[Editor’s Note: Our regular feature that asks communicators to spot trends and tell us their reactions to them.]
The Trends: The question we all have to answer is: How do we reimagine public relations for the post-digital age, at a time when we are facing more change and disruption than ever before? In a world of ad blocking and general consumer mistrust around being targeted and marketed to, and in a world where we are confronted with fake news and political propaganda, PR as a profession is facing a new set of challenges and opportunities.
Technology has driven profound changes in the way we operate as PR and communications professionals. We are facing decentralization and disintermediation, along with more and more competition from digital and social agencies, influencer marketing experts and management and innovation consultants—areas that PR should fully own and leverage.
Brands’ needs have changed, along with the relationship between consumers and brands, and executives and the press, and new business demands have emerged. Our jobs no longer are about serving as gatekeepers. PR as a function is shifting toward building trust, reputation and influence, and ensuring that there is authenticity, cohesiveness and substance in a brand’s messages across all content, whether advertising or social posts or traditional media relations. Most important, PR is about advising top management and ensuring that ethical business practices, good judgment and transparency are not only communicated, but implemented and enforced, whether that pertains to production, advertising, employee behavior or how customers are treated. If you are Uber, United or Pepsi these lessons are clear by now.
Our job today is about transforming brands from within, coming up with creative solutions to address business challenges and serving as a layer that connects all areas of a business. To achieve these goals, we need to get involved from the early development stages of a new product launch and the very inception of a campaign, and we need to think in ways that transcend the PR silos of the past.
As an industry we need to focus on building our credibility and advocating for our roles as strategic advisors. With change and transformation comes the opportunity to rethink what PR stands for, put new processes in place and showcase the value we bring as thinkers and strategists.
The Reactions: Since all media is social and all social is media, there is no need for the PR industry of the future to be organized around tactics.
We live in world where internal announcements can become news, where social media posts make headlines, where industry press and consumer press collide, where niche and mainstream publications merge into the same feed, and where the idea of pitching U.S. vs. international exclusives or print vs. digital exclusives has become obsolete. If we want to increase our relevance, we need an integrated approach within PR.
Yet PR must also be integrated throughout an organization—and elevated to a role that’s central to all business decisions. I see value in getting PR people involved in every element of a campaign and having them function as advisors to oversee and flag issues early, before they turn into full-blown crises. When communicators are not involved in every aspect of the brand they represent, that’s when the disconnect happens and a crisis may occur, because context is lost.
Promote and Develop
The role of the PR professional increasingly must be seen as not only promoting a product, but helping to develop the product itself. I’m fortunate to be part of a team where PR holds an advisory role, transcending platforms, content and business; I’m also seeing more and more examples across fashion, media and tech, where PR is at the very core of the business.
On the agency side, it’s important to encourage teams to become immersed in all aspects of the brand or product they’re pitching and gain an understanding of the larger strategy, as opposed to parceling out tactics and tasks like “digital” outreach vs. “traditional” media relations.
For brand communicators, it’s about shifting the paradigm from “Here’s the finished product. Now go promote it.” Being laser-focused on just one part of a campaign produces a myopic viewpoint and can expose the brand to crisis.
Tactics
As the definition of PR expands to reflect new business needs and encompass new responsibilities, we must adapt if we want to go along with the growth. Whether you’re a small business, corporation, startup or agency, it’s important to:
Be flexible and empathetic. Just as media has evolved, we as communicators need to evolve with it. A traditional pitch might not always get you the story you were aiming for, but a social post could spark a news item or contribute to the larger narrative you’re building. And at a time where journalists are just a tweet away from reaching your clients, the value you bring is in more than coordinating an interview—it’s in helping identify trends, serving as a trustworthy resource and providing research and data.
Think integrated and strategic. As noted above, we no longer have the ability to pitch exclusives based on media outlets’ geographical location or to develop separate plans for consumer press, trade media, partners and investors, as all communications have converged. It’s crucial that all tactics and teams are aligned as part of one cohesive vision and one consistent strategy.
Remember that there always is a larger context around the story you are pitching. What you release is open to interpretation and any message you communicate can be decoded and consumed very differently from its intended meaning. You have to actively build context and put all messaging and content through the filter of what’s happening in culture and society.
Conceptualize every piece of communication like it’s a media statement and implement this practice across your business.The internal memo or customer service instant message is a reflection of your brand and can instantly become a social media post or a public statement.
Empower and elevate brand PR teams so that they are closely aligned and in constant communication with top management. And start managing up and advocating for PR’s role at the executive table. Involving the comms team after a decision has been reached, after the product has been developed or when the project is ready to be announced is counterproductive and exposes you to vulnerability.
[Editor’s Note:Adriana Stan was honored as a PR Professional of the Year during PR News’ 2016 Platinum PR Awards. Entries for the 2017 Platinum PR Awards will be accepted through May 12. Please see: bit.ly/2pDyixR]
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