By David Landis is president/CEO, Landis Communications*
It’s not even Christmas (or Hanukkah) yet and already, here they come – the cliché-ridden predictions of trends for 2010.
In the words of my mother, “oy vey.”
But sometimes it’s better to just jump into the fray. Rather than offering up my own sage advice, I asked for the top PR trends from my 40 affiliate PR agencies in markets around the globe, all members of the Public Relations Global Network.
There were some interesting results. Topping the list was what I call “the new media paradigm”; meaning, the role of social media, hyper-local blogs, citizen journalism, and SEO – how PR is evolving to handle this new beast.
On this topic, John Mallen, president of JMC Marketing Communications, New York, says, “It’s all about defining the function of public relations in the business and public affairs culture for organizations of the 21st century.”
Anne Buchanan, president of Buchanan PR, Philadelphia, concurs. She says, “We must broaden the conversation beyond PR and engage clients in dialogue about initiatives heretofore outside PR’s domain.” Jackson Harrell, president of The Harrell Group, adds, “There’s more interest in the safety, appropriateness, and effective use of social media.”
Also big next year will be philanthropy. Jim Warrington, president of Fantail Communications, Toronto, says, “Corporate social responsibility programs are growing, driving community-oriented PR programs at the expense of commercially-based spends.” However, Scott Hanson, president of HMA PR, in Phoenix, Arizona, has another take. “There are more opportunities for non-profit work as funding sources dry up. And there’s a renewed sense of philanthropy as agencies take on more pro-bono clients to keep staff busy.”
Mark Paterson, MD for Currie Communications in Australia, says, “There is an increase in client demand for tactical support (keeping strategy internal).” But Sandy Lish, founding partner of The Castle Group disagrees. She says, “There are more PR consulting opportunities related to strategy, perhaps the result of corporations retaining more junior staff, yet recognizing they need senior counsel.”
Instead of the age-old story of journalists complaining about PR professionals, here’s a twist. Mike Diegelmann, CEO of Cometis AG in Germany, says, “The cut in media budgets leads to smaller newspapers. This leads to a reduction of staff and a very bad lack of know-how within the media.We as PR people have to deal with that.”
I also have a few top trends for 2010. For one, measuring PR success with tangible ROI will be increasingly important to clients. If they can’t prove that it helps the bottom line, you’ll be out of the budget. A disturbing trend is that of corporations trimming PR budgets to the bone. But the good news is they’ll spend more on social media.
But my number one pick is from Joe Ledlie, founder of The Ledlie Group, Atlanta, Georgia, and my all-time favorite curmudgeon. He describes today’s typical media person as such: “She has a communications firm and admits she’s also a freelance reporter. She wants details regarding your client’s well-publicized problems. There’s no story line—yet. Just a ‘few people I’ve talked to.’ In fact, she has no detectable stories anywhere. She is ‘shopping a few locals.’ As conventional media disappear, this may be our future: the reporter who isn’t, working facts she hasn’t, for titles she’s pitching, using a story that’s ‘to be decided’.”
The future - maybe it ain’t so pretty?
* David Landis is president/CEO, Landis Communications, San Francisco, a member of Currie’s international network of owner-operated public relations firms (www.prgn.com)
