Talking Circles - Blog

Five things you should know about GDPR when you send e-Mail Newsletter or use direct Marketing

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 01:38:17 -0700

The General Data Protection Regulation is coming! The European law will be in force on 25th of May this year in all Member States. Evelyn Jadin, Lawyer at Securex, answered our five questions about the new Regulation and how it will affect your communication.

What is GDPR?

GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, covers data protection and the processing of personal data in your company.

How will GDPR affect email marketing?

The new General Data Protection Regulation has a direct impact on email marketing. In concrete terms, what GDPR means for email marketing is that from now on you must not only inform the consumer about the storage of his personal data. You also have to provide evidence that the consumer has agreed to the storage of his data and that you have foreseen a method to enable the consumer to query, or delete, his personal data.

How can I do email marketing under GDPR?

Basically, you are only allowed to send advertising emails following the approval of the recipient. If you want to create an address list, the intention of your advertising should be clearly visible. Due to the general information requirement, in future, you will have to inform the consumer directly about the nature of your mailing, for example that he will receive a newsletter with regular offers. Besides this, you have to balance your interests as data processor with the interests of the consumer concerned. Proportionality is the keyword here.

To do email marketing, you basically only need an email address. In future, you will need to obtain the explicit agreement from the advertising email or newsletter recipient to the reception of your advertising email. The agreement may not be, for example, part of your terms and conditions, but must be provided separately. Tip: Apply the so-called “double-opt-in” procedure.

Can I still send email marketing campaigns to my existing...Read More

More than just the right logos – Five rules for INTERREG project communication

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 02:16:30 -0800

The approval of every European-funded project is a big step and a relief for the partners. It precedes long months of hard work, writing and rewriting, discussing of content, indicators and budget, negotiations about co-financing, adjusting and translating. As former INTERREG manager I am well aware of the efforts that partners put into their project application!
1) A communication strategy that speaks the partners’ languages
Now that the project is approved, it is crucial to start with the communication about the project right away. The budget dedicated to this task is often on the side of the project leader. What we see is that the lead partner, under time pressure and for budgetary reasons, simply asks the Communication service to work out press releases and communication material - with its own corporate identity. The project partners will not be very happy with that and might have difficulties engaging their institution if the return on media attention is low. For the success of the cooperation with all partners, it is crucial to develop a communication strategy and a visual identity that speak the language of all partners in all regions.
2) Professional- right from start
You never get a second chance to make a good first impression! For the kick-off, you already need tools for the visibility of the project: logos, roll-ups for the press conference, a website. It may not seem like the most important place to start the project, but the European Commission and the program authorities look closely at this aspect, and starting with self-made or provisional communication tools can cost more money if they don’t comply with the rules of the program. Expenses for communication material with missing logos will not be subsidized by the program. Don’t hesitate to get professional support! It might even save money in the end.
3) More than just the right logos
The communication of your...Read More

Safety First

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 01:17:30 -0800

You often organize safety campaigns in large industrial and chemical companies. In most cases, safety rules are already well established. So what is the purpose of these campaigns?
In recent decades, safety within companies has greatly improved thanks to safer machinery, better protection equipment and more attention given to safety rules and regulations. The number of accidents at work has dropped considerably. However, such accidents still occur. It is proving difficult to prevent the last 5%. The behavior of employees plays an important role in this connection. And that is connected with the safety culture. Basic measures such as drawing up and displaying safety regulations and making sure they are complied with are properly heeded in many companies. But you do see differences between them. While in one company employees simply follow the rules, in others people spontaneously give each other tips to work more safely, or they suggest improvements to their boss. In such companies there is a proactive safety culture. In our communication campaigns, we try to encourage this safety attitude.
What does a safety culture consist of?
Many companies put safety first. But action is more important than words. Safety should form part of the organisation's strategy and should be a day-to-day priority on the work floor. It should be incorporated in the objectives and evaluations of employees on a par with quality and productivity. Managers should give the example and, for instance, not enter the production hall without a helmet. A sound principle is: if it can't be done safely, we won't do it. For each task, the question should automatically be: how can I do this safely? If you fail to do this, you cannot claim to put safety first. In some companies, this principle is properly applied by having the worker formally go through a safety check list at the start of each task. This helps to...Read More

Trends in corporate communications

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 05:02:06 -0800

A study by the Netherlands-based management consultancy firm Berenschot benchmarks the communication of ten large governmental organizations. Even though this research is not directly translatable into the business world , it reveals some noticeable trends which confirm earlier trends/observations made by the same organization:
1. Investment in internal communications continues to grow.
The importance of internal communication to inform and connect people, to create trust and to make them ambassadors is increasingly recognized by the top management.
2. Importance of own content and direct communication.
Because the quality and content of coverage is adversely affected by the impoverished media landscape, creating own content and communicating with individuals directly becomes more important . Subsequently, organizations prefer to create their own content and make it available on their own social newsrooms for further usage by media, bloggers, etc..
3. Increase of demand for strategical communication advisers.
The communication department consists of solid strategical communication advisers with a sense of the primary process and cooperation with other departments increases (mainly HR). As a result, communication becomes more of an integral working communication platform instead of a separate communication department.
4. The 'communicating organization' expands.
The communication department functions more and more as a coach for the ‘communicating organization' and embeds employees in their communication strategy. Consequently, employees become ambassadors and promote the reputation and image of their organization.
5. Integration of innovative technology in the organization.
For better information dissemination, organizations strongly focus...Read More

5 rules for your internal crisis communication strategy

Wed, 18 Jan 2017 09:03:48 -0800

During a crisis, most managers and communication teams are busy dealing with journalists, answering their tricky questions and responding to loads of social media posts. Unfortunately, employees and other internal stakeholders are often set aside or even forgotten.
That's a pity, because it's a fact that:
Without effective internal communication in crisis situations, your business is doomed!
Keep these 5 tips in mind to improve your internal crisis communication strategy to prevent your internal stakeholders from losing faith in your organization:
1. Internal first!
Always try to communicate to your internal stakeholders first. There's nothing more frustrating for your employees than reading the latest news about your organization in the newspapers or on social media. Keep them involved by first letting them know and then spreading press releases or social media updates.
Obviously, if your company is about to explode, it might be a good idea to evacuate the surroundings first, but in general: never ever forget to inform your internal stakeholders first.
2. Keep it clear and transparent.
Might, could, possibly, eventually ... Try to avoid these words when communicating to your internal stakeholders. They want to see facts and figures: what happened, who's involved, what are the consequences and what are you doing about it. You don't have all the answers? Tell them! And explain when and how you are going to inform them about the missing information.
3. No guessing, no lies.
Always make sure you only communicate about information that has been fact-checked. There's nothing more difficult than setting things right after wrong information has been spread on social media. Rather go for less information that is 100% true than for much information you need to withdraw afterwards.
4. Go for dialogue.
Especially during a crisis, your employees have...Read More