At 9 a.m. we gather in our large meeting room, the Pauwzaal, to meet with our client’s team and draw up an action plan for their lobby objectives in the coming quarter. Political debate is at hand. Upstairs, our colleagues are sending our clients the first monitoring reports from the media and political news regarding their company. Our espresso machine is running at full speed.
A client calls: there’s a crisis in the national media. Together we determine the reaction, we set up the storyline and Q & A within an hour, and then distribute the statement. It helps having former journalists in the ranks. Meanwhile, in the Reigerzaal a camera is being set up for a media training session for a CEO, who’s preparing for a television appearance later today. Lesson 1: know your audience.
“We make infographics, write corporate stories, set up a digital campaign, and speak to a minister – usually all in one day”
We gather around ‘the spider’ for a call with a foreign client. There are new developments in his dossier – how should he respond? We propose that he requests an interview with civil servants at the responsible ministry, and prepare an article to present to the opinion page of a large national newspaper. We use everything we can – that’s why Corporate Affairs is in our name.
Two of our colleagues are on the road: today they’re interviewing a professor in Wageningen as part of an extensive interview process we conduct with all the client’s stakeholders. We bring the outside world in, through a type of stakeholder research, which gives us useful raw material for a company’s strategy. In the attic, our digital consultant works on a series of tweets for one of our clients, along with an infographic that explains to the members of parliament where our clients believe the dividing line between market place and government should lie.
“Hague thinks, advises, and makes”
The afternoon consists of a brainstorming session about a new digital communication campaign for a big new client. Because we already properly mapped the DNA of their company through our interview process with all employees, from the mailroom to the top corner office, we have everything we need to write their corporate story. Communication is precision work.
The phone rings. We’ve won the pitch from a young company in the digital economic sector. A bottle opens. Two of our colleagues don’t drink as they’re leaving for Utrecht for an evening storytelling training for employees at a large ICT company. The others walk two hundred meters to ‘het Plein’ (the square next to Parliament). Raising a glass with various politicians, chamber staff and civil servants. You never know who’ll you meet there.
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