The Belgian lobbying scene

Transcriptie

1 Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy The Belgian lobbying scene My internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs Laura Moerman A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Multilingual Business Communication Promotor: Prof. Dr. Geert Jacobs Academic year

2 TABEL MET BESCHRIJVING VAN DE STAGE Bedrijf Stagebegeleider Afdeling Taken Talen tijdens de stage Whyte Corporate Affairs nv/sa Clos Lucien Outers Gaarde B-1160 Brussel 02/ Joris Bulteel / Stakeholder mapping, copywriting, vertalen, trainingen bijwonen, press clippings, media monitoring Onderzoeksproject over public affairs Meewerken voor klanten Desk research voor klanten en prospects NL FR ENG Stageperiode 27/04/09-29/05/09

3 The Belgian lobbying scene My internship at Whyte Corporate Affairs Laura Moerman

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5 Preface This thesis is the final project for receiving the title of Master in Multilingual Business Communication at Ghent University. In the following pages, I will reflect upon my internship at the communication agency Whyte Corporate Affairs and upon the many things I have learned during the year that I studied Multilingual Business Communication. After four years of merely theoretical schooling, my motivation to start this program, was to learn more about business life. Not only would the MTB program offer me a bridge to the labor market, it would also give me the chance to brush up my language skills. Much of the skills that I have acquired during this year, were practiced during the five weeks of my internship. Because I know that none of this would have happened without the help of some people, I feel it is appropriate to use this space for expressing my thanks to those people. First of all, I would like to thank Whyte Corporate Affairs and its staff for my internship. Special thanks to Joris Bulteel and Eveline De Ridder for giving me the chance to work there and learn more about corporate communication and public affairs. I would also like to express my gratitude to Laura, Evi and Cathy for being ready to answer my questions and supporting me when needed. The entire team has definitely been a source of motivation and inspiration for me. Profound gratitude goes to my parents, for their many words of encouragement and their neverending believe in my competences. I want to thank my sister Ellen for reading this thesis and supporting me during this year and the previous years at university. I would also like to thank my friends, roommates and fellow students for the wonderful time I had during my student days in Ghent. Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Luc De Bie, the coordinator of the program, for arranging guest lectures and company visits but most of all, for making order out of the MTB chaos. His many s and reminders made it possible to stay organized during this busy year. Ghent, June 2009 i

6 Table of contents Preface... i Table of contents... ii List of figures... v List of tables... vi 1 Introduction Whyte Corporate Affairs Company history Services Corporate communication Public affairs Crisis management and issue management Training Additional activities Corporate identity Client portfolio AMP Benelux General Secretariat Bruxelles Formation Flightcare IBA IKEA Belgium AB InBev IRE Lanxess Lorenz Media Markt Saturn Omnichem Sabena Technics Wolfers Competition Akkanto ii

7 2.5.2 Interel Groep C Other competitors Whyte s USP Future Conclusion Independent and Belgian Services Competitors Recent developments Summary The Belgian lobbying scene Lobbying and public affairs Public relations Public affairs Lobbying History of lobbying Lobbying activities Lobbying in Belgium Belgian political decision making Belgian lobbyists Belgian and foreign lobbying activities Recent developments Research Method Findings Conclusion My internship Press screening Research project Stakeholder mapping Crisis training Press conference Other tasks iii

8 4.6.1 Translation and copywriting Desk research Media monitoring Attendance at a Parliamentary Commission Conclusion The internship Professional experience Personal experience Multilingual Business Communication References Appendixes iv

9 List of figures Figure 1: Whyte s view on lobby and public affairs...5 Figure 2: SWOT analysis for Whyte Corporate Affairs Figure 3: PR, PA and lobbying Figure 4: Essential assets for lobbying, van Schendelen (1990) Figure 5: Step-by-step plan lobbying, Groenendijk (1997) Figure 6: Belgium, a federal state, composed of communities and regions Figure 7: Belgian lobbyists v

10 List of tables Table 1: Basic questions for PA activities, Pedler & van Schendelen (1994) Table 2: Methods and techniques of lobbying Table 3: Extent of parliamentary lobby networks, Liebert (1995) Table 4: The cross-partyness of parliamentary interactions, Liebert (1995) Table 5: Interviewees PA survey per language group Table 6: Interviewees PA survey per parliament Table 7: Survey question Do you think that businesses communicate with you and provide information to you sufficiently? Table 8: Survey question When businesses contact you and give you information, do you think that they do this in a timely manner? Table 9: Survey question Do you think that businesses are obliged to keep you directly informed about their activities, issues and other matters? vi

11 1 Introduction Over the past few months, the economic landscape has drastically changed in many countries. The global credit crunch that we are currently witnessing, results in an endless list of closures, compulsory redundancies and bankruptcies. During these anxious days, companies are in need of clear solutions. To assure their future, they often have to rely on government measures. The recent story of Fortis shows that, during these volatile times, politics and economy have to join forces to strengthen the economic situation. In order to do that, a good contact between both parties is needed. Politicians need to look out for the economic actors in their country our region. But it is not only them that need to take action. The companies themselves also have to communicate proactively with the political field. Public affairs and lobbying activities have become more and more important. From 27 April to 29 May, I had the chance to work in the communication agency Whyte Corporate Affairs. The agency and its consultants have a profound expertise in public affairs. Because of its growing relevance in both political and economic spheres and because of the subject of my internship, I decided to write about lobbying in this thesis. In the following chapter, I will present the communication agency Whyte Corporate Affairs. I will touch upon the history, the corporate identity and core activities of the company. A representative share of its client portfolio will be presented as well. In order to know the position of Whyte Corporate Affairs in the market of communication agencies, a presentation of the biggest competitors will be given. Based on that information and on the aspirations of the company, a SWOT analysis will summarize this chapter. In the third chapter, I will provide some theoretical background about lobbying. The first part of this chapter consists of a literature review about lobbying and public affairs. Definitions, history and current trends and different sorts of lobbying activities are discussed in this chapter. To be able to compare the Belgian lobbying scene to foreign systems, first of all, the unique character of Belgian decision making is explained. After exploring the Belgian situation, the comparison with foreign lobbying scenes is made. In the second part of the fourth chapter, the results of a research I worked on during my internship will be presented and compared to the earlier presented literature findings. Chapter four deals with my internship and the tasks I fulfilled at Whyte Corporate Affairs. A short description of those tasks will be given. Each time I will explain what I have learned from doing those tasks and how the program of Multilingual Business Communication has helped me during my internship. Finally, in the conclusion I will reflect upon my internship and upon the many things that I have learned during the year that I have studied Multilingual Business Communication. I will make a critical evaluation of both aspects, the internship and the study program. 1

12 2 Whyte Corporate Affairs In this chapter, the company where I did my internship, Whyte Corporate Affairs will be presented. First of all, a short presentation of the company history will be given. Since the communication agency is newly founded, the paragraph also contains information about the company name, the organization of tasks and the team of consultants. Secondly, an overview of all offered services will be given. In the third part of this chapter, more details are given on the mission statement and the corporate identity. After that, a short description of some of Whyte Corporate Affairs most important clients follows. The fifth part deals with competitors. Not only a description of possible competitors, but also Whyte Corporate Affairs unique position is discussed. After a sixth part on short and long term perspectives, the conclusion of this chapter will bring a detailed analysis of the company s position. A SWOT analysis shows the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and threats of Whyte Corporate Affairs. 2.1 Company history Since Whyte Corporate Affairs 1 was only recently established, the presentation of the company history will not be very long. The company was founded in September 2008 by four communication consultants, formerly working at Interel 2. Its first activities from its headquarters in Auderghem started on 16 September 2008 (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2008, September 16). The four partners, Sandrine Agie, Joris Bulteel, Eveline De Ridder and Emmanuel Goedseels, decided to share the benefits of their many years experience within a new communications agency. They started the new agency, based on a modern approach to the field, the so-called corporate affairs approach 3. This approach is an integrated view on how the agency wants to handle its issues. The corporate affairs approach combines corporate communication and public affairs into one single method ( Whyte Corporate Affairs is an independent agency. In contrast to most of its competitors, Whyte is not integrated in a bigger company structure. The agency is led by the four partners, each of them covering one specific management field. Joris Bulteel is in charge of the corporate identity, business development and company logistics. Eveline De Ridder is responsible for IT, the website and other Internet applications. Sandrine Agie covers HR and all financial matters are handled by Emmanuel Goedseels (Robignon, E., personal communication, May, 2009). The name Whyte was chosen because it is a contraction of the words why and white. Why stands for the company s character to always think twice before taking action and white stands for 1 Henceforth, the company name Whyte Corporate Affairs will often be shortened to Whyte. 2 Interel is a Belgian Public Affairs and Corporate Communications agency. Since it should be seen as one of Whyte s major competitors, Interel will be presented more into detail together with the other competitors. See section A more profound explanation on the corporate affairs approach will be given in the paragraph that handles Whyte s corporate identity. 2

13 clarity and straightforwardness. With this name, the partners wanted to express the true aim of the communication agency, which is the will to deliver high-grade and creative advice ( Today, Whyte can offer its clients a full range of services within the fields of corporate communication and public affairs. As crisis communication is one of Whyte s most important competences, the company has an operational crisis hotline, which enables a 24 hours a day and 7 days a week standby service ( In only a few months, the company has grown to a ten-strong and perfectly bilingual team. All consultants have a certain expertise in communication. According to their content and scope, projects are dealt by small teams that consist of at least one of the partners and one or more senior or junior consultants (Robignon, E., personal communication, May, 2009). 2.2 Services According to the corporate affairs approach that Whyte wants to apply, all offered services should be seen as part of the bigger picture. Rather than storing one activity into one specific field of business communication, all activities should be interrelated with each other, in order to serve one common goal. Nevertheless, I find it interesting to present the different services more into detail. The following presentation will put the different services into classical fields of business communication. In the next chapter however, the corporate affairs approach that makes the combination of all those different services will be explained in detail. Many of the services that Whyte Corporate Affairs provides have a rather abstract name and are not that easy to conceive. In this chapter a short explanation per service or activity will be given, but later on in this thesis, concrete examples of my tasks at Whyte Corporate Affairs will be situated within the range of the services that are presented here Corporate communication Corporate communication is every kind of communication that is sent out from a company or organization to all or part of its stakeholders. Whyte Corporate Affairs does not work on brand communication or specific customer issues. In its approach to corporate communication, Whyte wants to have eye for all possible stakeholders. Not only customers and media are possible target groups for communication. Whyte attaches just as much importance to internal as to external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders can be employees and shareholders, while the external public consists of agencies, channel partners, competitors, the government, federations, the media, the academic world and many more (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). The corporate communication service consists of a wide range of activities. In a first phase, Whyte always has to get to know the company or organization that it is working for. Sometimes it is 3

14 necessary to carry out perception audits amongst different stakeholders. That way, it is possible for Whyte to see how employees, customers and other company relations experience a certain organization. Based on those results, a corporate identity and positioning can be built up. Subsequently, there is strategy development and the design of a media relations program. All these activities can serve as a basis for a long-term communication plan. Before carrying out a communication strategy, it is important for a company to know its position in the market and the image it has among the stakeholders. It goes without saying that Whyte does not carry out all of the above mentioned activities for every client. Sometimes, the company profile is already well known and Whyte can start with more specific communication activities (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009; Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). Briefly, within the field of corporate communication, Whyte offers advice about stakeholder communication, relation building and internal communication. When it comes to internal communication, employer branding can also be an important aspect. For companies that are quoted on the stock exchange, or companies facing a flotation or take-over, Whyte can also provide specialized know-how on financial communication. Finally, Whyte also offers advice in developing corporate social responsibility programs (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009; Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). During my interview with Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), the special approach Whyte takes when it comes to corporate communication was stressed. From his experience with other communication agencies, Joris knows that many of those agencies only have eye for the media as channel for corporate communication. Whyte always looks for other options. He admitted that the media will always be the predominant channel. Nevertheless, for some projects direct communication or communication via the company website, or via a personal letter from the CEO himself can serve better Public affairs A second set of activities can be categorized under public affairs. For Whyte, public affairs go much further than traditional lobby. Where lobby should be seen as getting in touch with politicians and influencing decision making in a way that serves your company through means of face-to-face contact, public affairs rely on more than just that personal contact. For Whyte Corporate Affairs, the field of PA 4 falls back on a wide set of channels. Not only discussions and debates with politicians, but also communication via newsletters, company events and classical media communication can be useful. As politics and clients are evolving, Whyte feels that the classic lobby approach has serious shortcomings nowadays. Where other communication agencies still rely on personal networks and the old-fashioned idea of like knows like, Whyte strives to provide its customers with more suitable and modern techniques. The consultants at Whyte still believe in the power of personal networks, but to live up to modern times, where politics are more and more professionalized and management positions rotate more frequently, other methods have to be used (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009). 4 Similar to PR for public relations, public affairs is often shortened to PA. 4

15 personal network lobby wide range of stakeholders that have influence on the public opinion PA Figure 1: Whyte's view on lobby and public affairs To illustrate Whyte s view on public affairs, Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) compared the field to a triangle. In the top of the triangle, there is the limited number of people that one can reach when using traditional lobbying. In the base however, there is a much broader target group that can be approached when using modern techniques for public affairs. First of all, within the field of public affairs, it is important to know all the possible stakeholders. Political and stakeholder mapping are ineluctable steps in the PA process. As for corporate communication, Whyte has eye for every possible influencer. Not only politicians leave their stamp on the public opinion about an organization. Academics or columnists that often write about business and economics can also be important stakeholders. To manage the image of a company in the public opinion, Whyte carries out media and regulatory monitoring.. By screening all the media, the middle-field, politics and political agendas, consultants can spot issues that might concern their clients. Next to traditional monitoring, Whyte also uses the method of intelligence gathering. Where monitoring only uses publicly accessible sources, intelligence gathering also scans information that is retrieved in an unofficial way. For this kind of activity, the personal network, used in traditional lobby, is of greater importance (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009; Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). Together with the client, Whyte carries out specific public affairs strategies and action plans. The most important public affairs and lobbying messages and tools are defined, in order to be standby for when action is needed. Because Whyte believes that companies themselves can operate best as lobbyists, they provide their clients with constant help and advice before and during lobbying activities. A great deal of the PA service has to do with preparing, training and coaching clients (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009). To support its broader view on public affairs, Whyte offers influencer programs to its clients. The idea behind these programs is to systematically, repetitively and sufficiently spread information about a company among a broad, but clearly defined target group. By organizing seminars, meetings and encounters in support of the public affairs objectives, Whyte s modern approach to PA is practiced (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). 5

16 2.2.3 Crisis management and issue management Though it is presented as a third service, crisis management actually fits in with both corporate communication and public affairs. In the interview with Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) the importance of crisis preparedness was accentuated. About 80% of crisis communication can be perfectly prepared on beforehand. In order to do those preparations, Whyte makes an elaborate analysis of all possible risks and scenarios. Afterwards, the scenarios that are most relevant or most likely to happen in the future, are worked out more profound in a crisis manual. Crisis manuals provide clients with ready-to-use techniques and means of communication in case of a crisis. If wanted, Whyte also organizes crisis trainings and simulation exercises. In order to be ready for the breakout of any type of issue (for example when the media start to pay attention to the binge drinking trend among young people, a beer brewing company has to be alert), issue mapping and media monitoring are again of great importance. As most of the issues can be prepared on beforehand, Whyte can provide its customers with ready-made answers to the possible questions of for example journalists. It is also possible to set up tailor-made crisis communication tools, like non-operative dark sites, SMS-services or standby call centers. Subsequently, the process of issue tracking is started up to follow how issues are covered in the media. If a certain issue is covered more frequently than before, the client is warned to be alert. The ultimate goal for issue management is a so-called early-warning system (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). Both crisis management as issue management cover different types of issues: social issues, change management, litigation, shareholder issues, industrial risks, environmental issues, health issues, consumer related issues and many more (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a) Training The word training has already been mentioned when presenting the other services above. Because Whyte believes that clients are the best ambassadors for themselves, communication and media trainings are provided. Often CEOs or other members of the management team are technically qualified people without any know-how about communication or decision making and the formation of the public opinion. By offering its clients training and coaching, Whyte believes that everyone of those people can acquire communication skills (Whyte Corporate Affairs, 2009a). In explanation of the choice to present trainings as a separate service, Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) pointed out that even though it is part of every other service that they provide, training needs special attention in their service presentation. By presenting it as a separate service, they believe that clients will more easily see the relevance and need for adequate training sessions. If training would be stored under the other services, clients risk to lose track of it. The subjects of the offered trainings are differentiated. Possible subjects are crisis communication, risk management, corporate communication, introduction to the Belgian media and media training. To initiate foreign business people in the complex Belgian political system, Whyte also offers a training called Belgium for dummies. For some of its trainings, Whyte cooperates with renowned trainers (Bulteel, J., personal interview, May 19, 2009). 6

17 2.2.5 Additional activities Whyte Corporate Affairs is currently working on some additional services. While working at Whyte and during my interview with Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), I obtained more information about these activities. Some of the projects are ready for use, others are still to be finalized. To keep their clients, the media and other contacts informed about current developments in the fields of corporate communication and public affairs, Whyte wants to publish and distribute papers every couple of months. The Whyte Paper can reveal information about current research or the latest trends in the field. In May 2009, a first edition of the Whyte Paper was released. The subject of this paper was the research 5 I contributed to during my internship. At the same time, Whyte also wants to inform clients and contacts in another way. Whyte is currently working on the organization of biannual debates and discussions with prominent people in business life or the communication field. The topics of those debates can vary. A first edition of the Whyte Sessions is expected in September To take advantage of the possibilities of the Internet, Whyte Corporate Affairs is now designing a modern web application, called Whyte Space, that will allow clients and consultants to exchange upto-date documents with guaranteed confidentiality. Finally, Whyte is planning the launch of an innovative stakeholder mappingtool early this summer. Using this tool, Whyte will be able to deliver tailor-made information per client. The consultants will control the information from a central interface. This means that, when contact details of a certain politician change, the consultants do not have to make an update for every single client, but just once in the central system. This tool will be unique on the Belgian market. 2.3 Corporate identity In this section, the corporate identity will be discussed. The best illustration and summary of Whyte s corporate identity is found in the mission statement: Stakeholder oriented, objective driven. That is why we strongly believe in the integration between what is traditionally considered to be corporate communications and public affairs. We tear down the walls and combine the best of both worlds ( The combination of two fields that is mentioned in the mission statement, is what Whyte named the corporate affairs approach. In brief that approach makes the sum of corporate communication and public affairs. The result is corporate affairs. To account for this approach, Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009) illustrated this integrated, multidimensional method with an example of one of his clients, AB InBev 6. In October 5 The results and conclusions of this research project will be presented in the third chapter of this thesis. 6 More information about AB InBev specifically and general information about Whyte s clients can be found in the next section. 7

18 2006, the former InBev decided to stop the production of the lager called Hoegaarden in the breweries in Hoegaarden. The production would be moved to another InBev brewery. The closure of the brewery in Hoegaarden gave rise to social upheaval and strikes. For some days, the production of the beer stopped and the supplies of supermarkets had run out. At this point, good communication was truly needed. The crucial mistake that was made here had however nothing to do with the communication afterwards. Before the decision to close down the brewery in Hoegaarden, some important steps in communication were not made. Instead of having eye for the whole range of stakeholders, InBev only communicated with some of its stakeholders. The result was bad media coverage and upset employees. While focusing too much on the classical media such as newspapers, television and radio, InBev did not pay enough attention to direct communication with its employees in Hoegaarden. It is obvious that those were baffled to hear the news on the radio, before having heard anything from their own boss. If a complete, multidimensional communication mix with eye for every single stakeholder would have been set up, much of the problems caused after the closure in Hoegaarden could have been avoided. This case illustrates that modern communication is more and more about the convergence of different means of communication. The corporate affairs approach wants to bring a mix of, for example, traditional lobbying activities with modern communication via a website or a full-page article with the CEO of a company in a Saturday s newspaper. Many different communication tools should result in the achievement of one common goal. The corporate affairs approach wants to look beyond normal rules of communication. That newspaper interview mentioned above should not only contain interesting information for people reading the newspaper on a Saturday morning, but there should also be some hidden messages for the employees or shareholders of the company in question. To summarize, I can quote Joris Bulteel (personal interview, May 19, 2009), who said: Nowadays, communication is a matter of circulating the right information at the right time and via a diversified set of channels. The aim should always be to reach every single stakeholder. That is why a clear definition of the target group will always come first. Stakeholder oriented, objective driven, like we say in our mission statement. 2.4 Client portfolio The client list of Whyte Corporate Affairs is divided into different categories. First of all, there are the clients. Clients are those organizations or companies that Whyte is working for on a regular basis. Secondly, there are the project based clients. Those clients only need advice for one specific topic or at one specific moment of the year. Thirdly, Whyte also has a list of its prospects. Prospects are those organizations or companies Whyte already has made contact with. When there has not been any contact with a certain company but Whyte has the will to add that company to its client list, one speaks of leads instead of prospects. That fourth category of leads is divided into an A and a B group. Briefly, leads A are more likely to become prospects, while leads B are a bit further away. 8

19 In the appendixes 7, a simplified version of Whyte Corporate Affairs current client list is added. For obvious reasons, the names of prospects and leads will not be mentioned. A short presentation of some of Whyte s regular clients will be given below. If possible, it will also be specified what Whyte is doing for that particular client. From this presentation, it will become clear that Whyte has clients in many different economic areas, such as environment, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, beverages, transport and even government institutions AMP Agence et Messageries de la Presse (AMP) is one of Belgium s biggest media distribution companies. AMP is distributor of national and international newspapers, magazines and other media in every province of Belgium ( Recently, AMP decided to cut down on its book distribution activities. By closing that department, some hundred jobs were at stake. Good communication towards employees and the media was very important. Whyte also carries out constant media monitoring for AMP. Increased attention is necessary, with the crisis that is going on in the media landscape Benelux General Secretariat The Brussels-based Benelux General Secretariat is the central administrative office of the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) Economic Union. The Benelux Secretariat has numerous contacts with international governments and institutions for the benefit of the cooperating countries ( The Benelux General Secretariat has only recently become one of Whyte s clients. Currently, the Secretariat has to contend with image problems. The value of the institution is questioned and the Secretariat is considered to be sluggish and old-fashioned. At this moment, Whyte is ending a series of interviews with stakeholders of the Benelux General Secretariat. This perception audit will be the foundation for a reconstruction of the institution s image. Subsequently, a new company logo and house style will be designed Bruxelles Formation Bruxelles Formation is the official organization that is charged with the professional training of French-speaking job-seekers in the region of Brussels. The organization offers trainings, advice and personal consultation ( For this client, Whyte is standby for any corporate communication or crisis communication job. In the past, the agency has offered expertise and help for developing press relations. 7 See appendix 1 for the client list. 9

20 2.4.4 Flightcare Flightcare is responsible for ground services in and around different airports in Belgium (Brussels, Liege and Ostend). The company provides ticketing, check-in and boarding services and cargo of goods, mail and courier ( Given the inconstancy of the Belgian airport and aviation sector, constant standby of the consultants at Whyte is required. In case of crisis, the consultants can work on the necessary communication. At this point, there are no other ongoing projects for Flightcare IBA IBA (stands for Ion Beam Applications) has a leading role in the international research for molecular medicine. The company offers ionization and sterilization solutions to improve hygiene and safety in everyday life. IBA has a widely known expertise in cancer diagnosis and therapy ( Just now, Whyte Corporate Affairs is finalizing a crisis manual for IBA. It contains far-reaching descriptions of approximately four possible crisis scenarios. The manual also offers ready-made press release formats and Q&A documents IKEA Belgium Ikea Belgium is the Belgian division of the Swedish and world-famous furniture retailer. The Belgian division has its own management employees work for Ikea Belgium ( The work for Ikea Belgium started with the opening of a new store in Ghent. Whyte Corporate Affairs was responsible for press releases, press contacts and the organization of a press conference about the opening. Today, Whyte is also taking care of the communication around the recent strikes that took place in some of Ikea s branches AB InBev One of Whyte s biggest clients is AB InBev, the largest Belgian brewery. Famous brands of AB InBev are Stella Artois, Beck s, Leffe, Hoegaarden and Budweiser ( Whyte Corporate Affairs has daily contacts with the Leuven-based communication department of AB InBev. Being a brewery, AB InBev is often confronted with many different issues concerning responsible drinking, youth and alcohol and many more. This results in regular media coverage. Besides issue and crisis management, the corporate identity and image is also of great importance for AB InBev, certainly since the recent merger with Anheuser Busch. Therefore, Whyte does not only execute monitoring activities, crisis management and issue management. Whyte also looks after their 10