Ten editions already! 😮 Yes, the Communicator is back with a 10th edition! For over 30 years, this reference work of the communication inspires and supports professionals in a constantly evolving sector.
📖 For this 2025 vintage, Assael Adary signs a Communicator more essential than ever, at a time when theartificial intelligence turns everything in its path upside down. With With its 600 pages, this bible of communication enlightens us on our changing professions. 🎁 What surprises does this 10th edition have in store for us? Let's explore the secrets of Communicator 10 together!
Hello Assaël, and congratulations on this new edition of Communicator! What are the major new features of this 10th edition?
And yes, the new edition is finally out! And I'm delighted to find We are COM, a partner of Communicator for several editions already, to talk about it.
A lot has happened in the communications sector since 2020 (the last edition). Imagine, at the time, how AI seemed like a distant mirage. We saw it as a great promise, sometimes with great suspicion. Today, I wouldn't say it's on every page, but it occupies an important place in this edition because it has and will shake up our practices and our thinking about the profession. Which gives the subtitle of this 10th edition: “All communication in the era of AI”.
It runs like a common thread that impacts all areas of communication. And once again, as in all previous editions, the testimonies of professional experts shed light on the challenges of AI and its practical application in advertising, PR, and, of course, digital. We are no longer in the experimental phase, but rather in a new era where we have to deal with it.
A watchword for communicators: tame the prompt!
And of course, as I am always on the side of defending our professions and demonstrating the added value of communication, It seems to me necessary to hide nothing in order to show both the limits and the intrinsic opportunities of AI.. It is for this reason that in this edition we attempt to bridge the gap between the issue of Responsible Communication and the uses of AI.
A watchword for communicators: tame the prompt!
Indeed, artificial intelligence is making waves. How are AI tools revolutionizing the communications industry?
With the emergence of generative AI, we can see how much our professions have evolved. Today, a large majority of us (70%) use it for content creation and data analysis. After the disruption of the communication landscape in the digital age, AI is coming to help us magically fill all this new content and formats, hungry for news.
It also helps us to better understand, segment and address our audiencesSociodemographic criteria (CSP +, etc.) are gradually being replaced by a more behavioral approach, with more detailed profiles, forming a "brand community". By analyzing data faster and better than any human, it allows us to make our public relations more effective because they are perfectly targeted.
In terms of crisis communication, social listening tools AI-based tools help identify trends before they escalate into crises.
I see this as a tremendous opportunity to refocus our businesses on strategic expertise, analysis and reflection rather than on execution and pure production. Nothing can replace the talent, intuition and creativity of our brains!
But in the end appears a dilemma that we need to resolve quickly. It attacks the very essence of who we are: our business model. Today (and tomorrow) who creates value in our sector? And who will pay for this value?
If the production of communication objects, content, and containers is produced faster with less human intervention... what is their value? Shouldn't we take advantage of this to revalue ideas?
I see this as a tremendous opportunity to refocus our businesses on strategic expertise, analysis and reflection rather than on execution and pure production.
The previous edition focused on responsible communication. Today, how can we reconcile AI and responsible communication?
As a reminder, the previous edition was subtitled "All the communication for a responsible world." But I haven't forgotten that already in the first edition of Communicator more than 1 years ago, Marie-Hélène Westphalen had perceived this major challenge for businesses and the role of communication as a link between them and their publicShe already spoke about the corporate citizen in 1992.
An entire chapter is devoted to communication and responsible and CSR. As I like to remind you, responsible communication is not communicating on CSR subjects but rather "the CSR of communication"., therefore transforming our practices profoundly. It is a fundamental movement, a marathon and a sprint as the emergencies are before us, it is a full and complete commitment which must spare no practice or support, no actor in the communications ecosystem.
The arrival of AI strongly questions our responsibility, first of all in its extremely deleterious impact on energy. An AI query consumes 10 times more than a Google search. Next, we must be wary of AI's unfortunate tendency to reproduce stereotypes that responsible communication seeks to reverse. AI is of course widely used by all fake manufacturers content, deepfakes which are more difficult for communications professionals to combat.
Here again, a dilemma arises: will AI serve to mass-produce communication (which is the very opposite of sober communication) or will it help us communicate "less but better"? In the hands of responsible professionals, it can become an ally...
Will AI serve to mass-produce communication or will it help us communicate “less but better”?
For the first time, a chapter dedicated to advertising has been included in this reference work. Why?
I proposed it to DUNOD. Since 1992 and the first edition of Communicator, advertising has always been a chapter of Mercator, and among the "gold" books was Publicitor, which is no longer published. We were therefore able to integrate advertising in the form of a major chapter and under the aegis of our new partner, the AACC, the association of consulting and creative agencies. When we see the weight of advertising in the communications sector, it seems logical to tackle the subject.
In many ways, advertising has evolved enormously over the past 30 years. First of all, The rise of digital technology has radically changed the advertising playing field, bringing nearly 80% of advertisers with it and making digital advertising the driving force of the sector. In the wake of digital, to date which offers a formidable development tool but which also leads to questioning the ethics of our professions.
Among the professions impacted by the AI hurricane, advertising is undoubtedly the first and most affected. With generative AI, new solutions are emerging, unleashing creativity previously limited by inextensible budgets.
I have re-immersed myself with delight in the great advertising sagas that marked my youth (Evian, Carglass). But the time of great advertising films with massive and universal media coverage is behind us. Make way for segmentation and personalization of campaigns and messages. Finally, let's not forget our common thread of responsible communication which is also undergoing a revolution among advertisers: let's mention advertising with a positive impact with the first winners of the
Water lilies, self-regulation of the sector with the ARPP, post-purpose... enough to remain attractive to a new generation that quickly associates advertising with overconsumption.
The time of big advertising films with massive and universal media coverage is behind us.
By the way, how do you select the practical cases for the Communicator?
I rummage, I search, I classify, I tidy… For three years, I've been building up a large library of case studies. Professional associations are a gold mine for this. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to warmly thank them:
- the AACC, the association of consulting and creative agencies,
- Afci, the French internal communications association,
- the National Association of Communicators,
- Businesses & Media, the association of communications directors
And of course, last but not least, We Are COM, whose wonderful content inspires and nourishes us.
I also have the chance to attend or even be part of juries for major awards organized by these associations or other organizations. These are all opportunities to discover these famous case studies, presented by the communications teams who wonderfully summarize the path between a problem, an objective, the work and the reflection carried out until the emergence of an idea and its implementation, often with in the files, the concrete impact of the campaign, the change in behavior observed, the resolution of the problem.
Precisely, do you have a favorite to present to us?
So, the Grand Prix is awarded to… “SNCF: a new, innovative and efficient organization of the communications department” in the section “Comms directors and their organizations”.
For me, what is interesting in this "case" is precisely to show the invisible, what the communications professional cannot see. In this case, it is a major structural transformation that has led each of the six newly created subsidiaries to have a Communications Department. This includes a brand platform, vertical and horizontal organization, pooling resources to address cross-functional issues, etc. It's exciting because it's not necessarily the window display that matters. It's also the backstage or "kitchen" that makes our professions powerful levers in the service of a strong brand like SNCF. I think the whole point of Communicator is to share these concrete examples, which would never be exposed elsewhere.
It is also the backstage or "kitchen" that makes our professions powerful levers in the service of a strong brand like SNCF.
Finally, if you had to draw just one lesson from this 10th edition, what would it be?
Holding this copy of the latest edition of the Communicator inspires two things in me. On the one hand, a great pride to be co-author of this work which I am often told is useful for both students and experienced professionals. On the other hand, the feeling, if only by the very weight of the object, that the famous reductive and somewhat contemptuous phrase "It's just COM" no longer has any place.
Communication isn't improvised, it's not a flash of genius, and it's not the preserve of those who speak well. It's the result of hard work, of hours spent refining concepts, testing, deploying, and adjusting. These 600-odd pages are a testament to that.
The challenges of communication are increasingly numerous, its social responsibility is being highlighted, and AI is both helping us and putting a target on our backs. Nothing is simple or easy in our profession, but every day we create value for our organizations.
Communication cannot be improvised, cannot be summed up in a flash of genius, and is not the preserve of those who speak well.
