Perspective: From Set Menu To Dim Sum Why HQ Comms Misses The Mark, And How AI Can Help

After 25 years in communications leadership – including a decade as CEO in Germany – I recently moved to Singapore to take on a new role as COO for Edelman APAC. Working with international companies across Asia has sharpened a realization I'd already begun to sense in Europe: many headquarters-led communications models are structurally misaligned with the realities of local markets.

In almost every conversation with regional comms leaders in Asia, the same frustration surfaces. Campaigns, toolkits, and narratives developed at HQ often arrive too late, lack local relevance, or simply don't translate into meaningful action in-market. One client put it perfectly. She said that sometimes the experience of working with a global comms team can feel like being served a pre-fixed 3-course set menu before anyone's asked what the market is hungry for. What she'd love instead is more like dim sum, a thoughtful selection, the freedom to choose, and the ability to serve what fits local tastes and needs.

This isn't about talent or execution quality. It's a systemic issue. Headquarters communications teams are typically embedded near strategy, R&D, and senior leadership, focused on long-term narrative and corporate positioning. In contrast, regional and local teams work closely with commercial, regulatory, and operational functions. Their success is measured by different criteria: enabling growth, managing risk, protecting license to operate, and navigating local dynamics.

These teams also operate in environments where language, culture, and growing national confidence shape how global narratives are received. In many Asian markets, rising economic and geopolitical influence fuels a desire for greater local voice – making one-size-fits-all messaging increasingly tone-deaf. When global content doesn't align with those imperatives, budget is wasted – and impact is lost.

Nowhere is this disconnect more visible, or more instructive, than in Asia. I've seen corporate affairs teams here prove their strategic value with remarkable clarity. One regional lead at a global pharmaceutical company described how his team helped launch a veterinary medicine in Philippines several years earlier than expected. The regulatory barriers were steep, particularly for a foreign firm. But by deeply understanding the local disease landscape, regulatory pathways, and stakeholder ecosystem – and aligning comms and public affairs accordingly – they unlocked a real business outcome. Today, that team receives more budget from local markets than from HQ.

This illustrates a broader truth: corporate communications becomes indispensable when it enables business outcomes, not just when it delivers messages. Where public affairs is part of the remit, this link is easier to make. Where it's not, the challenge is steeper, but not insurmountable. Leading teams are moving away from traditional output metrics (like reach or coverage) and toward funnel-based measurement that tracks how communications support decision-making, reduce risk, and drive commercial impact.

This shift redefines the role of communications leaders. More and more, they're asking how to develop their teams from messaging experts into trusted business advisors. Today, business fluency is the baseline. What sets high-performing comms teams apart is their ability to synthesize stakeholder intelligence, anticipate reputational or regulatory risks, and provide grounded, strategic counsel under uncertainty.

That's where AI becomes a game-changer.

AI doesn't replace communicators, but it does raise the bar. Used well, it accelerates localisation, enhances scenario planning, flags early reputational risks, and strengthens the link between communications activity and business value. Used poorly, it simply scales inefficiency. The adoption of AI, therefore, demands greater systemic discipline: shared data models, consistent governance, and a unified understanding of how communications creates value.

This is why corporate communications can no longer be seen as a collection of disciplines. It must be understood as a platform: a system that integrates stakeholder intelligence, narrative stewardship, execution, and measurement – across both global and local layers. This kind of architecture allows headquarters to set strategic direction and standards while giving markets the flexibility to adapt communications to their commercial and regulatory realities.

It's not about tighter control – it's about closer alignment.

The lesson for international leadership is clear. Central teams become more effective when they shift from enforcing consistency to enabling impact. When they design communications that support business priorities and empower local decision-making. This starts with intentional listening – carving out dedicated time to understand market-level nuance, stakeholder priorities, and cultural context.

Alignment isn't just about structural redesign; it requires curiosity, humility, and trust in local expertise. And when done right, AI can help scale that alignment, not by replacing human insight, but by accelerating the transformation of corporate communications from content factory to critical business function.

Christiane Schulz is the COO of Edelman APAC. She took up the role last year after being the CEO of Edelman Germany since 2019; before that, she was at Weber Shandwick for six years, latterly as Germany CEO.

Note: This article reflects the views of the author and is published as part of PRovoke Media's opinion section. It does not necessarily represent the views of PRovoke Media or its editorial team. We welcome a range of perspectives and invite readers to submit thoughtful responses or counterpoints for consideration to [email protected].

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