This autumn, it has been 25 years since Manifesto’s Public Affairs Director Ilari Marzano started his career in lobbying. A quarter of a century in the business has offered a comprehensive cross-section of political decision-making in Finland, but also a view of the birth of a completely new industry.
Today, public affairs have an established role in companies’ business operations. The situation was different when Ilari started in the industry in the late 90s.
“It has been interesting to watch how things have developed over the years. Of course, public affairs has been around throughout the ages, but this kind of consulting-based lobbying didn’t even exist when I started my career before my thirties. Instead, I had to find out myself how to do the work,” says Ilari.
Since the 90s, times have also changed in terms of communication methods. Earlier one could call MPs directly and there were no parliamentary assistants yet. At the same time, the public affairs industry was completely unfamiliar for many decision-makers.
“In the beginning, I had to spend a lot of energy to explain who I am and what is my connection to the issue in question. Today, the decision-makers immediately understand what it means if someone from an agency contacts you. This saves time and energy for everyone,” continues Ilari.
Before industry become recognized in Finland, lobbying was mostly done by interest groups or inhouse.
“Everyone knew each other, and interest groups were often responsible for managing relationships with decision-makers. However, the market changed and in Finland too there suddenly were a lot of leaders, who did not have an existing network or connections. At the same time, companies that had no history here entered the Finnish market. These changes ultimately contributed to the birth of our industry,” says Ilari.
Variability and permanence in a good proportion
In Finnish public affairs, work is often done within four-year periods. During Ilari’s career, seven governments have come and gone during four different decades.
“Petteri Orpo’s government is the eighth government in Finland during my career. At the same time, the importance of government programmes has grown all the time. In influencing the government programme, our work can be divided into two parts, getting things in the actual programme before and after the elections and the time after new government has been formed, when we try to move forward the issues incorporated in the government programme. Of course, our work also includes a lot of other things that are not connected to the election period,” says Ilari.
According to Ilari, decades in the field have made the job easier all the time, as both experience and own network have grown. Ilari mentions working with people and the variability of work as the best part in his work.
“In this industry, you can look at things from so many different perspectives, as customer projects come from such varied fields. But there is something permanent as well, since my longest client has been with me for 24 years,” says Ilari.
Major milestones in public affairs
During four different decades, the public affairs industry has gone through several turning points. According to Ilari’s view, three major changes have influenced – and will influence – the development of the industry. Ilari cites the impact of the internet in the early 2000s as the first.
“Access to information and communication with stakeholders became easier when fax machines were switched to emails and ministries digitalized their communications. Everything became significantly easier thanks to the internet, which is noteworthy, because acquiring information is a large part of the work we do,” says Ilari. In a way, AI is part of this continuum.
Ilari mentions the rise of communication agencies in the early 2010s as another big change. Around the same time, Ilari joined Manifesto and expanded the services offered by the agency with his expertise.
“Previously, public affairs was an independent consulting practice, but in the early 2010s lobbying found its home in the communications agencies’ service portfolio. Other communication practices such as media relations and social media are today part of comprehensive public affairs campaings,” sums up Ilari.
As the latest and most recent upheaval, Ilari sees the upcoming introduction of the Finnish Transparency Register, which will be introduced in 2024.
“Any lobbying and lobbying consultancy that targets Parliament or the ministries must be reported to the register. The purpose of the register is to improve the transparency of decision-making, thus the public affairs industry’s operations will largely become public. The register will require a lot of work from us, but it is still an excellent development because it strengthens and clarifies the image that professional lobbying is a natural part of democratic decision-making,” Ilari continues.
Managing public affairs at Manifesto
Today, Ilari leads a three-member team at Manifesto, which is responsible for public affairs and stakeholder relations with decision-makers. The public affairs team helps Manifesto’s customers to engage with the political and and other key stakeholders in Finnish society and to find the right decision-makers among politicians, authorities, and non-governmental organizations.
Currently, the team is mainly employed by projects related to energy and the green transition, as well as international technology companies. There is also an ever-increasing demand for leadership training related to public affairs and understanding social decision-making.
Warm congratulations to Ilari on a great milestone on behalf of the entire Manifesto family and good luck for the next 25 years as well!