This year's European Communication Summit covered change and disruption from multiple angles, inviting its 500+ delegates to look at the transformation of the communications profession from fresh angles.
The event kicked off with a wake-up call about the sweeping changes threatening the communications status quo - from 'deep fake' image and video manipulation as highlighted by opening keynote speaker Rand Waltzman...
‚Digital Alter Egos as weapons in the disinformation battle“ Great examples & application 2 our work @commssummit Day 1 of the European Communications Summit 2019 #Berlin #ECS19 @eacdonline #brandjournalism #Trust #Evolve #Create #Authentic #ideas @codimag #ECS2019 pic.twitter.com/6Y2YCTNcEu
— Jonathan Graham (@JGrahamGermany) May 23, 2019
...to the spread of disinformation the disruption of the media industry in the first of several panel discussion, this one featuring HSBC's Pierre Goad, OECD's Anthony Gooch Gálvez, Ferrero's Giulia Di Tommaso and PMI's Aaron Sherinian :
Unfortunate trend: Intolerance has become virtual.#ecs2019 @commsummit pic.twitter.com/mtqOz7NZ0t
— Anke Maibach (@AMaibach) May 23, 2019
In the face of these existential threats, a clearly-defined purpose have neve been more important: several of the Summit's speakers called on communicators to be bold in stading up for their values:
Are you ready to shift from Chief Communication Officer to Chief Purpose Officer? #ECS2019 #communication pic.twitter.com/paBAiKBrKL
— akkanto (@akkanto) May 23, 2019
Interesting thought from @connected_b_ at #ECS2019 about the importance of #values - how can we humans be good role models for machines who will ultimately learn and copy our behavior? pic.twitter.com/m258SvFn4c
— Shahar Silbershatz (@SSilbershatz) May 24, 2019
Against this background of radical transformation, how should the role of the communications leader and his or her department be shaped? Discussions on communications leadership, as well as the organisation of the comms role and the comms function, were highlighted by the audience:
At the #ECS2019 in Berlin - "Chief Communications Officers need to understand the language of the board and separate themselves from functional aspects of the discipline." pic.twitter.com/ORv3RXlWnu
— VIM Group (@VIM_Group) May 24, 2019
#ecs2019 Why com teams should be organized as editorial hub or newsroom ? the key words : listen to your audience, Storytelling, Transparency,, Collaboration work, Content Agility and 360 diffusion, Simplify repetitive tasks and analyse your results also deploy with digital. pic.twitter.com/gWN3INMb5E
— Epresspack_fr (@ePressPack_Fr) May 24, 2019
Fintech, blockchain, brand management, experiential marketing and VR all made their appearancs at the 2019 European Communication Summit: to see more coverage, folllow the #ECS2019 hashtag with input from @commssummit, @codimag and @eacdonline, all on Twitter.
Main photo: © Jana Legler