Strategic Communication Overview

Principles

Definition

Strategic communication is a research field and professional practice focused on the planned and purposeful use of communication to achieve organizational or individual goals. It encompasses the systematic study and application of communication strategies and tactics designed to inform, persuade, and engage specific audiences or stakeholders. This field investigates the processes by which entities align communication efforts with overarching strategies, manage reputation, build relationships, and influence public opinion or behavior. Key characteristics include its intentionality, integration across various communication channels, audience orientation, and emphasis on evaluation and measurable outcomes. Its significance lies in its capacity to enable entities to effectively navigate complex environments, manage crises, build trust, and ultimately advance their strategic objectives in a dynamic world.

Ontological type

Core Methods

Theoretical Foundations

Campaign Planning

Key developments

Key Figures

Strategic Ambiguity era

Vincent P. Crawford [1] is associated with this era and conducted work across the University of California, San Diego [3] and Princeton University [4]. Crawford [1] authored the 1982 paper Strategic Information Transmission [7], which formalized how actors signal information under uncertainty and laid groundwork for analyzing signaling strategies central to managing ambiguity in organizational settings during this era. Eric M. Eisenberg [2] is associated with this era and conducted work across the University of Southern California [5] and Temple University [6]. Eisenberg [2] authored the 1984 paper Ambiguity as strategy in organizational communication [8], which framed ambiguity as a tactical resource and shaped sensemaking, mobilization, and adaptive governance within relational networks in this period.

Reputational Framing era

Robert M. Entman[1] is a central figure in this era, with affiliations at the University of Pennsylvania[3] and Northwestern University[4]. His key contributions in this era include clarifying and refining framing as a core analytic concept, as evidenced by Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm[7], which helped legitimize reputational framing as a central tool for understanding media influence and organizational messaging. Dennis A. Gioia[2] is another pivotal scholar tied to the Pennsylvania State University[5] and the University of Delaware[6] during this era. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation[8] highlights how organizations interpret and communicate change to stakeholders, a process central to reputational framing and legitimacy maintenance in practice.

Real-Time Social Media era

Julie Leask[1] is a scholar associated with The University of Melbourne[3] and University of Parma[4] in the Real-Time Social Media era. Her work Toward effective government communication strategies in the era of COVID-19[7] highlights rapid, transparent messaging and counter-misinformation practices as essential to guiding public interpretation on speed-driven platforms. Jeannette Sutton[2] is a scholar at Johns Hopkins University[5] and University of California, Irvine[6] in this era. Her paper Milling and Public Warnings[8] offers early insights into warning design and dissemination that inform real-time crisis communication and platform-legitimacy dynamics in the era.