93

ASSOCIATION

03/2012 COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR

REGIONAL FOCUS: PORTUGALThe Portuguese Regional Coordinator Rui Martins shares his view on the EACD’s activi-ties in the region and the communication landscape in Portugal.

Can you tell us about the format and topic of events that you have hosted so far and the feedback you have received? Since I assumed the position as Regional Coordinator for Portugal, we have organised nine successful Lisbon Regional Debates attended by 279 top executive com-munication professionals from different sectors and industries, from which we have gained about 40 new Portuguese EACD members. Trying to keep pace with the European and international communication trends and with the specific needs of the Portuguese market in mind, the topics have provided insightful, case-study based understanding and knowledge, presented by in-ternational and national speakers. The Lisbon Debates take place twice a year, in May and October, with four guest speakers and under the sponsor of partners such as the five-star Hotel Altis Lisboa. We have featured talks such as ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: a multi stake-

holders’ approach to sustainability in times of turmoil’, ‘Financial Communications: rebuilding trust’ and ‘Ter-ritorial Reputation Management: leveraging the Portu-guese Experience’. The next Regional Debate will take place on October 16, 2012, under the headline, ‘Going Global: managing effective multicultural communica-tions’.

What seem to be the issues most affecting communi-cators in Portugal at present? Are there any develop-ments or tools that Portuguese communicators seem especially excited about? Facing a bailout crisis, I would say managing a trust-worthy reputation, financial communications and mul-ticultural communications are of top priorities to both big and SME companies. Of course, such concerns are

greatly related to internationalisation processes and the imperative need of growth and expansion in order to tackle the contraction of domestic demand. Regarding the tools, one crucial excitement is the rising trend of social media and mobile applications (Facebook and Twitter, iPad and iPhone applications, and social media monitoring and evaluation are being increasingly used), not only to reduce costs but moreover to increase busi-ness-to-customer and potential business-to-business en-gagement and thus leveraging sales leads.

Is there anything that you specifically characterises the Portuguese communication landscape? The integrated communications arena in Portugal is growing each year into what more mature markets such as the UK, Germany, France or Spain have already be-come. Yet there is still room for further improvement in order for Portugal to grab the overall attention of, say, Portuguese-speaking markets in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and eastern countries such as Macau and China. A further trend is social media being used by more and more companies. Thus, understanding and managing effective integrated online communications is a topic of great relevance. On the other hand, the rising of social media turns transparency into inevitability for all kind of organisations.

Rui Martins has been the head of com-munications at Dianova Portugal since 2003. Previously, he was: a strategic consultant (Tinkle Consultant Lisbon), introducing and leveraging easyJet’s po-sitioning in the Portuguese market and media relations for Hotel Penha Longa

& Golf Resort; associate director (Hill & Knowlton Portugal) and senior associate (Burson-Marsteller, Lisbon). He holds a master’s degree on Social Economy, ISCTE; post-graduate degree in man-agement and multimedia communications, ISEG – Universidade Técnica Lisboa; and a degree in management and public adminis-tration, ISCSP – Universidade Técnica de Lisboa.

RUI MARTINS

Regarding the tools, one crucial excite-ment is the rising trend of social media and mobile applications.

Phot

o: P

rivat

e