How PR can remain relevant 10 years from now

As one of the facilitators of the session, I had the opportunity to share six thoughts of what is required of communicators to remain relevant 10 years from now. We face many challenges across the profession and in the industry, in light of the new governance requirements of the King Report, as well as demands for improved measurement, for effective and strategic use of technology, and the positioning of research as a critical benchmarking tool.

Some international experts are already controversially asking whether or not PR is still relevant in its current form. One must remember that change is a destination, not a journey... transition is the journey communicators need to take, alongside their organisations, to reach change. This will invariably move people out of their comfort zone and change the playing field.

Governance and relevance

The effect of King Report III is a realisation at board level of the role of communication. It has therefore opened the door for communicators to shed the age old stereotypes of communication being a soft issue and a 'nice to have'.

But it is up to the communication strategist to take up the challenge and walk through the door. The only way to achieve this is to fundamentally shift the mindset that communication is about communication, to the reality that communication is about the business results it achieves, and how these can be proven from both tangible and intangible perspectives.

Strategic alignment

It is therefore necessary now, more than ever, for communicators to demonstrate an unwavering understanding of the business they are communicating about and on behalf of.

It has long been argued that communicators should be exposed to business principles, management standards, financial management, economics, social sciences and journalism. These are some of the knowledge areas required in order to communicate about a business.

Further, all communication must be targeted in relation to overall business objectives and directly aid the business to achieve those.

Research

Formative and evaluative research methodologies are central to all communication activities, both for themselves and against business objectives. Benchmarks must be set, exercises that do not have to be expensive if done with specific outputs in mind.

Understanding the audience mindset from the outset - not just based on assumptions and gut feeling, but on concrete, statistic data - is required. It will ensure communication is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Measurement

Measurement is changing the world over; it's a debate that has been going on for many years and will continue for many to come.

The overall global consensus, something that came out strongly in the Barcelona Declaration and in the recent PRISA Measurement Guidelines, is that measurement has to go beyond traditional outputs. It must measure tangible outcomes that relate to business objectives.

In reality, measurement must be impact-based - did the communication activities manage to shift opinions, increase brand reputation and consequently add a financial bottom line to the business?

For this to happen, we need to start looking at engagement, not eyeballs. High audience numbers does not translate into a successful campaign.

Social media

Technology is changing faster than ever... every day new social media tools emerge and communicators are investigating how to use them.

The shift currently is moving away from being caught up in 'shiny object syndrome' and making use of tools because they are available, towards understanding the long-term benefits of engaging strategically with these tools.

We have seen many organisations running one-off social media activities and then fizzle out... the challenge now is how to capitalise on these tools and create sustainable and meaningful interactions that produce business results.

Internal communications

Globally, communicators are starting to appreciate the long-term strategic benefits of employee engagement and the increased market-to-book ratio of companies with a highly engaged workforce.

The role of the corporate and industry communicator must become a synergistic one, which includes various disciplines. The challenge lies in being able to move away from internal marketing to internal communication and enabling the critical link in the chain - management.

Creating the right cascading of information and being able to demonstrate that leadership communication plays a key role in the engagement cycle is the next step. Further, it is falling increasingly on communicators to train leadership on EQ and SQ, not to mention how to manage change and communication in a business.

As the paradigms of communication change, so do the methodologies and tools we use. For example, as we near the end of 2010, and especially if you work for a listed company, you must ask whether communication activities will comply with the new requirements for company reporting.

Times are changing, so why aren't we? We need to change the culture of communication to better meet our needs, and those of our clients.