Brunswick Integrates Communications and PR Reporting
Large organizations can improve leadership buy-in by aligning advocacy and communication metrics into a single report.
Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Human Resources
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Brunswick began integrating its internal communications, public relations, and government affairs reporting in 2021 to improve organizational visibility. The firm now tracks these functions through a unified editorial calendar and consolidated metrics for its 14,000 employees.
Why it matters
By merging historically siloed functions into a single reporting structure, the company aims to secure better leadership buy-in for cross-departmental initiatives. This approach helps demonstrate the collective impact of communications and advocacy on business objectives.
Brunswick manages communications for its 14,000 employees using a unified reporting framework. Recent activities included producing 30 employee-facing videos and coordinating 15-plus official government affairs visits during the CES trade show.
The players
Brunswick
A large corporation that manages complex internal communications, public relations, and government affairs strategies for 14,000 employees.
Jenny Westfall
A communications leader who manages the integrated reporting framework for Brunswick and speaks on corporate alignment strategies.
The details
The integration relies on a shared editorial calendar and a singular report card that pulls data points from communications, PR, and government affairs. By aligning these disparate functions, the teams ensure consistent messaging and efficient resource use during high-stakes events. This structure replaces departmental silos with regular, centralized briefings that allow leadership to evaluate the ROI of various advocacy and internal engagement activities in one place.
Timeline
Brunswick began the process of aligning reporting for its communications, PR, and government affairs departments in 2021.
Jenny Westfall presented on these integration strategies at a Ragan virtual conference in September 2026.
Market Landscape
Brunswick follows the industry-wide trend toward collapsing functional silos by integrating communications, PR, and advocacy reporting. This marks a departure from traditional models where these departments operated with independent metrics and agendas.
Owners and managers should consider whether their own internal communications and government affairs teams use redundant reporting cycles. Consolidating these functions into a single metric scorecard can streamline decision-making and clarify how advocacy impacts overall corporate performance.
The takeaway
Integrating disparate departments into one editorial and metrics calendar is a strategy to ensure leadership visibility into non-revenue functions. Consider auditing your current departmental reporting to see if a unified scorecard can better justify headcount or project budgets to stakeholders.
Further reading
For more on managing cross-departmental alignment, see our guide on Human Resources.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Ragan Communications.
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