On Dec 10th Businesswire hosted its Trendspotting: Media & Public Relations in 2021 webinar. Speakers at the event included Ginger Porter based in Chicago, Stuart Bruce from the UK, and Sandra Fathi located in NYC.
Among the themes of the conference, and forecast into the trends of media & public relations heading into 2021, were an emphasis on action and authenticity.
Action
People want results. As Ginger Porter commented, “Action is the new currency.”
For example, It’s not enough anymore for a company to put out a statement saying they are advocates for social justice or care about those affected by COVID-19, they must show what they are actually doing. Where is there money going? How are they positively impacting the communities they do business with?
Authenticity
Sandra Fathi pointed out that an interesting side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the shift from in-office meetings to many remote zoom calls and work from home. While this is something PilmerPR has been doing for some time, it has allowed many a more personal glimpse into the lives of those they work with. It’s not unusual for a zoom meeting to have a dog barking or a kid running around.
These human elements are essential to growing positive rapport with clients. Customers want to see businesses as one of them. They want to see transparency, corporate responsbility and social responsibility. Companies can show authenticity and transparency by establishing themselves as a credible source in their field, dispelling disinformation and training employees to be true ambassadors for their brand.
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About the Author:
As founder of PilmerPR, John Pilmer, APR serves as a PR and marketing communications advisor for both emerging and established companies. He offers customers more than 20 years of results-driven business PR and marketing experience. John and the firm have provided PR consultation and campaigns for clients such as Mozy, Novell, AdvancedMD, Certiport, NextPage, ElectraTherm, Altiris, Avamar, EmergeCore Networks, FSLogic, INVISUS, 10x Marketing, MWI, Project Insight, REIC, Seastone, US Synthetic and Funding Universe (now Lendio), among others.