History of Corporate Communications

Şükran Güzin Ilıcak Aydınalp, Head of the Public Relations and Publicity Department of Istanbul Gelişim University, held an interview. In the interview titled "Development Process and Examples of Corporate Communication Studies: 1998-2018", Istanbul Kültür University Faculty of Art and Design Department of Communication Arts Faculty Member Dr. Sevinç Koçak participated. In the conversation, professional experiences, the meaning and importance of corporate communication, and past activities were discussed.
 
The first part of the talk focused on the meaning of corporate communication. Then, it was discussed why corporate communication is important. In the second part, the historical development of communication in Turkey was explained. Koçak said, “We did not see communication in our time. We learned communication from names such as Betül Mardin, Uğur Dündar, Mehmet Ali Birand and Güneri Civaoğlu. There was no book of communication,” he said. While Koçak was explaining what a communicator should pay attention to first, she said, “Betül Mardin always put Turkey first when doing something. A communicator must first have extensive knowledge about Turkey, you have to tell your country wherever you go. Everyone is working with abroad now, and that is why it is very important to tell about Turkey.”
 
Later in the conversation, Koçak focused on the importance of experience. “Not everything is experience. In 1998, I experienced my personal awakening. I did everything, but there is a thing called globalization, I said you should read it. If you do not read a book, if you do not write the information in your mind, you will fail. Today is the world of information. Foreign language is also very important nowadays. Now, PR organizations are global chains, and English is important to work there," she said, and drew attention to the requirements other than experience. Regarding what Public Relations is, hse stated that a public relations practitioner should be full both inside and out, and should have both technical and talent, “There is a confusion in the profession. What are we? Brand manager or social media manager? Or something else? Actually, we are all. A public relations practitioner is someone who produces solutions and tries to do the job in the best way. Public relations is a service. You should do this in a quality way without any resentment. You can't be successful with an attitude like I'm going to stand out. Your job and the institution you work for should always be important and stand out. People dealing with the profession of public relations should be egoless.’’ Finally, Koçak said, “It is important to follow the digital. Nowadays, everything is digital. When dealing with digital, you must remember the spirit of public relations, honesty, transparency, good service, etc. It should not be forgotten either” and emphasized the current structure.’’