Evaluation in Practice: Insights from Shell

Von: KK / 02.07.09

Björn Edlund

Björn Edlund, Head of Group Communications, Royal Dutch Shell, hat beim "1st European Summit on Measurement" in Berlin Einblicke in die Kommunikations-Controlling Praxis seines Unternehmens gegeben. Insbesondere Social Media stehen im Fokus aktueller Measurement-Aktivitäten. communicationcontrolling.de hat im Anschluss mit Edlund über den Ansatz von Shell im Detail gesprochen. Das Interview lesen Sie hier.

communicationcontrolling.de: Mr Edlund, you are responsible for Shell's reputation management internally and externally. To which extent does social media really affect the communications strategy?

Björn Edlund: New media are developing very fast and corporate communications teams have to adapt to this. For example, Twitter is now mainstream, but was only created in 2006. And You Tube was only created in 2005, but many millions of videos are now watched every day all around the world. Every day we see how social media is changing the way stories develop and are reported. More change is certain. So as these new channels are fast, global, being used as news sources and therefore influential, we utilise these new channels as well to achieve our objectives.

communicationcontrolling.de: And what is your answer to the developments mentioned? How do you analyse the new media environment and especially your activitites within?

Björn Edlund: Monitoring this environment is more important than ever. We follow online media for both general and specific topics, and approach this on a company-wide basis with a streamlined system. We also carry out traditional opinion research with our target audiences, using a mixture of face-to-face, telephone and online methodologies – both qualitative and quantitative.

But companies need to do more than just monitor. We need to be part of the conversation, recognising that the conversation will go on whether we are part of it or not. That means

• creating dialogue with external stakeholders, e.g. bloggers
• participating in blogs that are relevant and significant
• using blogs of your own
• trialing opportunities like Twitter, social networks and so on

communicationcontrolling.de: From your insight, is there a necessity for new and more advanced measurement tools dealing with social media? Or are the "old" and "traditional" methods and techniques still adequate enough to deal with new stakeholders and new stakeholder channels?

Björn Edlund: It’s a mixture of the old and the new. As the environment is moving very fast, so the monitoring tools are also developing quickly. We have trialled a number of possibilities and will continue to do so.

Frankly, a lot of the chatter about your company is not of great interest or importance. But that is no reason for complacency. You need to be aware of issues that are bubbling up to the surface, gaining momentum and have a chance of getting serious.

So an ideal measurement tool would be an early warning system that detects important emerging issues among the many thousands of conversations about your company on any one day.

communicationcontrolling.de: In general, what are other most current topics you are dealing with in the field of evaluation and research?

Björn Edlund: Shell has a long-standing tradition of measuring opinions. The largest tool we have in place to measure perceptions among special publics (so for instance media, government, academics) and the general public is our Shell Reputation Tracker that provides insight in familiarity, favourability, performance against expectations, brand characteristics and how our communication channels are being used. On top of that we conduct a smaller, online programme to test how opinions on specific topics are changing. Internally we have an annual people survey enabling all employees to give their opinion on a series of issues, ranging from leadership, business direction, communication and living our values in the company.

communicationcontrolling.de: When establishing measurement tools which evaluate the work and efficiency of your corporate communications and also the people belonging to it have there been or maybe are there still problems and fears against the implementation of measurement standards?

Björn Edlund: Good communications professionals move with the times and embrace new technologies. We find that people are generally keen to use new systems that give them greater insights, as kit allows them to be more effective in their roles. The importance of measurement keeps increasing as it provides valuable insights in the effectiveness of our daily work.

communicationcontrolling.de: Mr. Edlund, thank you for the interview!

About Björn Edlund

Björn Edlund, born in Sweden in 1950, began his international career more than 30 years ago as a foreign correspondent, and worked for UPI and Reuters in Europe and Latin America. For the last 20 years, Edlund has worked in public relations, as a consultant and as global head of communications in three large multinationals, Sandoz AG, ABB Ltd and since 2005 in Royal Dutch Shell plc.

About Shell's corporate communications department

In Shell, communications is a worldwide cross-business function based on country teams. The mission is twofold: to showcase Shell’s contributions as a provider of energy, as well as to inform national and international policy as an active participant in the search for climate change solutions. In the Shell Group, communications is stakeholder-oriented, with emphasis on local communities, as well as on those with a special interest in energy and its impact on society from an integrated economic, environmental and societal perspective.

Björn Edlund war Referent beim "1st European Summit on Measurement" vom 10. bis 12. Juni 2009 in Berlin. Einen Überblick zur Veranstaltung mit ausführlichem Bericht zu den Präsentationen und Diskussionen finden Sie hier auf communicationcontrolling.de