Just be clear to anybody working in communications by now that their world is changing quickly and dramatically. What’s behind this rapid change? As confirmed by our annual Edelman Trust Barometer, a continuing decline of public trust in key institutions offers a big clue.
I would argue that generating trust is the ultimate objective of communications – even of broader marketing. So does the decline in trust mean that we are no longer doing our jobs right? Or has something else changed? Is public relations, as we know it, becoming obsolete?
I believe we are facing noth- ing less than the collapse of the marketing and communi- cations paradigm of the past 20 years. What has worked in the past, no longer works. As societal demands for transpar- ency have grown, the ability of organisations and brands to impact how they are viewed, and influence what is being said about them, has declined dramatically.
We are moving beyond the traditional one-way, advertis- ing led, marketing model. But equally, we are moving beyond the traditional, media-relations based public relations model. Continued reliance on these tools as stand-alone offerings is the equivalent of bringing a knife to the proverbial gun fight. It’s not likely to go well.
We have to ask ourselves:
• Can we still generate trust simply by saying, and not doing?
• Is traditional media relations-based communications enough when traditional media are in free fall, and new channels of information are springing up all around us?
• Is traditional advertising enough when the modern approach thrives on engagement and conversations?
• Where do we begin when we need to convey our side of the story to ever more targeted and geographically dispersed audiences?
• How do we influence conversations when anybody can say anything about us at any time, without any standard of proof or recourse if it isn’t true; and when that piece of information can live forever on Google?
In this brave new world, clients are demanding more from us. And their demands cut across traditional disci- plines. The famous ‘swim lanes’ concept, where each agency sticks to its clearly defined function, has had its day. A new offering is required, and although it is not yet fully defined, we can identify many of the pieces. We know that:
• It requires communicating in integrated programs across paid, owned and earned channels
• It targets broader stake- holders, not just consumers or investors
• Programmes must be built on the back of creative ideas, based on real insights
• Engagement is at the very heart of it, creating ways for people to participate in and with brands or organisations
• It is built on conversations, eschewing monologues
• It involves storytelling, and those stories must have a societal impact
• It is built on content – tailored, visually appealing and channel agnostic
I would argue that PR is well positioned to take a lead role in the new marketing paradigm. Many of these disciplines have been core to our business. But to leverage this advantage (and avoid obsolescence), we must expand our offering. We must attract and integrate new kinds of talent. We must base our pro- grammes on deeper insights, infuse them with higher levels of creativity and push them across more channels. At our firm, we have hired several hundred creatives, planners, digital and paid specialists over the past year alone – in markets like the Middle East, as well as the United States and Europe.
So where do we find our new model? As long as we continue to look for the answer within existing struc- tures, we won’t. As long as we try to address our future offer by simply piecing together bits of past offerings, we won’t succeed. Indeed, we have to change our very thought process. The ‘one- stop-shop’ model is not relevant here insofar as it implies a basket of distinct offerings available from a single location. We need a blended offering, not a blend of offerings.
Some may suggest this analysis applies more to developed Western markets than emerging markets such as the Middle East. To the contrary, I would argue that change can and will happen more quickly in emerging markets, where the fault lines (swim lanes?) of the old paradigm are less rigid and clearly defined. Even our most conservative clients in the Middle East are already pushing us for more.
I do believe that traditional PR, usually defined as pure- play media relations, will be obsolete in the not too distant future – at least as a standalone offering. I feel the same way about the 30-second television spot. Neither can achieve what it once could. Neither can generate the trust that it once did among con- sumers or other stakeholders.
Just to be perfectly clear – I am not suggesting that earned media as a communications tactic will decline in importance. While in the past, however, a media placement was the end goal and culmination of our work, it will now more likely represent the first stage. We must be able to amplify that con- tent across multiple channels including paid, social and owned media. Earned media will not be obsolete. Just those who offer nothing else.
Robert Holdheim is chief executive for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa at Edelman