Digital corporate communication and public diplomacy

Companies are increasingly interacting internationally and communicating online with global stakeholders who evaluate these companies based on the image of their country of origin. It is important to understand how these country images are formed and how international communication of nation-states (i.e. public diplomacy) can become capital for corporations. This study introduces public diplomacy in the digitalised world and shows how various sub-national actors like corporations may shape the international diplomatic discourse thanks to digitalisation; it also discusses how state actors may cooperate with companies. By critically discussing previous evaluation and engagement strategies, a new listening approach is proposed. An illustrative case study from Presence Switzerland, the specialised public diplomacy unit at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, is presented to show how to implement impactful digital public diplomacy.