China Analysis – Chinese National People’s Congress March 2013 China’s 2013 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress completed the political transition that began last November with China’s 18th Party Congress. Xi Jinping has now formally been tapped to assume the role of President as well as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. These will be added to his title of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, which he received in November. Meanwhile, Li Keqiang was officially confirmed as the new Premier of the State Council. This review looks at China’s new leadership team, key issues raised during the recent meetings and some of the implications for business. Download full publication (PDF)
The Future of Stakeholder Engagement Views of Senior European Communicators on Current and Future Best Practice February 2013 Conventional wisdom holds that “Stakeholder Engagement” is important and organisations should be doing it. But there’s very little data available about what “it” is, or about the benefits and risks organisations see from engaging in new ways with groups they may not have dealt with in the past. The purpose of this survey was to explore what stakeholder engagement looks like with those who are closest to the front line: senior European communicators at large corporations, government bodies, NGOs, associations and other organisations. Download full publication (PDF)
China Analysis – 18th Party Congress November 2012 On 15th November China’s new leadership team was unveiled. As expected, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang took the top two positions within the Party with the remaining five (in seniority) Zhang Dejiang; Yu Zhengsheng; Liu Yunshan; Wang Qishan; and Zhang Gaoli. Xi and Li will lead the 5th Generation of leaders for the next ten years through two Party Congress cycles. This review looks at China’s new leadership team, key issues raised during the congress and some of the implications for business. Download full publication (PDF)
Brunswick Research Emblems and shortcuts MRS paper 2012 March 2012 Graeme Trayner spoke at the annual Market Research Society Conference in London on new approaches to corporate reputation research. His conference paper looks at drawing on new thinking in neuroscience, behavioural economics and social psychology, and applying the insights to help improve corporate communications planning. Download full publication (PDF)
China Analysis Fifth Plenary Session, 11th National People’s Congress March 2012 In mid-March China concluded the last session of the 11th National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress, commonly known as the “lianghui”. This year’s session is the last before the formal transition of power to the next generation of China’s leaders launches later this year; as a result, proceedings during the two weeks of meetings were closely parsed for any early signals about the upcoming leadership transition. The most high-profile and high-impact development came one day after the close of the NPC with the announcement that Bo Xilai, an extremely prominent senior Politburo member, had been removed from his position as Party Secretary of Chongqing. The unusually public demotion and condemnation of such a high profile official shone a light on deep-seated factional disagreements within the highest levels of government about the future direction of China’s economic and political reforms. The political ramifications of this public house cleaning will continue to be felt in the months ahead. This year’s review of the lianghui takes a look at the upcoming leadership change and also a range of the economic and social development goals discussed during the meetings. Download full publication (PDF)
China Analysis Fourth Plenary Session, 11th National People’s Congress March 2011 On 14th March China concluded the Fourth Session of the 11th National People’s Congress, while the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress concluded one day earlier. These annual meetings, held during the first two weeks of March each year, mark one of the most important events in the Chinese political calendar. In this year’s review of the lianghui we look at the newly approved national economic and social development plan for 2011 and the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) which provides key economic and developmental targets for the next five year period. We also look at the broader issues raised during the sessions, what they mean to those in China, and the implications to business. Download full publication (PDF)