professionals;
• lack of special knowledge and literature;
• lack of understanding and assistance from management;
• insufficient funding.

Of course, it is best to take on the creation of a CI, seriously weighing all the pros and cons, foreseeing possible problems and ways to solve them, and drawing up a clear action plan. Having experience in implementing such projects, I can assure you that all difficulties can be overcome. The main thing is to act systematically, methodically and step by step. We have formalized our experience in the form of the Ten Steps methodology, we hope it will help practitioners develop and launch an effective corporate publication.

Ten steps:

1. Studying the situation in the company, determining the needs of the target audience, choosing a person responsible for the implementation of the project.
2. Seeking management support.
3. Definition of CI tasks in accordance with the company's goals. Development of the concept and format of the publication.
4. Internal PR-company to promote CI.
5. Formation of the editorial.
6. Issue price: approval of the budget.
7. Development and approval of the "Regulations on the CI project".
8. Project management: planning, organization, control, motivation.
9. Launch of the CI technological cycle.
10. Getting feedback. Improving CI.

Step one. Studying the situation in the company, determining the needs of the target audience, choosing a person responsible for the implementation of the project. Work on a CI project should be started only when the need to manage elements of corporate culture and build a system corporate communications in the company is clearly understood by management.

There may be several options for the "scenario plan" for the release of CI, depending on the type of corporate culture, the management principles adopted in the company. And the company itself must "grow" to such a project. Why, for example, an internal corporate publication for an organization that has seven employees, four of them are relatives of the director, and the rest are friends from school? But if this company has a network of distributors in Ukraine and abroad, "external" CI for business partners can be very successful.

Sometimes a manager makes a decision to issue a corporate newspaper under the influence of modern business fashion or, having seen a bright magazine of his competitor or business partner, acts on the principle “I want the same”. There is nothing reprehensible in this - you can start like this, but in this case the publication will be not so much a means of communication as a hallmark of an "advanced" company.

If, after analyzing the situation, the management decides that it is advisable to open its own publication, it is necessary to appoint a person responsible for the implementation of the project. What human and professional qualities of applicants should be paid attention to when choosing a project manager?

On the one hand, creativity, imagination, imaginative thinking are very important, on the other hand, the ability to administer and the ability to communicate with people. Unfortunately, there are no faculties in modern universities that would train specialists who meet such requirements, who are versed in psychology, personnel management, PR, advertising, marketing, journalism, etc. So far, only practical experience, work itself, helps to prepare them. Still, it is preferable if the basic education is in the field of public communications, psychology or journalism.

It is equally important that the project manager clearly understands the role and tasks of the corporate press in achieving the company's strategic goals, and knows what and how to do. It is necessary that he be a good manager and administrator, that is, be able to:

• develop an organizational chart of the editorial office;
• draw up and justify cost estimates, prepare a competent report on the use of resources;
• plan work (each issue of CI must be released exactly on time);
• motivate employees - potential authors of the publication;
• organize and control the editorial and publishing process.

There are few talented professionals competent in the field of corporate media in the labor market today. Most likely, the company will have to "nurture" them on their own from HR managers or from PR-specialists of the marketing department.

Step two. Seeking management support. Responsible for the implementation of the project must enlist the support of management, discuss and agree on all the details. If the first person of the company shows "good will" and favors CI, then the necessary resources will be found, and the managers structural divisions they will always find time for cooperation in their busy work schedule, they will gladly provide valuable information. Otherwise, the newspaper is destined for the fate of an information and entertainment resource filled with congratulations from employees on their birthdays (a list of 30 people) and stories about corporate parties.

CI can take the "ideological" work in the company to a new level, explaining the strategic goals and objectives of the business. Truly teamwork is possible only in a group of like-minded people, which means that people must clearly understand where and why we are all going. Persuading, inspiring, motivating, "winning the hearts" of employees with the help of vivid examples, attractive images, instructive stories "from our lives" - this is not a complete list of tasks that a corporate publication can successfully solve.

Step three. Definition of CI tasks in accordance with the company's goals. Development of its concept and format.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify for whom exactly the CI will be intended. The demographic “portrait” of the target audience answers the questions: what is the distribution of employees by gender and age composition, by level of education, by marital status, by profession, in relation to certain types of leisure, etc. These differences are very important, say, the interests of the readership change with age to the exact opposite ( rice. 2).

Rice. 2. Changing interests of the readership

The most common parameter for segmenting the audience of internal media is, of course, professional affiliation. Therefore, the materials of the publication should concern mainly professional interests and needs target audience. Through this channel corporate newspaper (magazine) broadcasts the basic values ​​of the corporate culture , professional interests are the basis of effective intra-organizational communications - the search for like-minded people to carry out complex managerial, technical, commercial projects, help colleagues, and organize temporary creative groups.

It is also necessary to imagine the level of well-being of the main groups of workers ( rice. 3). For example, we received the following average data for the company (in terms of income and personal achievements):

• "golden collars" - 3% of employees (business owners, top managers);
• "white collars" - 12% (heads of departments, managers, highly qualified specialists, of which 55-60% strive to move into the category of "gold");
• "blue collar" - 85% (of which 33% aspire to become "white").

Rice. 3. Distribution of personnel depending on the level of income and personal achievements

Analysis of available statistical data, the results of studies and surveys (study of work motivation, corporate culture, staff loyalty, etc.), as well as monitoring the peculiarities of people's communication will help to get an idea of ​​the value system in the company. Further, I recommend conducting a survey of the entire team, including personal interviews with several key leaders (formal and informal), in order to determine the degree of interest of future readers in a particular rubric, section, topic or material.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this preparatory phase works, because the success of the entire project ultimately depends on how accurately the interests of the target audience are represented. The collected information will allow to determine the priorities in the importance of information of a different nature, the optimal ratio of the volume of materials, as well as to find potential authors who are ready to cooperate with the publication.

One of essential functions CI is communicative, therefore, even before the release of the first issue, it is necessary to establish effective feedback with the target groups. Its most common forms are:

• epistolary(letters to the editor);
• "instant"(conversations with readers on the "hot phone");
• testing(clarification of the opinion of the target audience on the effectiveness of the editorial board of the CI);
• advisory(holding reader conferences to study the psychology of the target audience, its attitude to the issues discussed in the corporate media);
• expert(periodic involvement of external experts to evaluate the activities of the CI);
• research(studying the dynamics of the interests of the target audience, necessary for strategic planning CI activities).

The development of the name and format of the publication is a creative and in many ways fateful matter: “As you call a ship, so it will sail ...” A positive attitude towards the company's brand is formed by the style, the design decision, the chosen color scheme, and the quality of printing. The design of CI cannot be left to the in-house designer or an outsourcing agency. The appearance of each issue should reflect the specifics of the business (for example, for the design solutions of the banking press, conservatism is appropriate; for the corporate media of an electronics company, a futuristic concept is appropriate, etc.). The design of the cover is especially important - the "face" of the publication, its main task is to attract the attention of the reader.

Some companies regulate technical details: they require artists and designers to strictly adhere to corporate colors, sizes, fonts, the presence or absence of dies, cuts, etc. Still, it is better to entrust this work to professionals. Excessively strict adherence to once and for all established canons deprives the publication of dynamism, may even become a serious obstacle to creative work over the project. Flexibility of approach - this is the opportunity to find a "golden mean": the designer must take into account corporate standards, but do not treat them as a frozen dogma.

When preparing each issue, it is very important to comply with the declared volume of materials and the release date, otherwise the publication will lose the interest and trust of readers, especially if they take part in interactive projects.

Circulation publications depends on the size of the company and the number of employees. It is desirable that each person could receive a personal copy (many take the newspaper/magazine home and proudly show it to friends and relatives). You must also provide a number of copies for business partners. When calculating the circulation, I suggest using the following formula:

Circulation of corporate media = staff x 1.5

Questioning of employees will help to make a decision about the frequency of publication of the publication and the quality of printing, of course - within the financial capabilities of the company.

As for the manufacturing technology, the options may be as follows: risography (from one to four colors), black and white or color copier, offset printing. The print and paper quality depends on the budget of the given project. It is important, however, to strike a balance: the corporate edition of a high-tech company or a respectable bank cannot be printed on a risograph in three passes with a tolerance for color shift of 5 mm.

In the 21st century, one should not "go in cycles" in the traditional "paper" version of the publication. If the level of technical equipment of the company allows each of the employees to receive the newsletter on their personal work computer, then the electronic version is even more acceptable than the printed one.

Step four. Internal PR-company to promote CI. You can’t “leave” a newborn “child” to the mercy of fate: you need to prepare the team for the appearance of a newcomer, introduce him to all the inhabitants of the “corporate planet”, talk about him and show him from the best side. For this:

• Create a work plan for each of the company's internal communication channels.
• Hold meetings with employees of all departments: let them share their impressions, express their comments and suggestions.
• Use all channels and available PR tools to promote the publication: an internal website, original advertising posters announcing the release of new issues of CI, internal radio, thematic meetings with teams of departments and branches, etc.
• Act purposefully and systematically. After two or three months, conduct an anonymous survey to find out the attitude of employees towards the publication. Be sure to use the results of the survey to improve the magazine / newspaper.
• Motivate and encourage article authors.

Step five. Creation of an editorial. About my first experience formation of the editorial you can write a short story or even a small “workshop novel”… That was in 2000. A small black-and-white newspaper of A3 format (its layout was attached to the business project of the internal CI) was suggested by my supervisor to be reproduced on an office photocopier. In my understanding, it was necessary to create an editorial office: invite journalists, a designer, a photographer, do a lot of prepress work, find a good printing house ... As it often happens, “savings” won, so I was engaged in the project for quite a long time alone.

The accumulated experience allows me to adequately assess the advantages and disadvantages of partial and full outsourcing of CI production. Let's consider several options for the formation of the editorial office and find out at what stages outsourcing is appropriate.

Situation 1 (rice. one). Formally, there are two participants, in fact - one: the editor-in-chief performs the functions of a project manager, journalist, designer, layout designer, etc. The only advantage of this approach is the low cost of issuing a CI. All processes "go" solely thanks to the enthusiasm of this person, he is the only "resource": both the manager and the performer in one person ...

Rice. one

Success is possible if this employee is really interested in the work of a journalist and editor, if he is a true professional, familiar with prepress. But it is not for nothing that they say: one man is not a warrior in the field. The abilities of a single person limit the possibilities of a corporate newspaper.

Situation 2 (rice. 2). In this case, one would expect that at least appearance CI will please the eye of the reader. But I would not vouch for the quality of the texts in such a publication. In addition, due to the fact that the executive editor is busy with tactical issues, he will hardly (or at all) be able to pay attention strategies for using this tool, its development. Therefore, CI will not have an impact on business results, it will be an information and entertainment publication.

Rice. 2

Situation 3 (rice. 3). The next "stage of evolution" of the edition already allows using CI as a proper management tool: heads of HR and PR services build such a publication so that it allows you to solve strategically important issues for the organization. With the help of CI, the company's goals "cascade" - from strategic goals to personal tasks of each employee at their workplace. Edition becomes motivation tool personnel, development of corporate culture. With its help, important tasks of internal policy are also often solved - the establishment of a hierarchy of individual units and managers. Employees of different departments learn about the achievements (or problems) of each other, a sense of team unity develops.

Rice. 3

The employee responsible for the project needs constant support of his initiatives from the head of the company, thanks to which the CI project will be taken seriously by all employees of the company.

Further development of the publication does not always go smoothly. Two extremes are possible: either it will become exclusively the "mouthpiece of the Big Boss", or the "corporate Boulevard". In the first case, the head of the company considers CI as a means to satisfy his own ambitions; as a result, the publication loses the interest and trust of readers. In the second case, the editorial group covers very little aspects of the company's business, does not publish analytical materials related to the development of the organization, with a study of its position in the market. Instead, CI is filled with entertaining information, essentially no different from collections of crossword puzzles and jokes. Management should directly set the editors the task of covering corporate life.

Situation 4 (rice. four). Outsourcing is turned to for reasons of saving time, or if the company has significant financial resources for the implementation of image projects. This approach has its advantages: professional layout, good style, high-quality illustrations. However, the use of an external provider leads to disadvantages - boilerplate. A "conveyor" product is similar to a mass of CI from other companies, it does not allow employees to experience a sense of involvement in its preparation. A leaf made "according to a template" cannot become "one's own", be a means of communication this specific company. Output - the employee responsible for the project must himself be a copywriter in order to follow the content of the publication that is being prepared outsourcing company (Publishing House or press agency).

Rice. four

The choice of one or another configuration of the CI project is determined by many factors: the specifics of the business, the interests of the head and top managers, the qualifications of the employee responsible for the publication, and, last but not least, the size of the budget allocated for "culture".

What will the composition of the editorial board look like if the company's management decided that its own editors should work on the publication? staff members? The editorial staff usually includes:

1. Chief Editor. As a rule, this position is "by default" occupied by the head of the company. It forms the general concept of the publication, determines its subject matter and the policy of information selection.
2. Commissioning Editor. Responsible for the content and timeliness of the release of the publication, controls technical questions preparation of each number.
3. Correspondents - authors of materials (except for staff correspondents of the newspaper, materials can be prepared by the company's employees themselves).
4. Literary editor / proofreader. Responsible for the quality of text preparation.
5. Maker-up designer. Develops the layout of the publication and typeset materials.
6. Distribution coordinator. Engaged in the distribution of clinical trials, solves logistics issues.

When deciding on the staffing of the editorial office, it is very important to objectively assess the capabilities of the employee responsible for the release of CI. The success of the entire project largely depends on his professionalism and enthusiasm.

I'll give you an example. A well-known Ukrainian company hired a graduate student of the Faculty of Journalism for the position of PR manager. He was put in charge of publishing a magazine for clients and a newspaper for employees. Both the magazine and the newspaper had been out for three years, so the newcomer did not have to start the project from scratch. However, eight months later, the editor was fired. Base? In the next (for August) issue of the magazine for clients there was information about the May holidays and Children's Day. The president of the company did not sign this issue for publication. One single issue of the internal newspaper did come out, but instead of the usual thirty-two, it had only eight pages.

Why did the young specialist not cope with the task? Firstly, he did not have the experience of a project manager, so he could not competently organize the work on the release of the issue. There was no plan for the content of each issue, a plan for the preparation of articles (receipt from the author - editing - coordination - preparation of layout - coordination). The materials were written haphazardly, "in the course of events." Secondly, he did not know what the publishing technology cycle was. Not the last role was played by the lack of experience in journalism. Difficulties in relationships with people did not allow the young man to find like-minded assistants among the company's employees.

Issuing a CI is a task that only a well-trained specialist working at the intersection of journalism, PR, advertising, psychology, management and personnel management can do. The responsible editor must understand that an effective media product is not only the sum of ideological postulates and publishing technology, but also a channel of live communication. Therefore, only loyal and devoted people can create it.

Step six. Budgeting

The project to create your own corporate publication requires significant investment. The budget of which particular division of the company will provide for its financing (the marketing department or the HR department) depends on the specifics of the business and the current situation in the company. If you plan to use CI more as a tool product promotion, then marketers are engaged in the media project. If CI is seen more as a tool personnel management, HRs are responsible for its preparation.

It is not at all necessary that the financing of clinical trials be carried out under the item of net costs. If the magazine attracts the attention of advertisers (first of all, companies operating in the local market for which the target audience of the publication is of interest), it can become a source of profit! For example, employees and partners of Fortuna Cigar House, who are the target audience of our corporate magazine, were considered as potential buyers of one of the elite clothing brands. For some time, by agreement with the editors, on the fourth cover page of each issue, there was an advertisement for the brand of this company. Distribution organizations successfully cooperate with foreign manufacturing partners who have significant funds in the budget for brand promotion. For example, the largest distributor of Bubchen children's cosmetics in Ukraine, the Evroprodukt company, which has an extensive network of Antoshka retail supermarkets, publishes interviews with loyal customers, thematic crosswords, photo contests with placement of Bubchen products on the pages of the magazine for customers. The preparation of these materials is funded by the cosmetics manufacturer. In such a tandem, everyone wins: the supplier places information about products in a magazine whose target audience consists of 100% of its potential and real consumers; the distributor minimizes the cost of publishing the magazine, parents receive useful information about the products, and children receive quality care.

Let's take a closer look at the process preparation and approval corporate publication budget.

1. To insure the publication from the fate of a one-day project, I strongly recommend that you draw up an annual budget for it (even if by the time the project is launched, the company's budget has already been approved and these expenses are not provided for in it). At the first stage, it is very important to realistically assess the complex material resources and other expenses necessary for the production of a quality product.

First you need to define main characteristics of the project:

view (print edition, electronic version). If you plan to release a "tangible" edition, you need to estimate the cost of paper, printing method, delivery, etc.;

• circulation;
• frequency of release;
• number of pages;
• the number and subject of photo shoots;
• distribution of responsibilities (which functions will be performed by the company's employees, and which ones should be outsourced);
• forms of distribution and logistics.

If a decision has been made to involve external providers, then it is necessary to draw up briefs* and send them to the contractors of the required services. In order to determine the optimal price / quality ratio, you should contact several specialized companies and consider the provided product samples. So you will be able to choose the best option in terms of price / quality ratio.

Then you need to determine the main items of expenditure:

• agency services for the content filling of CI;
• design and layout;
• photographers Service;
• seal;
• distribution and logistics costs.

2. The next stage is systematization all received data in a single document, which provides:

• information about the intended target audience (if it is planned to attract advertisers);
• preliminary calculations for all items of expenditure;
• data on the cost of printing services and outsourcing companies.

3. The final stage - budget approval department head. During the defense of the budget, it is necessary to justify (if it is planned to attract advertisers):

• investment efficiency;
• impact on the target audience;
• advantages and opportunities that open up to the company with the implementation of a new project.

Most managers tend to cut budgets “for culture”, however, in this case, saving in a small way can result in big losses: poor quality, late release, etc. Therefore, for reinsurance (in order to still get the optimal budget), I advise my colleagues to go for a small cunning":

• plan to issue the 13th issue of the monthly CI (it will be possible to “donate” it);
• provide evidence that all calculations were made taking into account maximum savings, a tender was held for each service, and market monitoring work in the future will be held at least once every three months so as not to overpay contractors.

The corporate magazine is the "visiting card" of the company, so the savings should be reasonable that does not violate the balance of cost / quality. Excessive savings (on paper, design, proofreading) will inevitably affect the quality, therefore, may affect the reputation of the organization as a whole.

From the point of view of economy, it is more rational to focus on raising the level of staff qualifications. For example, a designer can be sent to photography courses, to purchase their own digital camera for the editorial office. These costs will pay off in a couple of months. And training programs for responsible editors allow you to save the main resource - time.

The skills necessary for work are also acquired when discussing any problematic issues in a circle of colleagues, their experience helps to improve and find new effective solutions.

Very often at various conferences and seminars I am asked: “Is it possible to release CI with a “zero” budget?” Yes, you can, if the budget is not allocated to a separate project, the services of the printing house are classified as "advertising printing", and the rest of the outsourcing services are performed by the agency on the basis of a subscription fee according to the principle full service. Moreover, it is possible to prepare all content by a single employee of the company.

Savings are obvious, but only on condition of an unusually high level of vocational training employee. If there is such an employee, you need to think: is it advisable to use a highly professional journalist / editor / editor / proofreader / photo artist to perform tasks that the agency will perfectly cope with (photo shoots, interviews, editing, etc.)? Perhaps he will bring more benefits to the company if he performs more complex tasks. Not an idle question: how much will such a “multi-station” cost?

Step seven. Project management (planning, organization, motivation, control). The role of the CI project manager is to rule the process of its creation. In this work, the most important thing is the strategic definition of the goals and objectives of the publication and the ability to organize the work of a team, and not the skills of a journalist or designer. The ideological line of CI, balancing materials for all headings, filling the portfolio, reporting to each member of the project team the scope of his responsibility, clear time management - these are the range of issues that a manager must deal with. Thus, the project manager is responsible for drafting and executing:

• CI strategic plan;
• work plan for each release.

The development of a strategic plan for CI consists of eight stages ( tab. one). Before actually planning releases, you should clearly know how many people and who exactly will be working on the project.

Tab. 1. Develop a strategic plan for corporate publishing

Stages	Events
1. SWOT analysis of the company's PR activity	Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the company's work with the public, as well as opportunities for development and threats to its image. Pay attention to the features of the corporate culture, official and informal channels of internal communication that worked before the advent of CI. Gather everything promotional materials prepared for exhibitions and presentations, and conduct a content analysis: what and how did they tell about the company, staff, products?
2. Definition of target groups of clinical trials	Start by identifying the formal and informal leaders of structural units, as well as active employees. Identify those who are most interested in the release of CI and are ready to take part in the preparation of the first issue
3. Identification of key CI topics	Analyze what needs to be changed in the behavior of employees (combating lateness; adhering to the dress code, etc.), and how this can be achieved with the help of CI
4. CI positioning	Evaluate CI competitors that can distract the attention of the audience (media, other communication channels available in the company - the Internet, bulletin board, communication in the smoking room, etc.). Consider how CI will differ from them
5. Marketing mix*	Define: Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the publication; Members of the editorial board responsible for the dissemination of CI; Conditions for obtaining CI by the target audience; KI price. For example, a client edition can be given to a client free of charge when purchasing a product / service for a certain amount as a bonus, less often it can be sold on the trading floor. Distribution options depend on the purpose of the publication and the specifics of the target audience. Formulate a short and concise dissemination motto. For example, "Read while it's hot!" - for CI of a bakery or metallurgical plant
6. Monitoring the effectiveness of CI	Determine by what criteria the effectiveness of CI will be evaluated. The most common assessment tool is a readership survey. Do not forget that the owner of the company should like the CI, this is very important!
7. Preparation of the annual project budget	Agree on which department costs will be charged for the cost of clinical trials (human resources, marketing, advertising or PR). Describe projected CI advertising revenue, if any
8. Drawing up a work plan, procedures for agreeing materials	Develop a procedure for the collection, preparation and approval of materials; create a room plan template
_________________ * Kit marketing tools used to solve marketing problems on target market: product, staff, price, place, promotion.

A well developed CI strategic plan is the foundation of the project. But this is only the beginning, a successful start to a long marathon. It is also important to follow the implementation of the tactical plan when working on each number.

First of all, it is necessary to draw up a schedule of the technological cycle of CI preparation. For example, if the publication is monthly, the entire cycle of editorial work should take no more than three weeks. Each stage of the cycle is divided into tasks, and the deadlines and responsible employees must be indicated.

Rice. 1. Publishing cycle

The work schedule helps to meet the deadlines for preparing each issue. While working on the current issue, it is necessary to constantly check the plan with the actual state of affairs. The main thing is to actively manage the process.

If for some reason the deadlines for completing a particular item of the plan are missed (for example, the author does not have time to prepare an article), you should look for backup options. The editorial portfolio must contain spare materials. It is also important to promptly remind correspondents and authors of their obligations to the editors. Another bottleneck is typography. You must have an alternative place to place an order if there is a force majeure event at the normal print location.

The issue of obtaining materials for CT deserves special attention. Corporate culture has a great influence on the style of editorial work. For each potential author of the material, you need to look for an individual approach. If the company's employees are systematically required to participate in the preparation of voluminous materials, one friendly conversation or a letter asking for cooperation is indispensable. (Especially when it comes to client publications, in which you need to know the specifics of a product or service.) It is necessary that the Regulations on CI directly fix the duties of employees: to form materials for publication. These responsibilities should be reflected in job descriptions. It is also useful to provide rewards for regular contributors.

Step eight. Development of the "Regulations on CI". This normative document regulates the areas of responsibility, duties and powers of editorial staff and involved outsourcing agencies. Objectives of the Regulation:

• determine the status of the project and its place in the corporate management system;
• regulate the publishing process.

The basis for the creation of this document is a well-prepared CI plan, which was mentioned above.

The structure of the "Regulations" should reflect:

• The name of the publication and its place in the system of corporate communications (including in terms of marketing). For example: "KOFF is an information resource of the company intended for employees, which reflects the official position of its management."
• The goals of the project. For example: “The publication will allow employees to focus on solving the strategic and tactical tasks of the company, provide an “engagement effect”, and increase their loyalty. As an official communication body, CI informs and explains the position of management on business development and intra-corporate communications.”

  If the publication is aimed at external consumers, it is necessary to fix the tasks of influencing the target audience in the “Regulations”. For example, publication of price lists, information about promotions, PR expert assessments, benchmarking studies, as well as an entertainment component (TV programs, employee stories), etc.

• Possibility of preparation of materials for clinical trials by strategic partners and suppliers.
• Goals and tasks of the editorial board.
• Responsibility and rights of departments.

The distribution scheme of the responsibility of the company's divisions for the preparation of materials in the CI is given in table 2.

Tab. 2. Responsibility of departments for filling the corporate publication

Responsible for the preparation of materials	Subject
Editorial (editor, correspondents)	Company strategy: comments of the first persons. News: the company's place in the industry market, main trends, implemented innovations. Attracting strategic partners. Participation of the company in socially significant events. Publication of excerpts from literary works. Competition preparation
Human Resource department	Procedures for resolving labor disputes. Personnel policy. Personnel reserve. Social issues. Problems of labor protection. Motivation programs. Bonus program (competitions, contests). Career opportunities. Education programs (including lighting past events). Feedback (questionnaires, surveys, etc.) with affiliates. Corporate events, holidays
Marketing department	Overseas experience. Bonus programs (competitions, contests for retailers and distributors). Coverage of promotions held among sellers
Import department	Company policy in working with partners. The company's strategy in promoting new products. Best practices for working with partners
IT department	Messages about new projects that are at the stage of implementation in the company. Answers to frequently asked questions to the system administrator

If the project is intended for employees of the company, segmentation of target groups can be based on the main groups of employees. Make a list of the needs of each category of CI readers and, for convenience, summarize the data in a table ( tab. 3).

Tab. 3. Structure of the needs of the target groups of CT in information

The audience	Information requests
CEO, top managers	The company's place in the industry market, the main market trends. Issues of personnel management. Achievements of the company as a whole and individual divisions. Psychological atmosphere in the team. Feedback (questionnaires, survey results, etc.)
Employees of the financial, analytical division, accounting department	New regulatory documents. New working methods. Place of the company in the industry market, main trends. Vocational training, prospects for professional growth. Changes in the functional structure of the company. Corporate life (holidays, etc.) Interesting facts, contests
Middle managers	Management's vision of strategic goals and ways to achieve them. Best practices for working with partners. Place of the company in the industry market, main trends. Technologies of effective organization of labor. Changes in the functional structure of the company. Corporate life (holidays, etc.)
Distribution department	The company's strategy in promoting new products. Employee motivation programs. Bonus programs (competitions, contests). Opportunities for professional development and career growth. Best practices for working with partners. Place of the company in the industry market, main trends. Corporate life (holidays, etc.). Interesting facts, contests
sales staff	News from head office. Place of the company in the industry market, main trends. Opportunities for professional development and career growth. Best sales practices, brand stories. News of international exhibitions. Corporate events, holidays. Interesting facts, contests

It is also necessary to determine in the Regulations how the systematic monitoring of staff interest in materials in various CT headings is carried out. For example, “at least once a year, the company conducts an independent study with the involvement of an external agency to determine the effectiveness of CI, diagnoses the attitude of company employees to the publication. A report on this work is provided to the general director, director of personnel, director of marketing and the editor-in-chief of the publication.

The Regulation also regulates the work of the editorial board and the entire technological cycle of preparing the CI. The document should give clear answers to the questions:

• Who is assigned responsibility for the CI project?
• Who is appointed editor-in-chief?
• Who compiles lists of questions for authors and sends them out?
• How are authors motivated to collaborate with CI?
• Who edits the content?
• Who coordinates the materials with the authors?
• Who oversees compliance with the work schedule?
• Who controls the process of approval of the finished issue, printing, distribution with the management of the company?

The Regulation defines:

• responsible for the collection of primary information (usually - the head of the department or editorial staff);
• incentive policy and disciplinary policy;
• publication design, colors (as a rule, in accordance with the corporate style). In this section, it is important to indicate the source of the photos.

It can be stipulated that individual photos of employees come exclusively from the card file of the CI editorial office, and determine the procedure for compiling this card file. For example, “for this purpose, a professional photographer is invited to the office every three months. Employees are notified of his visit two to three working days in advance. The employee receives a set of photographs in printed form and certifies the photo for publication with a personal signature. These photographic materials can be used by the editors of CI without additional agreement with the person. The photo session of the CEO is held according to a separate schedule. This will avoid dissatisfaction of employees with the quality of photographs.

It is important for the project manager to learn how to track the stage of preparation of the current issue. Constant control of the CI preparation process ensures the timely release of numbers, without disruptions and delays.

Step nine. Launch of the CI technological cycle. To keep the entire release process under control (from development of the plan to distribution), you need to break the technological cycle into separate stages. Such an "elephant", of course, is difficult to eat whole, but can be cut into "steaks" ( figure 2).

Rice. 2. Technological cycle of creating CI

Content planning. Drawing up a thematic plan is the basis for working on a CI. We recommend planning not only the next, but also the next three or four issues. This will allow the editors to be more flexible in the choice of materials, devote more time to their preparation and strictly adhere to the schedule.

All CI materials for employees can be conditionally divided into informational (news, interviews, analytical reviews, etc.) and entertaining (competitions, crossword puzzles, etc.). The content of client CI depends on marketing tasks, it is selected in accordance with the needs of the target audience.

The subject of the release of internal CI is determined based on the current goals of the organization and the main events in the life of the company. When drawing up a release plan, it is important to maintain a balance of materials representing various departments and individual workers.

In each organization, over time, a group of authors is formed, actively collaborating with the editors. To expand their circle and diversify the materials, it is worth making a list of people whom you would like to attract as authors - on an ongoing basis or for the preparation of a specific issue. People who do not have a special education and a writer's "vein" usually find it difficult to prepare traditional articles. Other formats can also be offered to them: a quick survey, commentary, interviews, personal notes, a diary, etc. The more different authors from different departments of the company are represented in the CI, the better.

Collection of materials. Having outlined the main topics, we proceed to the collection of facts. At this stage, it is necessary to determine which of the employees (or external partner companies) can provide the necessary information and from what sources it receives.

It is important that a person wants to prepare materials. It is likely that not all potential authors will immediately “fire up” with a desire to cooperate with the editors. In case of refusal, analyze its reason: if it is a matter of timing, schedule an interview for the next issue of CI; if the author is short on time, try to find a compromise. Be tactful and correct, stock up on patience and tolerance. For most of the company's employees, cooperation with the editors is a manifestation of goodwill, and not official duties, so try to look for the most appropriate forms of collecting information for authors.

It is more convenient for someone to answer questions orally: arrange a meeting with such a person and talk. How best to record interviews, reviews, comments? You can record on a dictaphone or take notes. In my opinion, the most convenient option that reduces labor costs and speeds up the processing of material is typing on a computer during a conversation. However, recording answers directly during interviews often creates a psychological barrier to communication. Classical voice recorder recording is preferable in many cases. For those who find it easier to formulate thoughts in writing, make an indicative list of questions, on which they will be able to prepare material on their own.

When it comes to corporate culture and the unity of the team, there are no trifles. It is impossible to reduce the entire content of CI exclusively to the monologues of "golden" and "white" collars. Treating all employees with respect is an indicator of the company's health.

The most important thing is to get people creative! At every opportunity, publicize your own the best authors, and newcomers!

Editorial preparation of materials. One should not get carried away with literary delights, this is not always appropriate in the internal CI. Just as a label should be appropriate in size, shape and style for the product being offered, so the prepared text should be appropriate for the topic, the interests of the audience and the goals of the publication. The main task of editorial processing is to obtain material in which necessary information will be provided clear , and it will have on the reader required emotional impact .

Proofreading. If at the stage of collecting materials in the editorial office every now and then an exclamation is heard: “Author! Author!”, then after editorial preparation, another is often heard: “Proofreader! Proofreader! No matter how responsibly people approach their work, there are inevitably “mistakes” and errors in the materials - stylistic, spelling and punctuation. A few errors in the text can spoil the impression of an excellent article, leave a negative imprint on relations with the author of the material, and adversely affect the reputation of CI and the company as a whole. An absurd typo in the name of a top manager (or, God forbid, the owner) can be considered an insult, a missing letter in the name of a partner company spoils business relations. Don't skimp on what's important! Be sure to provide for the position of a proofreader in the CI structure.

Coordination. If the head of the company undertakes to personally proofread all issues of CI, then it will be very problematic to ensure the timeliness of their release. Responsibility for the project should be delegated to one of the heads of structural units (for example, the marketing director and / or the personnel director).

The texts of the first persons of the company (submitted for signature in printed form) and all other materials can be coordinated for printing separately. In general, this process for each release is as follows:

• the release plan is agreed with the editor-in-chief;
• texts of top managers - with the head of the company;
• author's texts - with authors;
• the entire issue - with the HR director (if a client edition is published that contains professional information, the reliability of the materials must be agreed with the relevant departments).

You should especially carefully check (together with the staff of the personnel department) the correct spelling of names and surnames, titles of positions and departments.

Design, layout. The design solution for the design of a corporate publication is selected based on the goals of the project. The purpose of the client edition is the promotion of goods (brands), so the texts play a secondary role in it compared to the “picture”. For an internal CI, the goal is to build employee loyalty, that is, its design should facilitate the perception of information: large print, convenient formatting, harmonious color combinations.

Particular attention should be paid to the following issues:

• Cover type, logo design, graphic design, callouts.
• Designing the Content page. How to arrange it: post a list of all materials or give brief annotations of the most interesting ones?
• Page layout (number of columns, margin size, margin callouts, etc.).
• Selection of fonts and their sizes (for headings, subheadings, body text, insets, etc.).
• Design of page numbering and headers and footers (using the company logo and corporate colors).
• Color of headings, body text, pantones*, illustrative materials, etc.
• Permissible size of photographs, their design (curly edges, location in the text, captions).

Before formulating a task for an in-house designer (or an outsourcing agency) to develop the design and layout of a CI, the responsible editor needs to clarify all these issues.

Replication. To find the optimal price / quality ratio, it is necessary to study the regional market for printing services. Before concluding a large contract, I advise you to pre-make a small order in order to check the quality of printing and service. For example, in several printing houses you can print leaflets (posters, posters) dedicated to the founding day of the company.

Distribution. The result of work on the project largely depends on timely and high-quality logistics. It's annoying when the entire circulation ends up in one branch of the company when there are ten in different cities. But it is necessary that the publication be accessible to the target audience, that is, its releases should be where potential customers spend their time waiting. For example, in beauty salons, banks, pharmacies, airplanes, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, cinemas, etc. In order to distribute a large-circulation publication to customers, it is advisable to involve a large publishing house or specialized company for press distribution.

Step ten. Getting feedback. We are often surprised: why does the target audience remain indifferent to advertising, despite millions of budgets and all the tricks of "creatives"? In such advertising there is no answer to the question "What-Is-Here-For-Me?" Feedback just allows you to evaluate - do readers find something “for themselves” in each issue?

If the preparation and distribution of the publication are carried out in accordance with the principle "personally for each employee - personally for each employee", then each issue turns into a small holiday for the whole team!

It is necessary to establish effective feedback with target groups even before the release of the first issue. Its most common forms are:

• letters to the editor;
• "hot" telephone line;
• poll of readers;
• holding meetings and round tables, reader's conferences;
• studying the dynamics of the interests of the target audience.

An important factor in the successful development of CI is feedback from media professionals: periodic involvement of external experts and benchmarking - comparing the level achieved with the best practices of other companies. The openness of the editorial staff to the “trends of the times”, the desire for professional growth will only benefit CI.

Time management for editorial

Employees who, in addition to their main duties, are also involved in the CI project experience a chronic lack of time. Here are some simple time management tips that can help you deal with it:

1. "Dutch cheese". Try to decide global problem not entirely, but in parts - “gnawing out” small pieces from it, the simplest and most pleasant. For example, when preparing a publication, you can start by writing entertaining pages and selecting illustrations. Over time, so many holes form in the “cheese” that it will not be as difficult to “finish” it as it seemed at the beginning of the work.
2. "Intermediate Joy". Break the work down into steps, and give yourself a small reward for successful completion each of them. For example, for every two calls to colleagues with an invitation to cooperate, allow yourself to bite off a piece of chocolate (if you don’t like chocolate, reward with something else). As a rule, small joys received in this way motivate much more effectively than distant global victories. Anyway, this good way overcome the demotivating influence of routine.
3. "Birds in a Cage". There are cases that require very little time, but are unpleasant, such as “birds in a cage”. If you postpone their "feeding", small "birds" can turn into aggressive monsters that threaten big troubles. Sometimes a task that takes five minutes to complete is delayed for weeks or even months ... Solution: make a list of such cases and “release” four or five “birds” every day. In a couple of weeks, the “cage” will be empty.

Look into the future

Each project lives and develops successfully only as long as the creators believe in its future. Stephen Covey ( Stephen Covey), a management guru, distinguished between "reactive" and "proactive" approaches to life.

• "Reactive"- response to external circumstances according to the principle "how it will turn out", "how it will turn out".
• "Proactive"- building your life, projects in accordance with your own goals and desires.

Learn to be proactive in your CI project work. Try to imagine the hundredth issue, and in great detail. What will he be like? Write a short essay: How do you see your brainchild in the future? What materials are filled in the room? What illustrations attract attention in the anniversary issue? Who is holding this number? What emotions does it evoke in this person? What was the main material in the release?

This technique - "visualization of the future" - will allow you not to dwell on the problems and failures of the past. And when a person grows and develops professionally, the projects on which he works also improve.

Fixing information, turning it into high-quality textual material requires significant data processing. Often people who express their thoughts well orally cannot cope with the preparation of an article ... But the presence or absence of journalistic skills among potential authors should not determine the decision to cooperate with the editorial office. At the same time, the lack of special education among employees who are entrusted with the release of CI is not an excuse for poor-quality work on materials. Any business can be learned if it is “technologicalized”. Preparing materials for CI is within the power of most ordinary people. The main thing here is desire and constant practice.

The general plan for writing an article is as follows:

• collection of facts on selected topics from carriers of key information;
• editorial processing of materials (copyright);
• coordination of the article with the author.

“The ability to write” is a synthesis of the content of the text that is interesting for the reader, the form that is convenient for perception and the emotionality of the presentation (design) of the material.

Let's follow the advice of Aristotle: "A man should speak as ordinary people speak, think as wise men think, and then everyone will be able to understand him, and wise people will recognize him." Using simple and capacious words, you can compose good text articles - of course, if you have what to tell. A simple presentation of the essence in form is the highest aerobatics for the creator of texts.

Before proceeding with the design of the actual text, collect and check factage. Place accents, and then choose words and build sentences. Even a very complex product, service or process can be described in simple, accessible language if you understand the subject matter and arrange the material logically.

“Spreading thoughts along the tree” or saturating the text with inaccuracies, you can make a big mistake: important events and the facts may be misinterpreted by readers, causing great harm to CI and the company. Informing the target audience, the editors must remember: the reader's time is the most valuable and irreplaceable resource. Lengthy monologues and literary prettiness, which increase the volume of material, are out of place here.

Format and structure of an article in CI

• Appeal("appeal to the people"). In this style, a speech on the pages of the CI of the first persons of the company can be submitted.
• Interview(editor's questions on a chosen topic and expert answers).
• Blitz survey of employees/partners. Allows you to identify different views on the problem or general trends in the perception of its employees. It is also important that the publication of statements in CI is very motivating for employees - their authors.
• News- highlights an event or fact that has an information link to the company (its products, relationships with partners, etc.).
• Detailed news about an important corporate event (for example, the opening of new branches), as a rule, is presented in the form of a photo essay.
• Chronicle of success. Reflection milestones development of the company turns them into a corporate legend, helps to show the role and contribution of its leader, the oldest employees.
• Chronicle of the successes of individual units. Stories about the stages of formation and development of departments, departments, branches (with reference to key employees) add up to the history of the company.
• Success stories. This form of presentation of material is suitable for covering not only production programs, but also charitable activities, sponsorship in partner projects, etc.
• Analytical reviews. Materials about the company's position in the competitive environment, its target (unique) offers, competitive advantages and other things are important not only for the external audience, but also, first of all, for their own employees.
• "Problem - Solution". Scheme "?-!" helps to play out certain situations from life, in the solution of which the company's products / services play an important role, as an expert (client or consumer) convincingly talks about.
• Entertainment materials: jokes; parables; contests - literary, poetic, photo contest, crossword contest; puzzles; reprints of educational and entertaining materials (required with an indication of the source). The prize fund declared during competitions, as a rule, includes the company's products/services. It is desirable that the topics of entertainment materials also be directly or indirectly related to the products / services produced.

The structuring of each material in the CI is subject to the logic common to all literary works: 1) introduction; 2) the main part; 3) conclusion. The sequence of answers to questions from the "Quintilian formula" depends on the creative style of the author of the article and the editor-in-chief of the CI.

After the topic, form and structure of the material are determined, it is necessary, based on the collected facts, to make a preliminary plan for the article and its outline (draft). It doesn't matter if you are typing on a computer or writing on a piece of paper. The main thing is the result. Draft material is finalized and improved in the process of working on it. Do not strive to write the perfect text right away, this “perfectionist” approach often leads authors to a dead end. When writing an article, the main task is to complete and clearly transfer content events, and not to pick up the "right" or "beautiful" words. After the text is mostly written, set it aside for a while (at least 15–20 minutes), and then read it in its entirety, replacing repeated words with synonyms, correcting stylistic and grammatical errors. Try to avoid verbal clichés, overly long sentences, and jargon.

Emotional content

Read the resulting text out loud again. What emotions does this material evoke in you? Does the tone of the article match its content? Is pathos, assertiveness appropriate here, or restraint and gentleness are more suitable? What emotional reaction will the material cause in the reader - respect, trust, confusion, anger, approval, bewilderment? What result would you like to get as a result: mastering the key thesis of the article? awareness of a particular fact? changing the opinions and behavior of the target audience? a specific response (for example, receiving letters or completed questionnaires from readers, etc.)?

Avoid sarcasm, arrogance, aggression in the tone of materials. Complete taboo - on accusations and insults against anyone. However, this does not mean that the style of CI should resemble "sugary syrup". Corporate hypocrisy is one of the most vexing extremes that editors go to in their pursuit of creating the image of the “perfect company”. Among the first signs of such hypocrisy are, at first glance, harmless demands: to replace all words in the materials with particles “not” with “positive” synonyms. Do not publish letters from readers that raise company problems or criticize management. As a result, CI loses trust, becomes a dead piece of paper. A company is a living organism, therefore, like all living things, it has problems, bottlenecks in work, etc. The presentation of problematic moments in the corporate press must be honest and dignified.

To go through "fire, water and copper pipes", while remaining useful for business and interesting for readers - this is the professionalism of the CI editors!

How to come up with a title?

Headings of texts are a kind of "facade" of your project. Bright, capacious headlines, first of all, form the perception of the publication as a whole. In addition, the list of headings makes up the content of the issue. It is by them that the level of professionalism, good taste and creativity of the editorial office is determined. In them, corporate hypocrisy, lack of professional training, and violation of corporate ethics inevitably peep through.

The purpose of the title is to convey the essence of the material. Of course, it is not always easy to emphasize any particular issue in a two or three page material, but the skill of writing headlines is acquired in the process. No wonder they say that learning the art of cooking is best standing at the stove.

• "Method #1" - inspiration from the "big press". Scroll through several issues of magazines on a variety of topics (economic, literary, glamorous, etc.). Any of the headlines will surely lead you to an interesting analogy.
• "Method No. 2" - without further ado, you can take the sentence-thesis from the text of the article itself.
• "Method No. 3" - playing around with proverbs and sayings, catchphrases (often "interrupted", without ending, as if with a hint). This option is suitable for lighting corporate events, in the section "Recreation room", "Humor", but not in an open letter from the president of the company.

In the corporate press, there is no place for ambiguities, wordplay with an emphasis on feelings of pity, disgust, sexual motives, aggression, etc. Before adding “pepper” or “salt” to the title, think about the fact that the title of the material is the first words , which you say when meeting a person from the target audience of CI. Imagine your colleague or acquaintance in front of you and read all the titles of the issue. What emotions will show on his face? Astonishment? interest? mistrust? sarcasm? Will he wince or smile? Edit the titles based on these "hints" and then test the result by showing it to a few people you know. If you wish, you can offer CI readers a questionnaire and ask them to mark interesting (inappropriate, boring, frankly bad) headlines of recent issues.

In addition to the heading text itself, the perception of already laid out material will depend on the eyeliner, subheadings, photographs, design, size of the article - all this affects the reader in a complex. Usually, an employee or client of a company scrolling through the CI determines whether they like or dislike the publication, precisely by the titles of the articles and the leads to them. Therefore, they must adequately fulfill their role: correspond to the company's ideology, maintain its image, strengthen readers' loyalty to it (well, and, of course, present the texts themselves).

Heading Rules:

• Simple accessible language. Alexander Repyev in his book "Marketing Thinking" has a wonderful expression coined for lovers of "Chinese literacy": KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid! - "Idiot, keep it simple!"). This advice is useful for those who like to screw in newfangled words, often completely incomprehensible to the vast majority of readers.
• Correspondence of the title of the article with its content. Of course, the headline can be intriguing and "teasing the appetite" like the aroma of delicious food before dinner. But if one dish is declared on the menu, and another is brought, then this only causes irritation and disappointment in the restaurant as such.
• brevity. Use no more than five words. If you consider any information important, it is better to put it in a subheading or eyeliner, but do not overload the layout with a quarter-page heading!*
• First - the article, then - the title. To create headlines, you should allocate time separately. For example, I write headlines after layout, which makes it possible to see nuances that are not always visible in regular text. After reading the material again, formulate the main idea in one capacious phrase.

The "headline as a question" technique is very good. The usual reaction of a person in such a situation is the desire to get an answer, especially if the question affects the sphere of his interests. For example: "For what merit?" (article about bonuses); "How much is a pound dashing?" (an article about the fight against the release of marriage), etc.

“Quote heading” is appropriate for an interview: choose the most interesting remark that reflects the main idea of ​​the entire material and characterizes the position of the protagonist.

Common Mistakes

A popular aphorism says: "The one who sits on the fence plays football best of all." Indeed, playing on the field, it is difficult not to make mistakes. Moreover, the problem, as a rule, is not even so much in the mistake itself, but in our inability / unwillingness to learn from it. Even Cicero said: "It is natural for every person to err, but only a fool is peculiar to persist in delusions." It is better to learn about the most common mistakes that are made when working on CI from the experience of colleagues than to personally stuff bruises and bumps. Here are some of the typical mistakes:

1. One-day edition. If the decision to issue a CI is taken spontaneously, the initiative comes exclusively from below and is not supported top management, no one thinks about the complexities of the work - the publication is waiting for an early death. One or two first releases are made by the initiators of the project as an additional burden, based on enthusiasm alone. Over time, their motivation weakens, the main work displaces the “social” load, and the publication quietly dies ...

2. Insufficient funding. The cost part for the release of CI includes only the cost of printing replication. It is considered that any Additional services can and should be performed by company employees without the involvement of third-party professionals (and for nothing). But "should" does not mean "can do it right". For example, an advertising designer is not always familiar with all the intricacies of the layout of the periodical press, and the staff of the main departments wrote essays for the last time at school. Savings turn into embarrassing spelling errors that are detrimental to the company's reputation, and moreover, they are replicated in several thousand copies.

3. Poor management. An employee is appointed responsible for the project, whose qualification level does not allow high-quality management of CI. Problems constantly arise when drawing up the plan for each issue and attracting journalists, the deadlines for completing the stages of the technological cycle are not observed. Often, the person responsible for the publication simply “does not see” the project as a whole, does not understand his role as a coordinator, does not know how to motivate staff, and cannot control the quality of work.

4. Frequent change of concept. This mistake is related to the inability of the project manager to see the strategic value of CI. The editors unexpectedly and often change their style - from a client edition of the "price" subtype to a glossy magazine with expensive photo shoots and no texts. As a result, the interest of the target audience is lost.

5. Errors in the selection of materials. The unsystematic reflection of the events taking place in the company entails a shift in emphasis from strategically important issues to minor, current ones, in which the employee responsible for the release of CI is involved. The publication is filled with notes and releases, the content of which has practically no meaning for the target audience. In the flow of "slag" information, really valuable and useful information goes unnoticed by readers.

6. Irrelevant content. Due to the long technological cycle, CI often does not keep up with the prompt coverage of important and useful news for readers. "Yesterday's" materials turn the publication itself into "forever yesterday's".

7. A narrow circle of authors. Four or five employees who find it relatively easy to write articles make up the “permanent cohort”. As a result, over time, CI becomes predictable and boring. Meanwhile, the constant rotation of writers makes it possible to provide materials that are more relevant to the needs of readers and comply with the principle of "What-Here-Is-For-Me."

8. Dry leads. The lead is the first one or two paragraphs in the article, which presents, from the point of view of the editor, the main idea material. Its task is to save the reader's time, to orient whether the information offered in the article is useful for him. If the leads are too semi-official and concise, the reader looks through the CI only “on top”, he does not have a desire to read the articles.

9. Foggy eyeliners. The task of the eyeliner is not to summarize the content, as in the lead, but to smoothly guide the reader to read the entire material. A typical mistake is the approach "from afar" - sometimes so far away that it is almost impossible to establish any connection, for example, between dum-dum bullets and paradise pleasure on tropical islands. This is very annoying for the reader.

10. Promiscuity in means to attract attention. The vulgarity of some TV shows (even those with high ratings) is no reason to follow a bad example. Jokes "below the belt" harm the image of the company. The choice between cheap popularity among a certain part of the target audience and usefulness for business should always be decided in favor of business.

11. Errors in design. Despite the fact that the main semantic load in CI falls on the text, and not on the “pictures”, a good half of the success of the entire project depends on the design. Watch as your readers get to know the new issue. According to my observations over the years, eight out of ten people start reading the press from the end, then scroll to the beginning, reading the headlines and looking at the photos. Pages with interesting photos and intriguing headlines are viewed a little longer. Sometimes they read eyeliners, the first one or two paragraphs and large cuts in the texts.

Here are the main errors in formatting editions:

• "Texts-neberuchki". Unsuccessful layout, large text is presented in a continuous array, without illustrations, line spaces, and sometimes without dividing into columns. There is no lead or eyeliner, so the main idea of ​​the material is perceived with difficulty. Visually, such an article looks heavy, there is no desire to read it carefully. Small print tires and also does not add desire to read the material.
• "Diversity" of fonts and sizes. It is not necessary to "regulate" the filling of the strips, using fonts that are incompatible in size or "jump" in sizes (for example, on the same spread, the 8th and 16th).
• Long titles. They not only complicate the perception of the article, but also cause boredom. Do not forget about the optimal size - three to five words (in extreme cases - no more than seven).
• Photos are too small. It is just right to attach a microscope to some publications! In tiny "windows" people hardly recognize even themselves in the pictures. The height of unprofessionalism looks like thick black frames with small photos. Poor quality, blurry photographs with unrecognizable colors greatly reduce the level of publication.

Electronic CI

With the development of computer technology, cheaper computers, improved access to the Internet as a source of news, more and more companies prefer electronic corporate publications (ECI). In this case, the materials can be transmitted to the target audience in the form of a newsletter, electronic newsletter, electronic newspaper. Comfortable? Undoubtedly. But there are also disadvantages. It is extremely important that the information posted in the ECI for customers is not perceived as spam. Regular (necessarily authorized by the recipient) e-mailing solves the main tasks: emotionally binds the client to the company, allows you to quickly provide information to the target audience.

Both large and small businesses have already realized the enormous benefits that a corporate website brings to business. But the popularity of ECI is only gaining momentum. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this format?

The main and indisputable advantage of ECI is its low cost. Thanks to new developments in the field software the technological cycle of design and layout is reduced. In addition, there is no need to prepare high-quality photographic materials. An ECI can be “assembled” in a matter of hours, while the preparation of a printed CI takes weeks or even months. Efficiency, low cost, no logistics and distribution costs - all these are the main and obvious advantages of the electronic format. ECI can be distributed to subscribers instantly. Simplified and feedback with the target audience, whether it's a survey or a request additional information about the company's products or services. But perhaps the biggest advantage is reaching the target audience. In addition, ECI can be translated into different languages ​​and sent around the globe in a matter of seconds without customs declarations and postage costs abroad.

However, ECI also has disadvantages: it requires equipping the workplace with a personal computer. And the higher the popularity of ECI, the deeper the gap between people at computers and all other employees - at the counter, at the wheel, at the helm ... Therefore, such a publication will become a personnel management tool only in a company where most jobs are computerized.

It should also be remembered that ECI does not carry such a “tangible” image component as a “real” CI. If an employee wants to show the magazine to clients or friends, then in printed form it will look rather unpresentable ... The electronic format is more suitable for prompt mailings of "hot news", which involves a cursory browsing, as they say, "diagonally". At the same time, the category magazine B2C (business to consumers), getting to a potential client, can be stored with him for several years.

Ideally, a company should use the maximum number of communication channels, judiciously using the advantages of each format. For example, it is possible to issue a printed CI once every two or three months, and an electronic one twice a month. At the same time, it is important for each group of the target audience to prepare news “by interests”. Employees of your company, business representatives and end users have different information needs - therefore, you need a special approach to meet their needs, taking into account the specifics of the language, etc.

For a corporate publication (CI) of a large company, especially one that produces a wide range of industrial products, it is difficult to find informational occasions that are equally interesting for all members of the team. For example, employees of the hot-bottling department of a cannery and employees of the international sales department of the same enterprise are different target audiences.

In this regard, a new trend has emerged in the corporate press: more and more often, a single CI is divided into several publications for different groups of readers. Thus, the AvtoKrAZ newspaper, which has been published for more than 50 years, today comes out in three versions:

• Weekly in Ukrainian with a circulation of 1.5 thousand copies. Distributed within the company and by subscription. Designed for factory workers.
• Special issue in Russian with a circulation of 1.5-3 thousand copies (issued every two months) - a full-color edition of A3 format on eight pages, intended for the company's customers and partners. Distributed by subscription, at exhibitions, through retail and wholesale stores of spare parts, through dealers and service stations, as well as by direct mail (more than 600 recipients in different countries peace).
• Quarterly digest in English, Spanish and French with a circulation of about 10 thousand copies - a publication for foreign consumers, distributed through dealers, Ukrainian embassies abroad, as well as by direct mail.

Nadra Bank also followed the path of target audience segmentation. It releases two client CIs:

• Magazine "Grow!" is focused on medium and small businesses, the information in it is of interest to entrepreneurs.
• Prosper magazine! is aimed at attracting the attention of individuals - potential and real consumers banking services. This publication is built as a family magazine and presents consumer lending services in the form of expert recommendations (repairs, car purchases, home improvement, family finance management, etc.)

The effectiveness of CI as a tool for informational impact on the target audience has already been evaluated by many domestic companies ( picture). When choosing a CI format, the majority of companies (84%) choose a journal. At the same time, 45% of publications focus on external readers, 40% on employees, and the remaining 15% fall on a “mixed” audience.

Industry structure of companies producing clinical trials (according to AKMU)

Employees as target audience

The audience of the publication is also heterogeneous. Different people work in domestic companies: those who have gained experience in the Soviet Union (responsible, conscientious, capable of mastering several related professions) and “children of perestroika” (perform only those duties that are described in job description, do not take on additional workloads without increasing salaries).

The attitude of these employees to CI is also different: the former, as a rule, read each material with interest, easily respond to the proposal of the editors for cooperation; the second - see in it information tool, react to manifestations of corporate hypocrisy, more often criticize shortcomings. Each group needs its own approach. On the pages of CI, it is necessary to give an opportunity to talk about production know-how, and to criticize shortcomings, raising problems that are significant for the company. The editors may invite active readers to write author's columns in CI.

Understanding the behavior of people in the workplace helps to establish effective interaction with the authors of the materials. Itzhak Adizes ( Yitzhak Adizes), author of the theory life cycle organization, identified the following categories of employees:

• Results Producer. A person for whom it is important to receive concrete fruits of work. He is impatient, active and always busy.
• Administrator. For him, the main thing is the rules and their implementation. Organizes work in the company. Analytical and precise.
• Integrator. Focused on people, the most important values ​​are harmony and well-coordinated teamwork. Friendly, understanding person, always ready to help colleagues.
• Entrepreneur. Sees goals and leads other people to them. Prone to risk, often charismatic, offers new approaches to solving problems.

Most people stick to one style of behavior. For example, if the author is a “producer of results”, then it is better for him to give a list of specific questions and indicate the deadline for submitting the material. You need to meet with the "integrator" in person, discuss the usefulness of CI for maintaining a good climate in the team, and only then move on to the topic of a future article. The "administrator" will be convinced by the presence of a clear work plan, the "entrepreneur" - the opportunity to convey new ideas and receive rewards (material or moral).

• Show positive emotions. The authors decide on cooperation with the editorial office, first of all, according to the subjective feeling: “I like / dislike the person”. They work not with a newspaper/magazine, but with specific people.
• Treat the authors politely, including in case of refusal to cooperate with the editors.
• Don't get sick with workaholism. Excessive expenditure of energy at work leads only to the emergence of new problems, and not the solution of existing ones.

Legal aspects

The current legislation does not define the concept of "corporate publication", therefore, most CTs are currently issued without state registration. However, according to paragraph 7 of Art. 41 of the Law of Ukraine "On Printed Mass Media (Press) in Ukraine" production, production or distribution of a print media without its registration or after the termination of its activity, evasion of re-registration or notification of the registration authority about a change in the type of publication, the legal address of the founder ( co-founders), location of the editorial office is a violation. Guilty persons may be brought to disciplinary, civil, administrative or criminal liability.

Print media (press) in Ukraine is periodicals issued on the basis of a certificate of state registration under a permanent name, with a frequency of one or more issues (issues) per year. The right to establish a print media belongs to:

• citizens of Ukraine, citizens of foreign states and stateless persons who are not limited in civil legal capacity and civil capacity;
• legal entities of Ukraine and other states;
• labor collectives of enterprises, institutions and organizations on the basis of the relevant decision general meetings(conferences).

The person who founded the print media is its founder. Persons united for the purpose of common foundation of the publication are considered its co-founders.

If an enterprise publishes a corporate media under a permanent name, with a frequency of one or more issues (issues) per year, with a circulation of more than the staff of the enterprise, for the purpose of public distribution (including free), such a CI is subject to registration in the State Register publishers, manufacturers and distributors of publishing products.

The procedure for state registration of print media, in addition to the Law of Ukraine "On print media (press) in Ukraine", is also regulated by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated November 17, 1997 No. 1287 "On state registration of print media, news agencies and sizes registration meetings.

Those wishing to open a publishing business must first register as a business entity (individual or legal entity). State registration is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Civil and Economic Codes of Ukraine, the Laws of Ukraine "On Business Companies", "On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs". In the future, the subject of entrepreneurial activity must be registered as a subject of publishing activity. To do this, you must enter your publication in the State Register of Publishers, Manufacturers and Distributors of Publishing Products, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

State registration of print media, depending on the scope of distribution, is carried out:

• national, regional (two or more regions) and/or foreign sphere of distribution - by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine;
• local sphere of distribution - the Main Department of Justice of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional, Kyiv and Sevastopol city departments of justice.

For state registration of print media, an application is submitted, which must indicate:

• founder (co-founders) of the publication(the founder - a legal entity gives the full name according to the documents confirming his civil legal capacity; the founder - an individual gives his passport data);
• publication type(newspaper, magazine, collection, bulletin, almanac, calendar, digest, etc.); the status of the publication (domestic - a printed mass media, the founder of which is a Ukrainian legal entity and / or individual; general - a print media created with the participation of a foreign (s) legal (s) and / or individual(persons);
• publication title;
• language(s) of publication;
• scope:
  • local - within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, one region, regional center or two or more rural areas, one city, district, individual settlements, as well as enterprises, institutions, organizations;
  • regional - two or more regions;
  • nationwide - within Ukraine;
  • foreign - outside Ukraine;
• category of readers for which the publication is intended (the entire population: adults, youth, children, men, women, the disabled, students, workers in a certain industry, scientists, teachers, etc.);
• program goals(basic principles) or thematic focus (their brief description: the development of education, raising the level of spirituality, the development of leisure, informing the population on certain issues, etc.);
• expected frequency of release, volume(in conditional printed sheets) and the format of the publication;
• legal address the founder, each of the co-founders and his (their) bank details;
• office location;
• type of publication for the intended purpose(general political, economics and business, industrial and practical, scientific, scientific and industrial, popular science, educational, reference, literary and artistic, arts, sports, legal, erotic, leisure, medical, religious, ufological, environmental, tourist, advertising (40% of the volume of one issue - advertising), informational, for children, etc.

It must be remembered that the founder has the right to start issuing a print media within one year from the date of receipt of the certificate. If this period is missed without valid reasons, the certificate of state registration of the printed mass media is recognized as invalid.

* In my collection of CI from different companies, which I have been collecting for several years, there is a kind of record holder: 27 words in the title of an article! Meanwhile, even serious scientific journals, in which a detailed description of the topic is accepted, do not allow authors to give such a burden to the title.

* brief- terms of reference of the customer to the contractor, a questionnaire document in which the customer sets out his requirements for the product.

* Pantone (polygraph.) - a standard library of color mixtures, primarily for offset printing on the paper. It has the appearance of a paper "fan" with color scale blades or, in a computerized version, a CMYK color scale as a percentage of a Pantone-certified process ink on standard paper.

1 -1

Mikhail Ivanov

Chief Editor corporate media of Alfa-Bank

I graduated from the university with a degree in linguistics, but my supervisor worked for the journal Kommersant-Vlast and invited me to work there as a literary editor or, as it is called in Kommersant, a rewriter. I worked there for three years. Then he got into the regional department of Kommersant: he controlled that the pages that the editorial offices in the region made corresponded to the standards - he made sure that the texts were drawn up correctly, there were different points of view, and so on. At the same time, I got a side job: Kommersant has a separate structure called the Publishing Syndicate, they are engaged in the production of corporate press. I ran a newspaper publishing house for a large Russian tire company. I got bored, I opened my resume on HeadHunter and Alfa-Bank quickly hunted me down. I have been working here for five years already, I am engaged in the general banking news feed on the internal portal and the Alfa-Navigator magazine, which is printed for all bank staff and sent to each employee.

Corporate media is not exactly media

Corporate publications do not exist
on their own

No corporate publication, be it a quarterly magazine or a monthly newspaper, exists on its own. They are always part of what is called internal communications. This is a whole system of channels through which the company tells employees what it wants to tell them. If all these communications are built in the company normally, then the magazine works in conjunction with other things: with distribution by mail, with an internal portal where employees have access, or even (if we are talking about some kind of plant) with an information stand where something is written. Some still have corporate television, it may just be a screen on which graphics appear in the style of the closed Kommersant TV or more. clear example: "Route-TV".

What you write in the magazine should correlate with what you write in the mailing lists, what gets to the portal. All these things are designed for different audiences, for different coverage of employees, for different degrees of relevance of information. The mailing list gets the most important, otherwise it will be treated lightly, like spam. There, for example, they will not ignore the appeal of the head of the company or the description of the social package for this year. Portal is a thing for daily news. Some are updated once a day, some once a week, we have three news a day laid out. Plus, we have blogs on the portal, there are separate news feeds for divisions: retail business, corporate and investment business, plus IT and the operational unit.

The magazine I'm doing is a bit more of an image thing. Not for what you need to learn here and now, but for what an employee can “digest” during the quarter. Either the strategy of the bank, or long-term projects that allow the employee to feel what kind of cool organization he works for. There are interviews of leaders of a general strategic nature.

It is important that internal communications are not only what goes through the general banking media from top to bottom, it is also how local managers know how to work with their employees, how much contact they have with people. If you say one thing through a corporate magazine, and employees hear something completely different from the manager, they have a distrust of either one or the other, or both at once.

A corporate publication can be done by a small team

The editorial board itself is me and my deputy. However, in large divisions there are people involved in internal communications, and in the regions there are PR directors, they are essentially our authors - although their main responsibilities are much broader. We also have a contractor company that deals with layout, prepress and printing, plus, if necessary, they provide authors who can come for an interview with some manager, employees, write something down and write a text under our guidance.

About five years ago, I wrote about half of the magazine, which was wildly tedious. During this time, internal communications have grown and I have many other tasks that are not strictly related to the magazine. Now I control the planning of the magazine, the layout, I participate in all stages of its creation, but I myself write less texts. I act more as an editor who formulates a task for the author, then receives drafts of the text, explains what needs to be corrected, etc. This is more or less the usual work of an editor in any publication.

Almost everyone has corporate magazines. big company. I even saw a corporate magazine at Yandex, although I was very surprised that they needed a magazine on paper, like an advanced IT company. Recently there was a competition for corporate publications, and I was invited to participate in the jury. I came, they gave me a pile and a ballot to put marks. I looked - the spread is quite large.

The success of a corporate publication is hard to define

The commercial criterion of success, like that of conventional media, does not work with corporate publications. There are no criteria such as the number of subscribers or the number of copies sold. it hard work because you are in the dark. Although there are ways to at least indirectly assess the success of the publication.

Corporate portals have visit statistics, you can calculate total number unique visitors or visits to pages, if this is an online publication. Typically, companies conduct engagement surveys that show how much employees understand the company's values, how much they follow them, how much they resent when someone does not follow them, and so on. They point to the result of the work of HR, leaders in the field, our work. There are also internal communications surveys that just focus on how employees evaluate corporate media and communications, how they evaluate the work of managers. There are quantitative indicators: how much news employees receive per unit of time, how quickly the magazine is published, but these are auxiliary indicators.

Corporate journalist
- not just a journalist, he is also
and PR man

Since the corporate press is a very functional thing, it all depends on what goals the company sets, what messages it wants to convey - hence its requirements for the corporate press. Someone thinks that this is a means of motivation: for them, a corporate publication is a story about heroes with their photographs. For some, they are more like the Soviet information bureau, there are more appeals from managers and directors. Some people generally think that it is better to entertain employees: I saw a corporate magazine that was completely entertaining. The link to the company's activities was minimal.

What is written in a corporate publication? The first direction is the business of the company. Global achievements, new products, services, systems - all this can be told to employees. We have a very large regional network, and it is important for the company to report on the success of regional divisions: major deals, major projects that are going on there.

The second is topics related to corporate culture. Every company has its own values, they need to be explained. But if you just say that you need to love the client, work in a team, and so on, any person will quickly lose confidence in what is written. How can you show employees exactly what the organization expects of them? Obviously - through examples from the life of employees. You can always find a story of how a specialist on the spot managed to help a client in some special life situation, to solve a sophisticated issue. Or, working with a company, I was able not only to offer her a loan, but some cool product that solved a specific request, and now the client loves us and bought twenty more products. It also works as a motivation, because employees are pleased when they are written about in a corporate publication.

Topics related to the market situation are always in demand, with the company's place among competitors. Especially now, when the crisis and the employees of any company develops fear of losing their jobs and apathy. For example, we started a blog by Natalia Orlova (she is a well-known economist on the market), she explains in understandable language what is happening now.

There may be topics that are not directly related to the business and the company. Here, in my opinion, it is important when the employees themselves participate in them. For example, on Victory Day, we asked to send stories about relatives who survived the war - it's very interesting to read. People are very actively involved in this and emotionally tell, send photos.

The main thing is that people feel their belonging to a common cause. In my favorite TV series Parks and Recreation, in the last season, the creed of any normal company is formulated: the feeling that you are doing something important and at the same time with people who are very dear to you. This is the task of any manager, and this, in my opinion, is an important task of a corporate publication.

Organization of the release of corporate publications

There are two options for organizing the release corporate edition. According to the first option, you can Engage an outside organization (for example, a PR company or agency). This method is most effective if the company has been successfully cooperating with a PR company for a long time, whose specialists know the business of this company, the industry, and have prepared materials about this company for the mass media. It is better to work according to the same scheme for companies that do not yet want to create separate editorial offices within the company. You can instruct a PR agency to do the first few issues. This is exactly what many companies do, preferably. Later, it is possible for the company to independently select employees for the editorial office of the newspaper, using the acquired recommendations.

According to the second option, you can make the publication on your own.Most companies use this method. In this case, it is necessary to keep in mind the following: if a company wants to receive a quality publication, then only professionals should be recruited to work in a corporate newspaper. So you will need, at a minimum, an editor-in-chief, a journalist, a layout designer, a proofreader and a photographer. With a small amount of publication, you can limit yourself to one employee - he will prepare all the materials. However, the layout, development of the design of the first issue, selection of photographs, proofreading will still have to be done by someone. This work can be entrusted to freelance specialists or directly to the printing house where the publication will be printed.

In a company, a public relations service is usually responsible for issuing a corporate resource. If the publication's main focus is on the company's employees, then the HR service joins the PR specialists. Often, special vacancies are opened for employees who deal exclusively with the release of corporate publications. That is why so often positions characteristic of publishing houses began to appear in completely different areas of business. And the announcement: “The editor of the corporate newspaper (magazine) is required. Responsibilities: number planning; work with authors; writing materials for the issue; processing and editing materials from the field; compiling a portfolio. Requirements: higher specialized education; experience of similar work” - today no one is surprised.

It is best to appoint an employee of the organization to the position of editor-in-chief of a corporate publication. He should not become a competitor of top managers in the struggle for the minds of people, his task is to be a conductor of the thoughts and wishes of the leadership.

The following can act as the editor-in-chief: director for corporate policy (for example, the Resurs group of agricultural enterprises); PR director (example - Agros company); director of personnel management (for example, the Udarnitsa confectionery factory); internal communications manager (for example, the Perekrestok company).

Thus, the structure of the editorial office of a corporate publication may look like this (Fig. 1)

Fig.1. The structure of the editorial office of the corporate publication.

In general, the following is responsible for issuing a corporate publication in companies: PR department of the company; sales department, marketing department, advertising department; external counterparty on outsourcing terms.

Increasingly, companies began to use outsourcing - the use of third-party professional services in the publication of SR. The issues of the overall concept, content, distribution, and sometimes attracting advertisers remain with the company, and everything else is carried out by a professional specialized agency (design, styling, editing and proofreading, prepress work and direct printing execution). The company's specialists only control and evaluate the activities of professionals. The choice of agency or studio is determined by the budget allocated for the release of a corporate publication. And it, in turn, is formed on the basis of general requirements for the publication (how important are presentation functions and, as a result, the quality of printed works), readership, expected circulation, and distribution costs. It is in order to reduce costs that corporate publications can attract advertisers to their pages.

The release of the publication is the cost not only for the work of the editorial office, but also for printing services. These costs depend on the following parameters: circulation; format (A5, A4, etc.); chromaticity; paper quality; volume (number of lanes).

It is necessary to instruct the person responsible for the production of a corporate publication to analyze the cost of printing a corporate publication, depending on these parameters. The cost of issuing a corporate publication may include the following costs: content creation (editor's work); layout and layout; seal; delivery to the company.

Based on the data obtained, it is possible to finally determine the format of the corporate publication, since this is quite fundamental. The choice of corporate publication format, in most cases, is determined by the newspaper or magazine. The newspaper is characterized by greater relevance in the presentation of information, more frequent periodicity and lower cost. The magazine in comparison with the newspaper is analytical and solid. Its lifespan is longer, and the frequency is less. Recently, magazine format has been increasingly chosen for corporate publications, although most Russian ministries and departments give preference to the newspaper.

The magazine format (compared to the newspaper one) involves, in addition to serious work on creating a content part, a larger amount of design work. So, if the editorial staff of a newspaper can consist of three to six people, then the number of specialists will have to be increased to prepare the journal.

All mass media are subject to state registration. However, if the circulation of the publication does not exceed 1000 copies, this is not necessary (Article 12 of the Law of the Russian Federation of December 27, 1991 No. 2124-1 “On the Mass Media”). Most companies enjoy this benefit and do not register corporate publications. As a rule, in the imprint they indicate a circulation of 999 copies.

Some companies, in order to save money, issue one edition for both employees and customers. In this case corporate media loses the necessary level of confidence. The editor, knowing that it will fall into the hands of clients, crosses out everything that does not embellish reality, and the media turns into an advertising booklet.

Today, almost no one leaves any doubts about the answer to the question: whether or not to publish a corporate magazine or newspaper. SR is really needed. True, sometimes it is still fashionable and prestigious. But this is not bad, if it does not lead to a situation where there are many publications, but there is little or no content in them.

When organizing the release of a corporate publication, the following should be considered.

A corporate publication should provide communication between the team and the management, and management with the team. In addition, the corporate publication should contribute to the emergence of new leaders - to draw attention to those who work in the most critical areas, to reveal their approaches to solving the tasks. As experience shows, publications usually change the attitude towards the employee within the team.

Similarly, the corporate edition to support innovation. For example, if a company implements project management, everyone should know about it.

I would like to note that to solve different problems, you need to use different corporate publications.

The corporate publications of the united bank regularly contain information presented in various genres.Each issue of a corporate publication should present the employees of the company, talk about the success of the enterprise, and publish addresses of top officials, figures and news. The success of the company is any achievement.

Each issue of the publication should contain an address from the top officials of the company so that employees understand that the people who run the business are close. The appeal may take the form of an interview or an article about a particular person or team. And, finally, the corporate publication must contain the figures that are necessary to illustrate the published information. Of course, all information in the corporate publication must be fresh and up-to-date.

Dmitry Bogdanov

5. Corporate TV

The very concept of "Corporate Television" appeared in America in the 70-80s of the last century. In America, the cable TV network was very common. Using this resource, companies linked their branches to the network, showing various video programs. For example, educational films, company news, and even corporate talk shows could be shown there.

Later they began to use expensive satellite channels for signal transmission. It was own satellite television. The cost of such decisions was ultimately justified. Companies got more. They received informed and loyal employees who understood the tasks of the company, saw the attitude towards themselves, and received feedback. Employees realized that they had a direct impact on the business they were doing.

In fact, "Corporate TV" is a way of transmitting video content.

For the most part, these are screens that are located in the company's offices and production facilities. These screens show various content and programs. An addition can be internal intranet portal with video content.

When we at the Rivelty Group created our first project on Korp.TV, we did not fully understand everything. Part of our team had experience in television, but no one had dealt with corporate TV before.

In Russia at that time, in general, they knew about Corp. TV only in general terms. In practice, no more than 5 companies in the country had it, and it was at the level of departments of two or three people. These people were both authors and editors. The quality of the content directly depended on the competence of these employees.

And so we were chosen to create a corporate channel. Our first customer for corporate television is SIBUR Holding. It was a very big responsibility. We were given tasks related to internal communications.

We began to figure out how we can help our client solve his problems. We developed our own formats, broadcasting schedule, and started working. In general, everything turned out effectively, but we periodically encountered unpredictable things. During the first six months of work, we filled a lot of bumps. The main thing is to quickly correct these errors.

Now, after several years, we know the features of corporate television, the nuances of perception, what can and cannot be done. But always for us, each project is a living organism that reacts to the individual characteristics of the audience.

Any new project is individual, we look at how it works, modify something in the course of work, realizing that there are a number of features that need to be taken into account. This experience is literally carved out of stone, many mistakes were very expensive.

Here are some of my favorite stories:

History first. One of our clients in the central office had screens placed on each floor near the elevators. On these screens, we showed various materials: company news, films, interviews, infographics. All materials were with sound: narration or background music. “This is television!”, - we thought, everything should be real.

They worked very seriously with the sound: everything was sounded, cleaned, they made surround sound. About a week and a half has passed since the start of work of Korp.TV. Our customer told us that he had encountered a certain problem: the sound was missing on some screens. There were no apparent reasons. The specialists turned on the sound, but a day later the situation repeated itself, there was no sound again.

After some time, the security service of our client identified the cause of the loss of sound. And the reason was the following: an employee sat in the company for two years, worked, did not touch anyone, and then - once - they hung screens outside the door, on which they show something with sound. In the office, this sound can be heard, not loud, but still.

And a week later, the office workers began to get so annoyed by the innovation that they conceived a plan to “mute”. They looked at what model the screens were, brought a control panel from home and quietly turned off the sound everywhere. We turned it on, they turned it off, we turned it on again, they turned it off again. This remote for them was like a valuable artifact in a computer game. They hid it and passed it between departments. To say openly that they do not like corporate TV with sound, they could not, but this is how they “very subtly” hinted.

I must say, we are quick-witted and understood their hint. What conclusion do we draw from this story? It became clear that in offices, and specifically in this organization, it is necessary to create content that is as visual as possible, without sound. We did just that.

The information that cannot be conveyed visually was accompanied by subtitles. It is always a pleasure to create a project together with the audience, even if our feedback consists of such “hints”.

The second story concerns the "marquee line".

A ticker is the movement of text at the bottom of the screen from right to left. Typically, this technique is used in information TV channels to show the latest news, exchange rates, weather and other information in real time.

I have already outlined my attitude to the running line in the section about the exhibition video: 99% of the time, the use of the line outside of TV is not justified and only distracts attention.

On television, you can use the running line. Never in corporate commercials.

Another customer of ours used a ticker in the Korp.TV project, which displayed news from the company's website in real time. That is, the video went according to its schedule, and the text for the line was taken from the site. In such a system, it is impossible to predict which video will be at which running line.

One of the days in lunch time a video with relaxation content was shown on the screens: views of nature, animals, birds. In the video there was a gopher who was very actively digging his hole and fussing. At that moment, the following text appeared in the running line: "Chairman of the Board of Directors such and such directly dealt with the issue of attracting funding ...". Such a text, and the gopher is digging a hole... "... he urged to find free funds...". Gopher frantically digs ... It turned out a very strange informational message. The gopher was directly associated by the viewer with the Chairman of the Board of Directors: the Chairman was looking for finances, and the gopher was digging the ground. This is what is called "montage".

Our customer then told us: "I stood in front of the screen and just turned white ...". This situation took place only once and there was almost no chance that it would happen again. However, at the request of the customer, we adjusted the relaxation content and, abandoning some topics, focused on beautiful views of nature.

Corporate TV features

Let's get back to the essence of corporate television. As a tool, it pursues two tasks of communication: "informing" and "formation of corporate culture".

Below are examples of corporate TV programs that successfully solve them.

Informing

News

The most rated programs on corporate television are company news. This is understandable and logical, because company news for employees is extremely relevant. The same thing happens on regional television, where local news has high ratings, because people are interested in knowing what is happening to them, specifically in their region, in their city.

There are two main news formats: the first format we called "photo news". Photos that illustrate the news are shown, and an abstract is given. Everything is dynamically changing. Thus, you can convey several news in a row.

The second option: news with the presenter. The classic version of the news release: in the frame, the presenter tells the news, then the plot follows. It turns out a full-fledged news release.

Live broadcasts

In any large company, there are many various events: forums, conferences, meetings. Corporate television makes it possible to organize live broadcasts and convey this information to a large number of employees. Everything that happens in the hall is simultaneously seen by thousands of company employees in other regions.

infographics

A very popular tool in the framework of corporate TV projects. Read more about infographics in paragraph 8.

The only specificity within Korp.TV: infographic clips should be short, no more than 45-60 seconds. In Korp.TV, contact with the audience is small and therefore infographics should be very clear and concise.

Announcements

Various events can be announced on corporate television. For example, the announcement of a corporate magazine or newspaper. "Read in the next issue...".

Or announcing corporate event: “Then there will be super snowy new Year party, Come!".

Statistics

Control Systems Corp. TV allows you to draw up and display up-to-date statistical information. Exchange rates, weather forecast, company stock quotes, accident statistics - all this can be displayed in real time.

Formation of corporate culture

The second large layer of communication tasks.

We had a lot of funny stories here. I want to tell you one about the New Year's address of employees. We decided that it would be good if the company's employees write down New Year's greetings to their colleagues. They thought that the film crew would come, put the camera near the New Year tree, the employees would congratulate. We agreed with the internal communications department, made an announcement so that everyone was aware of it. We gave everyone three weeks' notice.

The day before the shoot, we are told that out of the two thousand employees of the central office, only one signed up. It was, to put it mildly, unexpected for us. I was very interested to see this man. At first we were a little confused, but then we decided that we would not cancel anything, we would try to catch people on the go.

We arrived, put a camera and a light near the Christmas tree. At 11 o'clock the person who signed up came and said: “It's me. I have an appointment for 12, is everything in order? We tell him: "Of course, come, we are waiting for you." He says: "I went to get ready." And went. He turned out to be very responsible.

Further, our producers tried to drag the employees passing by into the frame so that they would say a few words. It was difficult because the men refused: “Well, I can’t speak. Ask Ivanov, he speaks well with us. The girls had the usual excuse: "I don't look very good today." And such a vicious circle, but everyone walks - everyone is interested - how sharks are like that, they move around. We have producers - fighting girls, they were able to invite people one by one, persuaded three or four, then people themselves began to approach.

A very interesting thing happened. She's probably natural, but I think she needs some attention. When people realized that it was not scary, but on the contrary, it was interesting, they began to have some kind of creative realization. And this is what you need, what creates an atmosphere and unites. The videos are very emotional. There were six of them, and people were waiting for these commercials to appear on corporate television.

I believe that developing creativity in employees is a very rewarding topic and a very productive thing, and corporate television provides such opportunities even using such an ordinary New Year's greeting as an example.

Industry History

For employees of the company, short programs are created about the history of the industry in which they work. If the profile of the company, for example, is metallurgy, then this is the history of metallurgy, if it is petrochemistry, coal mining or aviation, then, accordingly, we talk about it. Newsreels, photographs, archival materials are used in the programs, people get acquainted with the materials and understand that they are part of this big history, this whole big production system.

Videos are created in a short duration. Each video reveals its time period. The history of the industry is good material for a corporate museum.

Personal development programs

This layer of Corporate TV programs is aimed at non-core development of employees. The employer company is interested in the employee being healthy, positive and cheerful. It is for these purposes that such materials are created. It can be films or cartoons that tell about healthy way life, how you can distribute your time both at home and at work, how you can relax, etc.

Programs can also be purely educational in nature: unusual facts from life famous people, aphorisms, historical dates and much more - everything that is not directly related to work topics, but can be useful for employees to broaden their horizons.

Business cards of departments

This is one of my favorite formats. There are many different departments in companies, we create our own video about each, show how each department lives. How they work, how they consult, how they decide what kind of atmosphere and traditions they have. All this is interesting. Departments are different, and the atmosphere in them is different. As a result, employees see how their colleagues live, see similarities and differences, see the big picture of the company.

When a company has many branches in different cities, you can make business cards for branches, while the branch employee can show the city itself. Get a tour of the city. An employee in the region will show his workplace, his office, his colleagues, will show the iconic places in his city where he relaxes, drinks coffee, rides a bike.

Thus, it is possible to demonstrate that the company has its own geography, these are different cities, and there are the same employees, they all do one common thing.

The programs described above are only a small part of the possible content. For corporate television, we are constantly developing new formats to inform and develop internal culture. An important role is played by the type of customer company, industry, established traditions, geography, and so on. Of course, an individual approach is always more effective than standard solutions.

In corporate television, you can use any material that meets the objectives of the company.

I repeat once again that Korp.TV is just a way of distribution. What and how to show, in order to effectively solve your specific tasks, must be determined individually.

We, as performers, see the following opportunities for corporate television: The first is informing, and the second is the formation of a corporate culture.

It is clear that both of these positions cannot be completely resolved only with the help of corporate television. If a person works in some kind of atmosphere that is not very pleasant for him, then no video will help him, even if you cover it with screens. But I am convinced that corporate television can be a convenient and effective additional tool in solving these problems.

Two Principles of Efficiency

When we do corporate television projects, we always face limitations. There are two of them - client task and viewer perception.

The tasks of the client direct us in the right direction, we understand what to work on: informing, corporate culture, motivation or training. The client has tasks, he spends his resources on this in order to achieve results. We are building a tool to accomplish these tasks.

The second limiter is the perception of the viewer. Contact with the audience in corporate television is extremely low, a person can go from his office, for example, to the dining room and, passing by the screen, see something. It will either hook him or not, it will be interesting or not interesting, understandable or not.

Between these constraints, and it is necessary to build a project.

For the effective operation of corporate TV, we adhere to two principles: focus and emotional involvement.

Focus

In my presentations, I like to show a static frame of one of our first infographic works. This is an example of what not to do. There are a lot of unreadable texts and a faded background in the frame.

Such a concentration of information in itself is very inefficient, and even in corporate TV is simply unacceptable. Well, what kind of person will look at the screen and try to sort out this heap of information? In design, it is better to adhere to the principle of simplification.

There is a good term: “design ecology”. Information should be "green" - simple and understandable. The main visual object and the absence of unnecessary details are necessary.

There is also Focus semantic. Each commercial/film/plot on corporate TV should perform its specific task. The information that will be shown depends on this task.

There is no need to include everything that is possible in one video. Let it be better to have a lot of them, they will be small, but they will be effective. Each of the videos will carry its own thought, and the course of this thought will be very clearly built. Then it will work. There is no need to mix everything in one heap.

The first feature and the first rule of the effectiveness of corporate TV is focus.

Emotional involvement

How to make corporate TV interesting? We analyzed the content from the perspective of employee-viewer perception and identified the following accents.

"Actually"

The information must be up to date. The employee is not so interested in general federal news or, for example, news from the animal world. He is interested in what is happening in his company. The most rated material on corporate TV is company news.

"About me"

From the employee's point of view, information should be presented in the following way: the employee must see that what is shown to him is about him. He must recognize his atmosphere, he must recognize his colleagues. He must understand that what he is shown is in fact.

When, for example, we are shown one thing on TV, but when you go out into the street - everything is different, then distrust arises. Therefore, the employee should not have questions and suspicions that they are not shown what they really are. He must recognize in these materials what he is familiar with, and then he will have a personal perception of this material. He will believe it.

"Participate"

As an employee, I want to be able to participate in content creation. This is my favorite part, although, from a business point of view, it is the least interesting for us, because it is done by the employees themselves, without our participation.

Employees themselves act as hosts of programs, come up with scripts, make performances, announce events, and video blogs. This is a full-fledged corporate creativity.

Due to my professional activity, I see a lot of internal corporate videos and I can say with confidence that it is effective. I, a complete stranger, are interested in watching these videos. They can be taken directly in the office on mobile phone but still amazing at solving problems. Firstly, because the content is created in-house and at minimal cost. Secondly, people are creatively realized. Thirdly, such content creates a positive atmosphere in the team and effectively attracts viewers.

People should feel emotions about what they see. They shouldn't care.

Summarize. There are two principles for the effectiveness of corporate television.

The first is "Focus", it is both visual and semantic.

The second is "Emotional Engagement".

If both of these concepts are taken into account when creating corporate television, then you will make an effective product.

Measuring performance

How are efficiency measurements made, for example, on federal television?

There are two technologies. First: a set-top box is connected to the TV viewer, and you can evaluate who and what is watching at the moment. The second option: call center employees call the viewers' city numbers and clarify which channel the person is watching and what he likes or dislikes. To date, there are no other effective technologies.

With regard to measurements in corporate TV, the peculiarity lies in the fact that the only tool for determining the effectiveness is a survey of employees. This can be a cut of the audience, for example, 5-10%.

Our clients carried out such measurements in the form of questionnaires and direct communication: they evaluated general impression from the channel, the availability and relevance of information, corporate TV helps or hinders work, etc.

It should also be taken into account that corporate television allows live broadcasting of events, corporate forums, educational films. This allows employees in the region to see what is happening or receive training remotely, which significantly reduces costs.

The effectiveness of video content is most accurately calculated when integrated with the company's Intranet portal. You can understand how many people watched this or that video, which of the videos is the most popular, fully watched or up to a minute, what they liked, what they didn’t.

Stages of creation

1. Understanding of the communication tasks of the company. What needs to be developed/formed with the help of corporate TV?
2. Study by the contractor of the customer (company structure, geography, specifics of work, traditions, problematic issues);
3. Technical part project: broadcast points, update frequency, system administration, broadcast volume, project launch planning;
4. Creation of the concept of the TV channel and thematic headings;
5. Development of graphic design and automated templates;
6. Starter content production;
7. Test broadcasting;
8. Establishing feedback with the viewer, analytics, correction of the content part.

Point 8 is desirable to carry out regularly. It is also preferable to update the graphic design of the channel every year - this "refreshes" the perception.

Examples

Airbus. France.

One of the largest aircraft manufacturing companies in the world. Airbus has completely different types of pads:

• Management company (offices);
• Design bureaus and laboratories;
• Production (factories).

Airbus-TV united all sites into a single network. It turned out that the staff in the office sees what is happening at the plant and in the laboratories. And at the plant they understand what they are doing in management company. Aircraft flight tests are shown live on corporate television. The employees of the company, largely thanks to Airbus-TV, understand the big picture, see what colleagues from other segments are doing. It turns out that an employee working in the office feels his involvement in one common cause and, in particular, in the aircraft that he sees on the screen.

Domino pizza. USA.

The second largest pizza restaurant chain in America. The head of the company, Tom Monaghan created the company in the 1960s. And already in the 70s he created an unusual project for his time.

In America, cable television networks have always been very developed. Tom agreed with several cable TV channels and began to show talk shows closed to outsiders to his employees. Tom himself was the host of these talk shows. Once a month, he stood in front of the camera and told his employees about the company, shared news, problems and achievements, showed new pizza recipes and invited guests. It was a lively diverse program. Thanks to cable networks, talk shows could be seen by employees of even the most remote branches.

Cisco Systems. USA.

A multinational company that develops and sells network equipment. Cisco uses corporate TV to train employees: lectures, video presentations, online labs, interactive simulations, computer games, etc.

"Learning is a key element of Cisco's overall strategy to drive the company forward," said Don Field, Director of Certification at Cisco Systems. To the many advantages of the programs e-learning Cisco is focused on saving money and training time, increasing staff flexibility, and nurturing a new generation of leaders. The monthly audience is 40,000 people.

SIBUR.

This project was implemented by our company. SIBUR is the largest petrochemical holding in Russia. Extensive geography of production.

The following tasks were solved within the framework of the project:

• creation of style and program grid of the TV channel;
• annual change of channel design;
• thematic headings and programs;
• shooting events and interviews;
• weekly content update;
• setup and support of playlists;
• organizing and conducting live broadcasts.

Over the years of our work, many interesting products and formats have been created. It was for projects for SIBUR-TV that we received our first international awards.

Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia. Production - Rivelti group. Russia.

The Coca-Cola Hellenic TV Russia project is voluminous, exciting, multifaceted. Thanks to him, we supplemented and enriched our skills, talents and opportunities. For example, it was interesting to work on the creation of the concept of the channel, the development of the list of programs, the creation of emotional driving solutions in the graphic and musical design of the commercials.

A lot of attention had to be paid to the technical solution for broadcasting content to the regions: the customer's broadcasting points are located in nine time zones. A number of shooting materials of this project also did not let us get bored, filled our history with funny situations on the sets, taught us how to work with people who find it difficult to perform creative tasks in front of the camera, but it is necessary to be in the frame. We are happy to bring this project to life!