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In light of the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol and the social, racial and economic unrest of 2020, we asked Cristina Alesci, Chobani’s first chief corporate affairs officer, how CEOs are thinking about promises many companies made last year, as well as what a veteran journalist brings to a corporate setting.

We talked to PRNEWS Top Women in PR honorees about the advancements of women in the workforce, the importance of mentorship and how the industry can help tackle the challenges of working women.

Many agencies and practitioners already have attempted to predict what corporate responsibility and purpose look like for brands in 2021, but the time for pontification is over.

Now, we must be unapologetic in our expectation for companies to step in when governments fall short. This tenant of corporate responsibility was brought to the forefront with Twitter and Facebook announcing they’d banned former president Trump–permanently and indefinitely, respectively–from their platforms.

Societal unrest during the summer of 2020 led many businesses to take a hard look at what they represented to their audiences in terms of diversity and inclusion. Since then we’ve seen many organizations make statements and promises to practice greater inclusivity on everything from hiring to campaign content and representation. Whether or not these promises resulted in real change remains to be seen.

While 2021 may promise a return to previous practices, SEO and the online landscape are permanently altered. We see the below as major themes for 2021. Many spring from forced changes brought about in 2020.

Though PR service companies are underrepresented in our industry’s history, they are responsible for much innovation in the sector. In fact, a few services companies date back to the late 1800s. Let’s look at some of the people behind these successful businesses that helped shape PR.

Excluding healthcare providers and media (the most obvious entities to post about the vaccine), the top poster by volume of content was AARP. Confusion over who is next in line for the vaccine continues, and with older adults as one of the highest risk categories, it’s not a surprise that AARP content reigns over these platforms.

With emergency approval of vaccines, the need to communicate the importance of prompt vaccination seems obvious: Without 75-80 percent of Americans vaccinated, herd immunity, leading to a return to normalcy, will not be reached. And now, with the discovery of an additional, more contagious virus strain, getting Americans vaccinated promptly seems even more critical.

In years past, launching product was a boon for publicists. It was fairly easy. In 2020 and beyond, not so much.

In addition to breaking through the noise of COVID-related news, brands with product launches were forced last year to compete with stories about social justice and the election. Combine that with shrinking newsrooms and an inability to host live events and the appetite for product launches was just not the same.

To succeed in 2021, we recommend “the Landscape Analysis” as the best way to catalog, evaluate and improve your situation. Even if you think you know the answers, the current atmosphere indicates a need to reassess the communication environment.