In a recently published interview for the PR Journal, Prof. Dr. Christopher Morasch, Managing Director of digitell.me, had an insightful conversation with Thomas Mickeleit, Chairman of the CommTech working group. The central topic was digitalization in the PR industry and the associated challenges and opportunities.
Morasch posed an interesting question about the differentiation between technology companies, represented by companies such as Microsoft and IBM, and traditional German companies such as Volkswagen and Grundig. Mickeleit argued that the DNA of Silicon Valley companies is deeply rooted in technology and innovation, in contrast to the engineering-heavy focus of companies like Volkswagen.
This difference is further illustrated by the CommTech Index Report, which Mickeleit pointed to as an additional indicator of differentiation in terms of digitalization. The report shows that larger companies with extensive communications departments (more than 20 employees) dominate the digitalization landscape, while smaller companies (with up to 6 employees in the relevant departments) lag behind.
Another notable finding was that communications departments are lagging behind other departments in their organizations, particularly compared to marketing and customer service, when it comes to digital transformation. Mickeleit acknowledged that this may be due to the fact that many communications professionals see themselves as part of a relationship business, which is not quite as easily quantifiable.
Despite these challenges, Mickeleit emphasized the enormous opportunities that digitalization offers for the communications industry. In addition to faster and more cost-efficient communication, digitalization enables a wide range of innovations and fundamentally improves methods and processes in communication.
Thomas Mickeleit is the founder of KommunikationNeuDenken and advises communication functions on their digital transformation, e.g. on the introduction of newsrooms. He heads the CommTech working group, which was founded on his initiative and brings together around 370 digital-savvy communications experts. Until the end of 2020, Mickeleit was Director of Communications at Microsoft Germany for almost 15 years. Prior to that, he was Head of Corporate Communications at Volkswagen, IBM and Grundig. Mickeleit began his career in 1987 as press spokesman for the Berlin Senator for Economics.
Further information can be found in the original PR Journal article.
