In our book, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR, we wrote about the shifting marketing landscape. At the time, close to 10 years ago, we argued that PR was more strategic than ever due to reputation, fragmentation, and saturation. Since that time, these trends have continued to expand at an exponential rate, reinforcing and building the importance of public relations.
Social Media Defines Your Public Relationships
Consider reputation: In our book, we wrote about the power of the internet to rapidly disseminate information about your company, brand and identity. What we did not explore was the dissemination of “fake news,” the changing ways we consume news, and the evolution of crisis and reputation management in the digital age. A tweet from President Trump or an employee/partner misstep or wrongdoing can create a firestorm in an instant that can damage a brand’s reputation.
These changes increase risk to companies and their brands. KPMG’s- Global CEO Outlook 2017 survey found that CEOs cited reputational and brand risk as the third most important risk out of 16 in total. The survey also revealed that CEOs also see “reputation and brand risk as having the second biggest potential impact on growth over the next three years.” Given the role PR plays in building and protecting reputations, the industry is likely to see increased demand for these services, especially digital reputation management.
Healthy Relationships Begin with Trust, Authenticity and Listening
Similarly, fragmentation has continued with more and more sites, blogs and sources available. Data aggregators and solution providers have adapted to these changes, enabling marketers to directly target specific audiences through consumer purchasing behavior, life-event targeting, and search engine marketing. These solutions make it easier for marketers to directly reach their target audiences.
However, the power of marketers to influence behavior relies on delivering content that resonates with those target audiences and fostering these direct relationships in authentic and valuable ways. Lean Cuisine’s “Weigh this” campaign represented a “massive pivot” from its prior messaging and focused on developing an authentic and connected relationship with its consumer. Results from the campaign show a 33 percent increase in positive brand perception and importantly “a drastic spike in sales, reversing a 6 year decline.” The most successful of these content programs integrate with PR, leveraging the team’s ability to build a compelling narrative that reinforces the brand messaging and aligns with the company’s business objectives.
Make the Message Emotionally Valuable to Your Audience
Saturation has increased with the prevalence of mobile devices and social media. Consumers are continually exposed to marketing messages and the noise is overwhelming. This noise and flood of information, makes it harder for companies to establish strong awareness and own a position in a consumer’s mind. With this noise, it appears consumers are more influenced by their friends and family. Data from a recent survey of 2,000 adults in the U.S., UK and Australia shows that “60 percent of consumers (and 70 percent of Millennials) said social content from friends and family impact their purchasing decisions – while only 23 percent said celebrity influencer content was impactful.”
This shift in communication is redefining how we interact as humans, and how brands effectively tell their story to the right audience. Success will be measurable and sustainable for brands that can deliver valuable messaging in a consumable way.
Eight years ago, the advertising industry was facing a significant challenge due to these trends. Traditional advertising was declining and digital ad spending was on the rise. However, since that time saturation, fragmentation and reputational risk have increased, and digital advertising has evolved. Ads are still perceived as less credible then editorial content. To that point, in a recent interview, Publicis Groupe’s Rishad Tobaccowala shared a prediction that advertising to reach consumers will decline 20 to 30 percent during the next five years.
Similarly, the lines between what is driven by PR and communication versus the advertising teams continue to blur. Fortunately, as businesses leverage advertising and PR to achieve specific business objectives, the core principles of our book hold steady for both advertising and PR teams alike.
We plan to revisit the content of Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR and provide updates and insights via blog posts moving forward. Watch for tweets with #PowerofPR to follow along. Feel free to tweet your thoughts and comments with this hashtag to participate in the discussions. We hope you will share your perspective along the way.