The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, with the support of Flanders Investment & Trade, organized a webinar in partnership with Dentons Global Advisors focusing on: “The 7 pitfalls and the 12 most common errors of public affairs” on 8 November 2022.
Ms Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the participants to the webinar. European investments in China increased slightly in 2021 to €8.6 billion compared to €8.5 billion in 2020. Most were greenfield investments. Chinese investment in the EU increased but on a downward trajectory. Last year, completed Chinese FDI in Europe increased to €9 billion in 2021 from €6.5 billion in 2020. Still, 2021 was the second lowest year for Chinese investments in Europe since 2013. The Netherlands received most of the Chinese investments followed by Germany, France and the UK. The share of Chinese state-owned investors fell to a 20-year low in Europe. SOE investments were down 10% compared to 2020 and were mostly in energy and infrastructure, particularly in Southern Europe. Consumer products and automotive were the top sectors. Chinese investments in automotive were driven by electric vehicle batteries. The next biggest sectors were health, pharma and biotech; information and telecommunication technology; and energy.
Mr Karel Joos, Partner, Dentons Global Advisors, shared some tricks of the trade in public affairs and lobbying. Mr Joos has been doing public affairs and lobbying since 2008.
The seven vices or pitfalls of lobby campaigns and ways to overcome them. Companies are confronted with an increasingly demanding and complicated ecosystem of journalists, policymakers and activists. Stakeholders and companies are struggling to advance their own interests and convince policy makers to take positive action. With regard to governments and politicians, making mistakes in lobby campaigns can be costly and can lead to failure at the worst and disappointment at the best. In any case, your public affairs campaign will not succeed. Suppose that you want to make a large investment, you will need a number of permits and if you get into trouble with activists and you don't organize your public affairs campaign in the best way, chances are that you will not be able to make that investment because policy makers will not grant you the permits.
1. Tardiness: too late is too little. If you want to shape a political agenda or convince policy makers to take a positive action, doing that is much easier when the agenda is still malleable. Having to reconsider is much harder than still being open to debate. A public affairs campaign kicking in too late will be confronted with doors already closed and minds already made up. Starting too early is still better than starting too late. Quite a lot of companies wait until they get into trouble.
2. Tediousness: the best story always wins. Many companies fail at making their narrative memorable and lasting. The challenge is to create mindshare before marketshare through a compelling and resonating story which connects logic with emotion. It's about finding a need and bringing that to the decision makers. You can't do that with only facts and figures.
3. Indistinctness: public affairs is not about people you know but about knowledge you have. It is not about having an address book and being able to call people. Getting a meeting with a high-ranking policy maker is useless if one does not have a case which is politically relevant. Any company will be heard if its message is the right one at the right time for the right person. It's not because you know somebody that he will do what you want. Policy makers are scrutinized by the media and other stakeholders, and need to explain their actions. You need to look for a politically relevant case.
4. Self-centeredness: politics is a game of power while business is a game of profit. Companies who try to make policy makers act and think like business people will never reach their goal. Any solution to a public affairs issue will have to be supported by both sides of the deal and will need to serve a common interest acceptable to the public opinion. Don't try to make the public sector think like you do. They think and act differently because they play another game. You need to find a way to play a common game.
5. Suggestibleness: interest and influence are not the same when analyzing stakeholders, whose behavior is easily misread. It is not because some people are very vocal about a certain topic that they will have an important and relevant stake in the decision to be made. You need to understand the ecosystem of influence and focus on the very vocal stakeholders.
6. Feebleness: unity is strength. This is an internal pitfall. If you want to exert a significant impact in a public affairs campaign, an internal cross-functional group should drive the effort and coordinate all the initiatives. If you don't do this, your campaign risks to send out messages which are not compatible.
7. Oneness: two can accomplish more than twice as much as one. Mobilizing support can be one of the most effective strategies in public affairs.
The damaging dozen: 12 common mistakes made by lobbyists:
1. Not reading between the lines: When negotiating legislation or policy briefs, politicians have a habit of making agreements sentence by sentence. As every word has its meaning, simply reading what is written is most likely to produce an incomplete picture of the political reality.
2. Doing something when doing nothing is better: In politics, doing nothing can be extremely intelligent. And yet many lobbyists are afraid of the void and would rather do anything at all, which could prove to be detrimental. In the meantime, don't sit and wait, but sit and watch.
3. Not knowing what persistence really means: Politicians are capable of understanding what you want. They can do without repeated interventions about the same topic. Sooner or later, undue pressure on politicians will backfire. If you cross the line of irritation, you will get into more trouble.
4. Not balancing persistence with patience in equal measure. Politics can evolve very slowly for a long time, but can switch to the speed of light in a single day.
5. Ignoring the lesser gods: Only the top brass make the big decisions, but downstream they are surrounded by an ecosystem of people who sometimes have more influence than meets the eye.
6. Not telling the truth and thinking one can get away with it: Coloring the truth or downright lying is by far the most dangerous tactic to use. Policy makers may be fooled some of the time, but certainly not all the time. The day of reckoning will come and destroy corporate reputation completely.
7. Making poor background checks: You need to understand whom you are talking to. Do your homework. Being successful will be much easier if one knows the opposite side better than one's own self.
8. Acting without coverage by the higher level: There will be no time to check and recheck with higher levels, so make sure you are covered by those who have responsibility for managing the campaign.
9. Thinking a compromise is a defeat: In all things political the winner never takes it all. Trying to leave politicians empty-handed will never yield a solution, even if they are completely wrong and you are completely right. A compromise can be a step in a future success. Making enemies by not accepting a compromise is not the best way.
10. Coming out of the gates storming: Do not start a war without being certain you are going to win. Lobbyists who aggressively try to advance in a campaign will end up in misery as policy makers have far more instruments to embark on in an endless guerrilla. You will need them more than they will need you.
11. Sending the wrong messenger: To make interaction fruitful, both sides need to feel comfortable, so send a messenger at the same level. It is rarely the best idea to send in a lawyer as this will suggest legal action, neither is putting forward the CEO at the start of the campaign. You have to be organized in a way that you can still escalate.
12. Thinking people will give way because you invited them to lunch: Thinking a lunch or a present might do the trick supposes that policy makers are either stupid or corrupt. It can be useful for building trust but not for convincing somebody to do something.
Personality characteristics of effective and successful public affairs professionals:
1. Listening: especially to what is not said, and find out why politicians don't say certain things.
2. Observing: look for circumstantial evidence. The answers to the least obvious questions are likely to be the most relevant.
3. Relationship-building: lobbying is about human interests.
4. Courtesy: be clear in making your point and be courteous at the same time.
5. Honesty: provide reliable information consistently in thought and action.
6. Integrity: this is always highly appreciated.
7. Credibility: being a trusted and believed counterpart.
