International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Strategic communication is the study of how organizations or communicative entities communicate deliberately to reach set goals. Although the term “strategic communication” has been in use for years, scholars are only now fully engaged in defining the field and its theoretical influences. Traditionally communication in its organizational context has been studied through various disciplines academically and functionally scattered over domains from management communication, →  Marketing communication, →  advertising , →  Public Relations , technical communication, →  Organizational Communication , and →  Political Communication , to →  Information or →  social marketing campaigns ( Hallahan et al. 2007 ; →  Social Movements and Communication ). It also covers the full spectrum of economic and social sectors, such as trade and industry, politics, nonprofit, government agencies, activist groups, and even celebrities in the sports and entertainment industries, all referred to here as communicative entities. All these fields have one commonality: they engage in the study or practice of deliberate and purposive communication aimed at reaching goals such as winning market share, building a positive reputation, winning a political campaign, or enacting social change. This involves people who engage in deliberate communication practice on behalf of organizations, causes, and social movements, ... log in or subscribe to read full text