S.F. (Sylke) Jellema MSc

The marketing and communication functions in organizations and agencies are fundamentally being redefined in most corporate organizations and agencies around the globe. This trend is triggered by changes in media spending and the game changing impact of social media. The proposed research project takes place in this changing context of the marketing and communication professions, and the way in which these are currently practised in corporate organizations. Through a combination of case studies and survey and content analytic methods, the research will develop theory on how practice changes (such as the emergence of branded content ) have led marketing and communication professionals to redefine, or reframe, their work and their professional identity, and how such a reframing is in turn at a macro level changing the field in the direction of a new, emerging profession (of integrated content communicators ). In this way, the research aims to draw out in detail and across levels of analysis the effect of specific practice changes on the nature of the communication profession and its changing professional identity.