Trends and Communications Transformation
As a chairperson of the Global Alliance for Communications and Public Relations Management of Europe, I led the very first Global Trends & Communications Transformation month in March 2021. This year, together with the European Regional Council, we are launching the second edition in March 2022, it is a good opportunity for me now to remind you of the main insights we got in 2021 in order to compare the evolution between the two years.
The privilege of working for such a global and diverse organisation as the Global Alliance (GA), is that we can have a global overview of how the topic is addressed. Indeed, Global Alliance represents more than 320,000 communication practitioners across 5 continents and, together with COM-ENT, the 1st communications association in France, we could mobilise communication professionals around the world to reflect on the Comms industry transformation and compare the differences between regions and countries.
As communication professionals it is important to step back & analyse the main trends impacting the communications industry and how PR professionals are evolving, especially in our permanent crisis environment.
A global survey
We first launched a global survey among the Global Alliance regional councils in APAC, North America, Latam, Europe, Africa, India & Middle East to identify the trends impacting our profession around the world. Afterwards, we had an open discussion on this with presidents of top European PR associations. This year, we have also launched the international survey but we will split the open discussion into two parts: a European one with PR experts on the 10th March, 5:30 pm CET, and a global one with the chairs of Global Alliance councils on the 30th March, 2 pm CET. We will compare the differences between regions and the last year’s evolution.
It was interesting to note that no matter where we were located in the world, the communications industry was facing the same challenges. Here are the 5 main trends:
1/ Technologie. Mastering technology was essential. The shift to the digitalisation of our profession was one positive effect of the pandemic. Mastering technology was key to enrich the digital experience, collect useful data for the business and for efficient PR strategies. Artificial intelligence, internet of things, augmented reality... we drastically shift from physical to digital events with new formats. “ More people could attend digital events, we were able to manage complexity ” said Philipp Schindera, president of the German PR association. “Combining tech & people for outstanding events was essential to offer an excellent customer experience ”.
2/ Digital. Digital Communications were critical to build and maintain good reputation. The corporate comms team reinforced social and influence strategies through the new channels offered by the virtual environment. “Comms adapted to a new work reality” pointed out Eduardo Guedes De Oliveira, president of the PR Portuguese association. Work mobility and social links were deeply transformed by the crisis, technology and digital interactions. Organizations reinforced the equation « Business/Employee/Organization » through “Integrated Communications” leveraging on the positive impact of technology but still seeking to create physical interactions. New contents, new formats, new tools, new story-telling, the crisis changed the speed of communication. Comms professionals strengthen their management crisis strategies, skills and competencies to provided timely and accurate information.
3/ Human centric communications. In our virtual world, humanization & emotion were more than ever the most vivid. People were put at the center of communications through meaningful and inspiring stories, highlighting common interest. A combination of technology and emotion were the new normal. The pandemic helped in engaging with the communities. In Italy, in the wake of the past regular earthquakes, they studied the role of PR in restoring human trust. Findings showed that communications & PR experts helped in building common interest through a positive & realistic storytelling that did not divide but rather unified. “We did not limit ourselves to our own organisation but supported society” said Biagio Oppi from the PR Italian association Ferpi. “In Italy, this theory was that of “tessitora soziale” as “we could play a major role to help the rest of the environment”. Eduardo Guedes De Oliveira also pointed out “the need to humanise companies in a remote environment”. A survey made by Ricoh Europe, in which more than 600 European employees from companies with 250 to 999 employees participated, showed that about 42% of employees believed that their company's culture was affected by teleworking due to little face-to-face interaction. 1 in 3 workers also stated it was difficult to stay motivated whilst teleworking. The techno inefficiencies affected the stress of employees and globally they felt more stressed during “tele-commuting”. Employees expected a more human and personalised work experience.
4/ Positive impact. Corporate social responsibility was at the heart of the companies and their communication strategies. “It is all about commitment » said Séverine Lecomte, chairwoman of the PR French association. Commitment was the differentiation factor of choice for customers, employees, candidates, investors and all stakeholders. People tended to choose the most responsible product, service or company. Comms professionals’ mission was to ensure the usefulness and sustainability of organizations. Communication was thinking and imagining a better world. Corporate communications became more strategic. “We had the choice and we could take a bold stance on social issues,” said Luiza Jurgiel Zyla from the Poland PR association. Despite the crisis, the period was beneficial in terms of reputation & team motivation for responsible companies who built useful & reassuring PR strategies. “In Spain we engaged with people. We developed information as a service for safety and as an inspiration to give meaning,” pointed out Miguel Lopez Quesada Gil, president of the PR Spanish association “allowing everyone to take part in the collective story”.. “We developed sustainable and purpose-driven communications to employees and stakeholders to provide trust”. Sharing long term vision also helped to stabilise the ever changing environment.
5/ Trust & Ethics. Brands strived to build trust with their public, being more proactive and transparent. They were exposed to an important question around their purpose, culture and values to maintain good reputation and get employees engaged. In times of crisis, trust and ethics were the most valuable resource towards stakeholders. Rebuilding trust with communities within the crisis context was a huge challenge. This trust could be easily undermined by social media, immediate information and a high amount of data. It was difficult for the general public to understand the situation and the best solutions. So, the crisis gave a new exposure to legacy media (established newspapers, famous journalists) that people could trust through transparency. Purpose & values were essential both for Internal and External communications. They absolutely needed to be connected to the business to be perceived as legitimate. Brands needed to fit in with their values. Companies could influence selfimprovement in products or services and ethics as part of the modern business equation. But there was more: in a polarized society like Poland (in the context of the Womens’ fight) when a company spoke out loud it could lead to a boycott but also to building trust. But some companies didn’t really understand the concept of purpose and overpromised. They were suspected of artificiality & overstatement. In this context, leadership was key to rebuilding trust. Leaders strived for transparency, using common sense to address the topics that concerned people’s agenda, not their own agenda.
What will be the insight for 2022?
We saw it, technology, digital, human comms, positive impact, trust & ethics were the most important trends in 2021. Have they evolved? The 2nd Trends and transformation month in March 2022, is a great opportunity to see the differences between the two years in Europe and worldwide. We encourage PR professionals to join the conversations to learn from colleagues across the globe. Don’t miss our European webinar the 10th March and our Global one the 30th March. In our permanent crisis environment, Communications has a key role to play. We need more than ever to share our knowledge and experiences to build together the future of better communications.
Silvia Arto
Vice President of the Global Alliance for Communications and Public Relations Management and chair of the European Regional Council