How is technology changing the PR industry?
Technology has had a profound impact on everything. The most significant impact it has had on PR is transforming its key elements: content, audience experience and measurement, through the automation of content creation; digitisation of audience engagement; accessibility to data and insight tools; and on the measurement of success.
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AI and machine learning have reduced the turnaround time for comprehensively researched first drafts of written content, and apps can now deliver slick video content. Social media platforms have brought brands closer and made them more accountable to their audience. Measurement across platforms is easier, more consistent and can track audience sentiment in real time.
What is PR’s niche in the wider brand communications ecosystem?
It is an exciting time to be in the agency business, for sure. From being discipline-focused in the early days, marketers have now become more audience-focused. At Red Havas, we believe in merged-media experiences. Brands need to communicate consistently across all touchpoints, and that’s why a strong foundation in the fundamental tenets of communications – messaging, tonality and credibility – are key.
What are the biggest challenges facing the PR industry today?
PR has evolved but its hybrid avatar isn’t well understood. The function goes far beyond one specialised area, such as media relations. Its role in organisations runs across departments and areas of impact. It can build bridges between companies and all their audiences. However, it is still resourced as a much leaner function in comparison to its more traditional marketing counterparts.
The budgets assigned to PR don’t reflect the complexity of the matters it is tasked with solving, which consequently affects resourcing and outcomes. This is a more long-term, systemic issue that the PR industry, marketers and business leaders need to work together to solve.
Where do you see innovation happening in PR?
I think innovation is everywhere in PR and communications today. There is virtually no area in the discipline that hasn’t been touched by digitisation. But also, it is the discipline that is on the frontline of the evolution in culture, often having to navigate several nuances to ensure that an organisation’s message and business strategy are relevant in a world that is changing faster than ever before. To that end, I think the innovations in content creation and the real-time measurement of audience sentiment (and company reputation) are the ones that I value the most.
What advice would you give to clients to get the most out of their PR agency?
Include your communications team in the process. Invest in hiring the right talent and empower them to shape critical business policies which can affect reputation. These are essential to transforming organisations into responsive, customer-centric entities in the age of digitisation. And give the process the patience and persistence required to truly build something meaningful.
