Is the U.S. behind our foreign counterparts when it comes to Corporate Affairs?

 

PR/Comms PROs!

Is the U.S. behind our foreign counterparts when it comes to Corporate Affairs?

A few of my recent posts about U.S. agencies/companies finally starting to hire more corporate-affairs-minded communicators always spark the same thing.
International folks, mostly from the U.K., Europe, and Australia, jump into the comments saying, “this is old news.”

Then their comment racks up likes from other foreign comms people.

It got me wondering… are they right?

Turns out, yes, we’ve been behind, but for different reasons.

Corporate Affairs in Europe didn’t start as a buzzword. It started in the boardroom.

Back in the late ’80s and ’90s, London-based advisory firms grew by helping CEOs navigate IPOs, mergers, and crises.

They sat next to the CFO and legal counsel, not marketing.

They shaped business strategy, not just headlines.

That model made Corporate Affairs a business function, not a PR specialty.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., PR evolved from advertising and media.

We built an industry around visibility: launches, press hits, campaigns.

We literally split the world in half. Corporate and public affairs on one side, brand and lifestyle on the other. Different teams, different P&Ls, different languages.

Now that model is breaking down.

Clients don’t just want brand storytellers anymore.
They want communicators who understand business risk, stakeholder trust, ESG, and internal alignment, and who can still move culture externally.

So yes, maybe we’re late to the party.

But now, in the U.S., visibility and reputation are finally part of the same conversation, and that balance is where the future of comms will live.