By Elizabeth Castro and Jeremy Berrington
For the past five years, our agency has led corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications for a global, U.S.-based company in several Spanish-speaking countries throughout Central America and the Caribbean including El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. We have had the unique opportunity to build the communications infrastructure from the ground up in each country, and implement strategic plans against monthly calendars of CSR activities that deliver real benefits to communities and our clients.
Our work showcases CSR projects – from renovating schools and hospitals to providing humanitarian aide in the wake of natural disasters – that are carried out by teams of employee volunteers who step forward to make these efforts come to life. Through these experiences, we have created a core agency capability rooted in formal processes and cultural understanding and have developed insights into what it takes to successfully gain the confidence of local communities and stakeholders in Latin America.
Here are our best practices.
Recruit Strong Local Partners
Even in your hometown, it can take years to build a solid network of personal and professional contacts. International communications practitioners will rarely be afforded the time it takes to cultivate relationships with the relevant organizations and individuals in the markets they manage. A more realistic and expedient option is to recruit a local partner who can provide you with the media access, connections and cultural insights necessary to accomplish your goals while representing the client as an extension of your team.
Finding the right partner is difficult, but conducting an RFP that includes in-person interviews on location will greatly improve your odds of success. Sometimes clients are resistant to approve the upfront expenses associated with an on-site RFP, but in our experience it is worth the initial investment. Due to the range of issues you and your partner will be faced with, it is important for your relationship to be a personal fit as well as a professional one and face-to-face interaction is invaluable in that regard.
Use Your Passport
Despite all of the recent advances in communications and reference technologies – from social media to Blackberry Messenger and Google Earth to Skype – international communications practitioners must travel to the markets they manage. This experience is not a ‘nice-to-have.’
Making regular country visits will enable you to develop genuine relationships with your partners and client teams, experience the local culture firsthand and provide a lasting frame of reference about the country and your client’s business operations. Traveling to international markets is like taking part in a walking, talking SWOT analysis – it transforms the hypothetical into reality in a way that cannot be accomplished at your desk in the United States.
Learn the Culture and History
Although a common language unites most countries in Latin America, the region is far from homogenous. Understanding simple but important cultural details – like the fact that Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese, baseball is the national sport of the Dominican Republic or that several Central American countries functioned as a unified government in the 19th century – goes a long way.
Although some cultural and historical details might seem esoteric, in today’s interconnected world this information is more important than ever. Local rivalries, domestic crises and national achievements rarely happen in a vacuum – more often than not they are part of a historical pattern that has been in the making for decades, if not centuries. It behooves companies to encourage their international communications practitioners to read up on the history of the places where they will work before their projects begin. Playing catch up on the ground or coming off as an ignorant American is a bad way to start a new endeavor.
Appreciate Context
A big part of managing international communications is the ability to adapt your perspective to the local environment. Despite the emergence of global business culture, many things remain markedly different at a company factory in Pittsburgh and a production base in Managua. In the United States, an employee strike that generates national news coverage could cause a full-blown crisis with repercussions that last for months, if not years. In Central America, the same incident could be part of a typical Tuesday.
This is not to say that international communications practitioners can put aside their client’s global values, become insensitive to local concerns or let little issues snowball into crises – especially given the power of social media. It does mean that we must appreciate the unique factors that make Latin American society different from the United States – such as varying standards of fair reporting, less enthusiasm for libel and slander lawsuits and a radically divergent balance of power between labor and business – and adjust our tactics accordingly.
Open Formal Lines of Communication
Every communications practitioner can appreciate the importance of timely and accurate information. But in the case of international communications, cultural and linguistic barriers present challenges to establishing trust between the global team and can impede the flow of communications. It is important to have individuals on your team who can break through the language barrier and establish regular opportunities to connect with their international counterparts, such as via weekly or bi-weekly team conference calls. These touch points create opportunities to learn about activities or issues that may help or could hinder your communications efforts.
Know that building genuine trust across your international team will not happen overnight. But if you consistently demonstrate an understanding of the country at hand, remain cognizant of local perceptions and establish an effective system for communicating with all parties, it is possible for you to become a trusted conduit of information that connects disparate units of an international organization.
Show Organizational Value
One challenge we have is to show the value of our international communications efforts as U.S. organizations continue to face economic challenges and shrinking communications budgets. A donation of a renovated ambulance a world away might seem like a low priority, but companies with a manufacturing presence in Latin America need to maintain a favorable environment for conducting business. Smart and engaging CSR activities are an excellent way to build goodwill, maintain and form new relationships with key stakeholders and differentiate your organization from competitors.
Back at headquarters, it is important to share your successes and their tangible impacts with senior leaders who oversee core business functions from supply chain to sales. This is where documentation – such as photo and video assets, reporting and internal communications activities – is critical.
Elizabeth Castro is a senior vice president at O’Malley Hansen Communications (OHC) in Chicago (www.omalleyhansen.com). OHC implements internal and external corporate communications plans and social media campaigns for big brands. You can follower her on Twitter at @Eliz_Castro and @thecommsblog.
Jeremy Berrington is an account supervisor at O’Malley Hansen Communications. Jeremy is a political junkie with a background in journalism and government communications. In addition to his work at OHC, he writes a blog called Real Politik on ChicagoNow.com. You can follow his blog @realpolitikchi.
