Corporate communications practices: the pre-release check

What to take away

Corporate communications practices are repeatable controls, not a house tone. A public earnings release, an employee safety notice and a customer correction need different material, but each passes the same four questions before it is published. Each question has a person who answers it.

Four questions before release

Run the four questions in order. The first sets the message, the second tests its claims, the third tests its format and the fourth assigns the reply. A message that fails one question goes back to its owner, not forward to the audience.

Support the claim before it ships

A claim needs a reasonable basis before it is published. The Federal Trade Commission's advertising substantiation policy statement says advertisers and ad agencies have a reasonable basis for advertising claims before they are disseminated, and it addresses express and implied statements of support.

Corporate material that promotes products or performance should be reviewed for what a reasonable audience may take from the whole presentation. Read the headline, the figure and the caption together, not each line alone. Then give every material claim a current source and a named owner.

State limitations beside the claim they qualify. Use concrete subjects, dates, figures and owners, because a vague claim cannot be traced to anyone who can confirm it. Where a statement can no longer be supported, the owner says so before the next release.

Check access before the file is final

Build access into the first brief, because a finished file is costly to repair. The Department of Justice's ADA guidance says the key to communicating effectively is to consider the nature, length, complexity, and context of the communication and the person's normal method of communication.

That guidance addresses covered businesses, nonprofits and government bodies, and the right aid or service depends on the circumstances. In practice, supply meaningful headings and links, text alternatives, captions and a route to request another aid or service.

Add transcripts, readable files and sufficient contrast, then test the real format and delivery path with intended users. A technically valid file can still fail when the task, language, timing or support route is unclear. Failing that test sends the file back to its owner.

Keep a release record

A release record makes the review repeatable. It holds the approved version, the evidence, the source dates, the reviewers, the audience, the channels, the service owner and the next review date. Keep it with the published piece so the next reviewer starts from facts.

After publication, run the follow-up checks:

Internal audiences get the same checks, and internal communications is the place to plan them. Promotional claims have their own list in the marketing communications strategy checklist. When a correction becomes urgent, the crisis communications guide takes over.

Scope the review and the channel

Match review depth to consequence and topic. A routine update takes a lighter pass than a public earnings release, and a message that touches specialist risk adds a qualified reviewer. The release record shows who looked and why.

Give each channel a purpose: an audience, an owner, a standard and a service level. A channel with no owner has no one to answer the reply, and the marketing communications strategy is where channel choices are planned.

Prepare managers before the message lands. Leaders receive the facts, the boundaries, the likely questions and an escalation route, so a question from staff is answered from the record rather than from memory. When an agency drafts the copy, its claims pass the same four questions; communications agencies covers managing that relationship.

Name the service owner in the record. Questions and barriers that arrive after release go to a person who can answer them, and each one is logged so the next review can see what readers could not do.

Common questions

Do all four questions apply to every message?

Yes. The questions do not change; only the depth of the review does, and a routine notice can be checked in a few minutes.

Who confirms a corporate claim?

A named business or subject owner confirms the underlying fact. Communication tests the wording and audience interpretation, and qualified reviewers address specialist risk.

How should a company handle a correction?

Identify the wrong statement, publish the accurate version with its date, repair derived copies, reach affected audiences where warranted, and fix the control that failed.