‘We are already here’: Paul Reynell on Africa’s next PR chapter
Reynell, who is the founder of Paddington Station PR, leaves the role with a frank assessment of South African PR — from its struggle to move beyond familiar ideas to the need for greater confidence in its value. As Thabisile Phumo of Sibanye-Stillwater takes over as chief judge, with Nabiella DeBeer of Havas as deputy chief judge, Reynell is turning his attention to a bigger challenge: strengthening Africa’s voice and encouraging communicators to stop waiting for permission to tell their own stories.
You’ve spent several years in leadership roles at Prisa, including as Chief Judge of the Prisms Awards. Having now stepped away, how would you assess the state of the South African PR industry today? What is it getting right, and where is it struggling?
One of the biggest challenges I saw year after year as Chief Judge of the Prisms Awards was that many campaigns were annual entries — the same campaigns, for the same clients, often with little change or innovation. Too often, what we judged could have been last year’s entry repeated. As an industry, we must keep innovating, exploring, and testing our boundaries. PR, communication, and audience engagement have never been more critical than they are now, and even more critical is the fact that audiences are experiencing content fatigue.
At the same time, the industry is getting it right on professional collaboration, something we worked hard to build over three years, and there is a growing sense of industry pride. Yet, we remain divided on where AI fits ethically, and agency culture still seems to be a challenge. These are areas we need to confront honestly if we want to strengthen the profession and keep pace with global standards.
There has been a lot of discussion about the changing role and value of PR — particularly around proving impact, influencing business outcomes, and competing for attention alongside marketing and advertising. Do you think the industry is doing enough to demonstrate its value?
PR has a very different role to play in the brand ecosystem. It is not marketing, nor advertising; in fact, both of those disciplines should, in theory, follow PR. You build and grow a brand’s reputation through PR: audience engagement, sponsorships that drive loyalty, events that build recall, activities that create affinity, and most importantly, dialogue that sees the human that supports the brand. Marketing and advertising then have their own objectives, which they deliver well through multiple brand disciplines.
I’ve sat at brand tables with up to six agencies, each with a specific role, and all able to demonstrate impact. The difference with PR is that its impact lies in reputation and trust, the foundation on which marketing and advertising can succeed. Yes, there are many ways to demonstrate influence and outcomes, but it requires experience, or going through case studies, to understand and build the mechanics into a campaign from the very start.
As a profession, we need to be clearer and more confident about this distinction. PR is not competing for attention — it is shaping the environment in which attention becomes possible.
You were closely involved in Prisa’s rebuilding and the growth of the Prisms Awards. What do you think the industry needs from professional bodies like Prisa today, and has the role of these organisations changed?
The Prisms Awards play a vital role for several reasons: they allow a country and a profession to benchmark excellence; they instil industry pride; they encourage team and individual pride by recognising the humans behind the hard work; and for fledgling professionals, they are inspiring. That is the power of a professional body when it is at its best.
The current challenges, however, are clear. Firstly, most professional bodies rely heavily on volunteers to deliver big mandates, which limits their capacity. Secondly, as brands, they hold very little value.
What I mean by this is simple: take a famous South African gym brand — people may complain about it, but everyone is a member, because it is meaningful to them and appeals across generations. Professional bodies need to reach that level of relevance and resonance, where membership is not just administrative but aspirational.
You’ve said your focus now is on strengthening Africa’s voice. What do you think is standing in the way of Africa telling — and selling — its own stories more effectively?
I attended a workshop where the keynote speaker, the CEO of a global PR corporation leading their South African offices, ended her talk on Africa by saying: ‘We will get there.’ That line has stuck with me ever since. I’ve listened intently to many keynotes on Africa, and unfortunately, most frame the continent with the same sentiment.
We need to start owning our own narrative, and it starts with us Africans. In 2024 and 2025, Africa saw a total of $167bn invested into the continent. Guess what? The truth is, we are not waiting to arrive. We are already here. We are already amongst the best in the world.
What stands in the way is confidence and narrative ownership. Too often, our story is told by others. We must stop waiting for permission and begin asserting our own voice with pride, with evidence, and with the conviction that Africa is shaping global momentum, not following it.
As you move into this next chapter, what are you hoping to contribute to the PR industry, and what opportunities do you see for African communications professionals over the next five to 10 years?
My contribution now is about strengthening Africa’s voice not in theory, but in practice. I want to help create dialogue that sees people as human, dialogue they can feel.
Too often we hide behind words like ‘authentic’ and ‘meaningful,’ but forget to truly see the human. That is where PR has its greatest power, and that is what I want to bring forward.
Mentorship is critical. Young professionals need to learn across disciplines, expose themselves to different briefs, and build confidence in the full spectrum of PR. That breadth of experience is what creates resilience and credibility.
And we must never pigeonhole ourselves. I’ve seen too many young professionals and agencies try to specialise too narrowly, for example, only youth campaigns. The truth is, clients will always need more, and if you limit yourself, they will take those briefs elsewhere. The opportunity lies in being expansive, confident, and ready to deliver across the breadth of our profession.
If we can embrace this human‑first dialogue, originality, tech‑driven accountability, and professional pride, Africa won’t just participate in global communications. We will lead.
