COMPLACENT MARKETING
The Growing Importance Of PR For Business
By Diana Obath
The current world crisis has impacted business and industries in more ways than we all were ever prepared for . Many organizations have decimated , and companies have been forced to remodel , reengineer or restrategize . On the bright side , the chaos has brought on a fresh demand for PR and communication professionals to earn a seat on the decision-making table .
Corporate communication has become more critical during this pandemic given its agenda setting and stakeholder management role . Communication has been thrust into a strategic level and PR managers have become strategic advisors to business leaders bridging the gap between the company , its employees , customers and the communities they serve .
The demand on PR practitioners has stretched them and forced them to pay closer attention to the business . PR is now an essential contributor to sales , marketing and operations beyond the daily publicity requirement . PR professionals have had to become business experts and strategists as they support organizations through the crisis .
Many companies have gone digital and PR professionals have been forced to show up in this space . Case in point , in Kenya alone , over 600 journalists and other support staff working in media houses have been laid off in the past five months following a slump in newspaper sales and growth of digital media consumption . This is a direct result of reduced advertising and marketing activities .
Nation Media Group , one of Kenya ’ s largest media conglomerate recently announced plans to enhance its digital operations and unveiled plans to live stream on its site . These changes have upset the usual way of doing PR . I cannot state enough how accustomed PR professionals were to newspaper clippings to prove a day ’ s work . The full-page coverage on the
The growing convergence of PR and marketing has left a thin line between the two practices . Most organizations that embraced digital operations eventually integrated marketing and communications to achieve organizational goals . This just goes to show that communication will become global and the profession will become more meaningful . leading paper or the business pictorial was essential to bag the buck . However , the last few months have changed how PR professionals work . The advantage with the move to online may be that there is now convergence with digital marketing making it easier to justify return on investment as PR outcomes are more crystalized and easily measurable . KPI ’ s such as engagement , reach , impressions are now available at the click of a button . This has only raised the bar for PR professionals as they now need to be writers , entertainers and advocates to ensure their stories achieve the intended objectives .
Far from the pressure of the changing profession , comes the need for PR pros to become strategists . Corporate communication is now necessary to guide strategic outcomes to reach customers in more innovative ‘ digital ’ ways . The nature of events has changed , marketing has gone digital , deliveries are now contactless and health checks are now part of security measures .
Communication then becomes the only way to inform and create understanding with the different stakeholders within the business . This has required PR professionals to understand the financial position of the organization , the deliverables for every department , the warehouse operations and all other key and support functions within the business . This new way of working has placed PR and communications in the center of operations within the organization as opposed to having communication kick in when products are ready for the market and a launch plan is required .
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