This is part of a series of blog posts celebrating our 50th anniversary, all of which address the question: What does the future of the PR and communications industry look like?
In the middle of a vast waste management site, surrounded by high stacks of rusting fuel barrels and mounds of chemical and clinical detritus, I had one of those occasional moments of professional self-reflection – just what is this PR business really all about?
My client, a highly respected recycling company, was pursuing a planning application to extend the site in the face of serious concerns from local residents. Tornadoes of rumour and speculation swept through the community. The company’s strategy was commonplace at the time – keep your head down and your mouth shut.
A residents’ action group had contacted the Secretary of State for the Environment to intervene and quash the planning application. So, asked the client – what are you guys going to do to help us? After much strategic arm-wrestling, we managed to reverse the client’s approach:
- Have you ever met and talked to the residents? No. So we set up a liaison group.
- If residents are worried about anything on site, is there a contact person? No. So we set up a manned helpline.
- Have you explained your plans to the Government? No. So we invited the Secretary of State to visit the site.
Which is why I was standing in the middle of the site, waiting for the ministerial visit and pondering the role of PR.
My conclusion was simple, and I still believe it after more than 35 years in the PR industry: we should be about opening up, letting people in, and explaining the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of our clients’ businesses, brands and services. These days this gets peppered with lashings of well-meaning verbiage about engagement, involvement and transparency, but the principle is fundamental – be true to the organisation and the people working in it.
Thinking back over decades of consulting experience (but not quite as many as the PRCA!), the trigger to keep evolving what we do has often been the casual request from ad agency creatives to “PR our ideas for us”, as if they’ve just hand-carved the Ten Commandments and want someone to send out a press release salivating over their artisanal skills.
Effective relationships with an organisation’s important audiences are nothing to do with PR as a sticking plaster - but everything to do with connecting businesses and brands to human-scale ambitions, expectations and language.
I’ve had the rare benefit of observing and being part of the changes in the PR consulting industry from inside the same agency, being able to surf different career waves as Porter Novelli has flexed and evolved in response to the evolving demands of global clients such as HP, P&G and J&J.
With a work and home base ranging from Banbury and London to Brussels and Beijing, I’ve experienced the reality of running accounts and advising clients at every hour in the 24-hour cycle, offering direction and guidance with only a few minutes to consider the options…the DNA of journalism never dies.
It is obvious that the technologies available to practitioners have changed dramatically over the PRCA’s 50 years, but I don’t believe the fundamentals of our craft have shifted. What businesses say about themselves is always suspect; what others say has the ring of authenticity. That’s why true reputation can only be earned, not bought.
Looking ahead, I’ve never been a fan of the linear idea of trends - changes in human behaviour are more tidal, ebbing out of sight but then returning in a different guise. So I have no trends to predict for the PR industry, but expect the following tides:
- Storytellers yes, but we’ll be increasingly valued as fact-checkers
- Messages are important, but authentication is vital
- Clarity of purpose is expected, but trusted endorsement is valuable
- Partners are necessary, but active collaborators are essential.
So, happy 50th birthday PRCA - the importance of this industry keeps coming back, like all good tides!
About John Orme
John joined Countrywide Communications in 1982 after 13 years in journalism and was appointed to the board in 1988 just before Countrywide’s acquisition by Porter Novelli. He has spent much of his career helping with Porter Novelli’s international development, with a six-year secondment to Brussels followed by eight years in Beijing where he headed the agency’s partnership in China and acted as APAC regional director. He is currently based in the UK, focusing on corporate and B2B communications, crisis management and C-suite training.
