PR will gain more recognition in 2016, many business experts predict. Corporate PR departments and agencies that implement the right practices will win greater responsibility, recognition and bigger budgets from the C-suite.
“More and more CMOs are recognizing the power and importance of PR, and I’m seeing more practitioners in the field being involved in integrated campaigns and that’s dramatically accelerated PR’s pace,” Harris Diamond, McCann Worldgroup chairman-CEO, told Ad Age.
“We are now spending more on PR, especially around our cause-marketing program on improving teen financial literacy, Dollars & Sense,” H&R Block Chief Marketing Officer Kathy Collins, added. “We’re also doing more PR around our partnership with the NBA and social media, for example.”
Savvy PR practitioners are making greater contributions to corporate advancement and gaining greater recognition by applying the following approaches to achieve corporate goals:
Partnerships. Brands are realizing how PR can create partnerships and boost messages through other marketing channels, according to Ad Age. For instance, PR was instrumental in helping Coldwell Banker partner with Nest, LG, CNET and Lutron to promote its smart home initiative.
Creative involvement. PR agencies are now working more closely with creative teams. Edelman, the largest independent PR agency, is now working with brands and advertising agencies from the beginning of the creative process. It worked with Adobe’s creative teams for its digital products, winning the Gold PR Lion at Cannes for its Adobe Photoshop “Murder Mystery” campaign. Instead of getting just a seat at the table, it’s getting “half the table,” Jackie Cooper, Edelman’s global chair, creative strategy, told Ad Age.
Earned media. Brands now better recognize the importance of earned media because they now better understand that consumers trust earned media more than paid or owned media. Research, such as study from Nielsen and iPowered, shows that consumers trust articles from independent, credible journalists more than captive branded content when making purchase decisions.
PR measurement. PR measurement has become more standardized, which will accelerate the adoption of industry-accepted measurement best practices. The Barcelona Principles, dubbed Barcelona Principles 2.0, released last year continue to gain traction as more organizations embrace them. As global guide for PR measurement, the principles further refine recommended PR measurement practices, emphasize the importance of measurement, and establish a distinction between measurement and evaluation. More sophisticated measurement tools will also speed adoption of PR measurement. New customizable PR measurement dashboards better integrate the monitoring and measurement of traditional media with social media. The tools can monitor media mentions, determine how positive or negative the coverage was, and correlate the coverage to business objectives like sales.
Content marketing. PR is playing a bigger role as content marketing has become more important in the marketing strategies for most brands. In order to get noticed, brands need to create high-quality content and develop relationships with top-notch, authoritative websites. Those skills are strengths of PR specialists.
“When you start with good content, amplifying it to your targeted audience becomes much easier, and you’ll find even more avenues for you and your team to distribute it,” writes Forbes contributor John Hall.
Bottom Line: Savvy brands are increasingly turning to PR to deliver corporate and brand messages to consumers and B2B decision-makers. A convergence of factors is helping PR gain greater recognition for its contributions to achieving corporate goals.
What other reasons will prompt PR to gain more importance this year? Please comment below.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
With the increase in mobile marketing and visual content (video) it is even more important to utilize PR measurement and monitoring across all channels and media. Good post, William. Let’s hope that the Asia-Pacific region realizes the importance PR plays, as well as the importance of media monitoring and intelligence. It is not just an option anymore, it is a necessity.