A new report identifies five critical trends to future proof the corporate communications function.

The growth of information and the rise of AI are transforming the communications landscape, creating both management challenges and opportunities for organisations. The corporate communications function is at the forefront of this challenge.

The annual Communications Trend Radar 2024 report highlights five trends that corporate communications and public relations leaders must address to ensure their organisations remain relevant and effective.

To navigate this developing environment, communications leaders must develop strategies to cut through the noise, build AI literacy within their teams, adapt to a changing workforce, combat misinformation, and harness the potential of physiological and behavioural data while remaining mindful of the ethical implications.

The report was published in February 2024 by the Academic Society for Management & Communication. The German professional association bridges communities of theory and practice with the goal of professionalising corporate communications and management practice.

1. Information inflation: Navigating the data deluge

The value of information is declining as the volume and accessibility of content continue to grow exponentially. This paradox is at the heart of corporate communications and media business models.

Communications practitioners must develop strategies to cut through the noise, identify relevant insights and deliver meaningful content to their stakeholders. Investing in listening and monitoring tools and adopting hyper-personalization techniques can help organisations stand out and cut through.

2. Artificial intelligence (AI) literacy: Embracing AI in communications

AI has the potential to dramatically impact communications practices at societal, organisational and individual levels.

To harness the full potential of AI-driven technologies, communications leaders must build AI capability within their teams. This involves understanding AI's capabilities and limitations, addressing concerns and scepticism, and providing training and support to ensure effective collaboration between humans and machines.

3. Workforce shift: Adapting to a changing labour landscape

Social, technological, and economic changes are reshaping the workforce available to organisations. This long-term issue is related to an ageing workforce, education and the rate of technological and media change.

Communications leaders must future-proof their departments by understanding how these changes impact job roles, competencies, team culture and knowledge management. Adapting hiring and qualification policies and developing innovative approaches to engaging with a diverse and evolving workforce will be critical for success.

4. Content integrity: Combating misinformation

AI-generated content has worsened a bad situation by accelerating the growth of fake news. It raises two issues for the corporate communications function related to verifying content and ensuring the integrity of its own communications.

Communications practitioners must implement technologies and protocols to verify the sources of information they use and safeguard the authenticity of their own content. Developing crisis response plans for different threat scenarios and educating stakeholders to distinguish between trustworthy and manipulated content will be essential.

5. Human data and insight: Harnessing physiological and behavioural data

Advances in hardware, such as smartwatches and wearables for capturing physiological and behavioural data and AI-based software for interpreting this information, are creating new possibilities for human-technology interaction.

Communications leaders should explore potential use cases, such as measuring the effectiveness of messaging activities or offering customised content in real time based on unobtrusive recipient feedback. They must also remain mindful of the reputational, legal, and ethical implications of these technologies.

The Academic Society for Management & Communication research team developed the Communications Trend Radar 2024 by reviewing professional and academic publications in management, technology and society. Each trend was evaluated for its relevance to corporate communications.

The research is carried out collaboratively by this team from the University of Potsdam and Leipzig University. It comprised Prof. Stefan Stieglitz, University of Potsdam; Prof. Ansgar Zerfass, Leipzig University; Dr. Michelle Wloka, University of Potsdam; and Sünje Clausen, Leipzig University.