Chief communications officers are absorbing more corporate functions, report says
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The scope of chief communication officers is expanding, according to a new report by the Observatory on Corporate Reputation (OCR).
Why it matters: More communication executives are absorbing other business functions, leading to the rise of the CCO+ title.
By the numbers: OCR examined Fortune 1000 companies and found that CCO+ roles have increased by roughly 88% since 2019, outnumbering traditional CCO roles for the first time.
Zoom in: The most common link is with marketing, followed by human resources and environmental, social and governance (ESG).
- Communication paired with corporate affairs, investor relations and branding have seen an uptick in recent years, while the communications plus DEI title is on the decline.
Zoom out: What about the remaining 703 companies with neither a CCO+ nor a CCO?
- Those companies do not necessarily lack communications roles, says OCR executive director Craig Carroll, but they are not considered part of the senior leadership team.
- "The absence or lower visibility of these roles could indicate their perceived importance within the organization," he adds.
Between the lines: The rise of the CCO+ either means communications is at the center of all a company does, or it is viewed as a catch-all.
- "These findings don't necessarily mean that the CCO+ is better than the CCO," says Carroll.
- "It could be that there are some companies that are getting enough value by keeping their comms team focused, whereas on the CCO+ side, it might signal that maybe communications is not enough by itself."
- Plus, it remains to be seen whether the additional title brings a substantially greater budget.
What to watch: Many communication teams have been tasked with integrating artificial intelligence into corporate work flows. With this in mind, a new alphabet soup title — chief communications and AI officer — could be on the horizon.
More on Axios: Rise of the corporate affairs officer
