Four PR Trends

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By Grant Wright, CEO

Looking at past trends in an evolving industry can be a poor predictor of future trends—whether you’re talking about the stock market or the PR field.

Witness Facebook (a 9-year-old), Twitter (a 7-year-old), Instagram and Tout (both 2 year olds). These are among only a few of the game changers that disrupted the publishing industry. Each is a relative toddler by traditional business standards, and not that many years before their existence I don’t recall anyone predicting them. But their global impact on the human condition is already established.

The trend impacting the PR industry, therefore, is not which new social tool will take off, but that game changers are now the norm. Expect and anticipate them.

Here are four things (among many) I see near through long term impacting PR.

The Story Stays

We like a good yarn. Stories have been told throughout human history and they’re not going away anytime soon. So while the delivery method may continue to break speed records in the unprecedented data age we’re now in, if there isn’t a compelling story to whatever the communication is, it won’t leave the station.

In creating your communications, think about your story. How compelling is it or could it be, and why should others care? And if you don’t have one, then either create one or rethink your communication strategy for most effective resource use.

Multimedia Explosion

We are a sensorial species, and with the written word there’s a terrible lack of engagement of the senses. True, imagination can help make up for that. However, the way I imagine Utopia and you do can be very different, meaning there’s a significant control loss of the intended message. But what if I could not only tell you a story, but also engage you in it by your five senses? Instant communication around the planet is now possible with video covering sight and sound that will only increase. But I think it’s only a matter of time before technology allows for an online cook ‘book’ to not only convey with what and how something’s made, but also how it should look, feel and even smell and taste.

Additive Manufacturing

 …aka 3-D Printing will change everything, and this means for PR too.  I think 3-D printing is truly Roddenberry’s Star Trek replicator come to life like the cell phone, and why I see it profoundly impacting PR is that currently the world’s societies are built largely around traditionally manufactured goods and related services – shoes manufactured in China are consumed in the USA; medical implants created in New York are used in Canada; an airplane is created and assembled from many different places; etc. Things today are still made for us and we don’t make things for ourselves. PR supports all of this ‘traditional’ world commerce that in the next decade will dramatically change with the advent of 3-D printing for the masses. Like intangibles such as information value decreasing with increased accessibility, so will the value of physical goods change. As it does, PR will change as well, becoming less about conveying a compelling call to action to buy consumer products, say, and more about strategically helping communicate things like B2B opportunities, services expertise, key events, experience opportunities, and political and societal agendas.

Local & Smaller

It’s well established doctrine for good communication to know thy audience, and reach them where they are. With billions of us now having our heads buried in our smartphones more than we’d like to admit, guess where audiences are? Sure, we’re still driving down the freeway ready to notice a billboard, pouring over that quaint thing called a newspaper at Starbucks occasionally, and watching commercials whip by as we watch our favorite DVR’d show.  But increasingly we’re more interested in our immediate environs – our local neighborhood - than otherwise. So as opposed to a broad shotgun approach, PR will increasingly need a precise rifle approach tailored to local geography and interests. And in doing so rely less on large real estate like a full magazine, in-depth television reporting or a regional newspaper spread, but instead plan for consumption to be increasingly on a screen just four or five inches wide—that if it’s showing a picture of a rose, soon enough will probably smell just as sweet.

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6 Stories Your Organization Should Be Telling

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By Rebecca Chappell, Account Executive

“Even if you have reams of evidence on your side, remember: numbers numb, jargon jars, and nobody ever marched on Washington because of a pie chart. If you want to connect with your audience, tell a story.” – Andy Goodman

As professional communicators, one of the biggest challenges we have when collaborating with both nonprofit and for-profit clients is getting them to see that what they think is news may not be what the general population views as news. While smaller media outlets are typically supportive of community-based events and announcements, if you’re seeking attention from the likes of the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal or holy grails such as the “Today” show, you’d better be able to answer the question: so what?   

The “so what?” is where the heart of the story resides.

Whether your company is a small business or large corporation, think about all those facts, figures and acronyms listed in your annual report. Impressive? Sure. But why should anyone outside of your company care? It’s simply not enough to say your company exceeded profit margins or goals for the year. What were the challenges the company faced and how did it overcome them? Is your company’s successful performance the result of a group of employees that went above and beyond expectations? What does this year’s success mean in terms of the company’s future? How does your company’s success benefit the community at large?

If you’re a nonprofit, it’s even more important to resist the urge to weigh people down with a laundry list of programs, statistics and financials. Yes, those things are necessary to be transparent, but if you want media to pay attention and potential donors to contribute their hard-earned dollars or time to your organization, you have to also be personal.

In her book “Corporate Legends and Lore: The Power of Storytelling as a Management Tool,” Peg Neuhauser draws a parallel between nomadic Indian tribes of the American Plains and today’s modern organizations. As tribes moved from place to place, Neuhauser writes, they each carried a bundle containing significant artifacts from the tribe’s past. At campfires and rituals, this “sacred bundle” would be opened and the tribal elders would recount the stories behind each artifact.

Every organization has its own sacred bundle. In PR we often help clients to identify the artifacts for their bundle – the newsworthy stories that set their organization apart. We then package these stories as press materials, marketing collateral, website content, personalized annual reports and more.

Perhaps now you’re thinking to yourself that your organization doesn’t have any good stories for a sacred bundle. To help you out of this predicament, Neuhauser recommends identifying basic narratives such as:

How We Started

This is the story of how your organization was founded – who started it, and why. This often captures the need for your work to exist as well as the approach your group has taken to address this need.

Emblematic Victories

These demonstrate your group’s effectiveness. Instead of just saying “we made a difference!” this is your chance to demonstrate how that difference was made.

What We Learned in Defeat

Everyone falls off the proverbial horse from time to time. The trick is to get back up and ride again. Lessons learned in the course of defeat should be embraced for what they can teach you, and others.

Nature of Our Challenge

Stories about the fundamental nature of the issues your organization is tackling remind staff and community the reason their time, attention and energy are needed. They also serve to connect to the media and public with individuals and/or families in need versus numbers and statistics.

Performance Stories

Employee performance stories show the exemplary levels of professionalism, creativity and commitment your people bring to the organization or challenge at hand.

Where We Are Going

Look ahead five, 10, even 20 years from now. What would the world look like if your company did its job, met its goals, adhered to its vision? Paint a big picture that evokes a feeling of the future that staff, media and the community at large can invest in emotionally.

Now that the creative juices are flowing, the only thing left to do is capture your thoughts and look for regular opportunities to share your sacred bundle with media and the community. Happy storytelling!