Evolve or Perish: The new PR paradigm

The forced lockdown during the pandemic has, arguably, been the single-largest driver of change across businesses. It was an epochal event that all of us across the globe witnessed. The pandemic evoked an entire gamut of emotions ranging from disbelief and despair to utter hopelessness. But, then, the human will to survive and natural resilience emerged triumphant.

During the entire period of this pandemic, industries and businesses saw disruption like never before. Many ebbed, some survived, a few changed and others grew. Even the media and communications industry was not spared, as disruption has no biases. But I prefer to call this entire change “evolution”.

The pace of digital transformation and the increased use of technology across sectors that the world witnessed over the past two decades can be compared to a snail’s pace when contrasted to the pace of change seen in the past two years. Now let me cite a few pillars of this evolution.

Digital Transformation

The importance or, rather, dependence, on digital communication for an effective PR strategy has become unparalleled. The digital medium includes news portals, websites of companies, influencers, and, most pertinently, social media platforms. The increased influence of social media is a change that the PR community will have to deal with constantly and this has vastly increased the number of contributory articles. Earlier the same was limited to the journalist fraternity but now, has extended to everyone present on social media – be it Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, to name just a few amongst the many platforms thriving today. Already Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et al. are seen as publishing platforms and not just as a place to exchange viewpoints. 

Holistic Communication

While I am talking about the importance of digital communication, I am not, for a moment, saying that traditional PR is dead. My entire emphasis is on holistic communication encompassing curated content, the right target audience and the best platform: be it print, electronic, or digital. Effective communication today also includes paid media, which includes influencer marketing, creative content and amplification of the content to garner maximum and targeted visibility. Gone are the days when creating a press release and then disseminating it to the relevant media would be the primary task of a PR agency. Ideation, effective implementation of ideas, designing the right content, strategy to maximise visibility, geo-targeting and demographic targeting of the audience, have to be optimised to become strategically relevant.

Use of Technology

Fixed working hours have given way to flexible timings. Managing one’s time is helping one become more effective. The use of technologies like video calls and  WhatsApp groups, and software to disseminate a press release or send invites, to carry out research and analysis that measures the efficacy of the message, and to profile journalists are all fast becoming the norm.

Responsible Work Culture

The other change that I find relevant is the disruption of static work culture. The entire concept of work from home or even from work from anywhere, the restructuring of seating, or should I say “Hot Seating” in the office, the adoption of a hybrid work culture and the demise of weekends (which I am hopeful will not be for too long), among others, will be the way of life, going forward. 

The unseen benefit is that people have become more responsible. The concept of flexible working hours and the freedom of working from home have made each one enjoy the satisfaction of being able to have a work-life balance. And in the same breath, we realise that this satisfaction and this freedom will last only if we are responsible for our work and for our clients.

We have reached the time wherein the stick is losing its sheen in the carrot and stick universe. Sounds like an evolve-or-perish kind of situation, but overall, exciting times for business and growth.