As we come towards the end of 2023 many of us will be reviewing the plans we had for the year. Plans for ourselves, our teams, our businesses and our clients. Did it turn out how you expected? Have you achieved everything you set out to? Probably not.
‘Permacrisis’ is a phrase widely used in recent years. Adversity, volatility and uncertainty are the curveballs we are dealing with daily which laugh in the face of our well-made plans. But what I know is that if there is any industry that is adept at being agile then it’s PR.
Political, social, economic and more importantly global events have made many well thought out PR plans redundant and obsolete overnight in 2023; but we flex, we reinvent, we reframe. It is a honed skill by the nature of what we do. Which, I believe, makes PR as a channel one of the most valuable in the comms mix.
The industry itself is also constantly evolving creating a dynamic space for our teams and the businesses they support. We asked some of our members what lies ahead for PR in 2024 and as you’d expect AI featured highly but so does the value of skilled practitioners, the importance of the media and unequivocally the place of purpose in the work we do and actual power of PR in driving positive change.
The PRCA itself has also faced change this year with a new streamlined Management and Governance Structure, simplifying and strengthening governance, oversight, transparency and decision-making. This is alongside the appointment of James Hewes as Chief Executive. More from James on his mandate to strengthen the PRCA’s value proposition for members in the next edition.
So, the long and short of it is that change is and will be a constant. And yes, we can make best laid plans but let’s not berate ourselves if some aspects go undelivered but celebrate the very nature of our success as PRs in navigating and coming out, often, richer for the journey.