PR Agency 2020
For years now, leaders within our industry have been talking about how social and digital will either help transform PR firms, or be the cause of their slow and painful death spiral into irrelevance. The truth is that the social and digital evolution is just but one important part of a confluence of functional, operational and cultural shifts that will re-shape our PR firms.
Here’s a list of predictions for what PR firms may begin to look like by 2020. Disclaimer: this list is by no means grounded in any research or third party data, whatsoever. It is simply my conjecture, clearly opinionated and possibly amiss in parts.
Assassination Attempts by Ad Agencies
While most PR firms have come a long way in bolstering their social offerings, it is no secret that the ad agencies are creeping further and further into our domain. They are pitching multi-modal concepts and are even drafting press releases for client concepts that they would hope to see media cover. They are forming special teams under the guise of “content” (duh) and believe that they have stumbled onto something new – having third parties draft and place content on behalf of clients. They are using words like advocacy, expertise, authenticity and borrowed equity. Sound familiar? PR firms should not underestimate the ability of ad agencies to sell ancillary “social” programs that are really PR by another name. The only difference is that ad agencies tend to sell better than we do and have access to bigger marketing budgets which make these smaller social initiatives look like rounding errors. And remember, rounding errors on budgets are easy to approve.
A More Mobile Workforce (and by mobile, I really mean remote)
PR firms are quickly embracing the fact that both men and women alike may have non-negotiable personal obligations and responsibilities that mean they will have less face time in the office. Thanks to the proliferation (and the IT department’s acceptance) of file-sharing services on the cloud, video-teleconferencing, Skype, webcasting, etc., staff are truly able to perform their duties anytime and almost anywhere. As long as firms are willing to bet on talent over tradition, they will be able to attract and retain high performers by embracing this migration to a more mobile workforce.
The Rise of Community Managers
Some agencies, especially the larger ones, have media teams devoted specifically toward developing client media strategy, pitch ideas and execution. In addition to media management, or possibly in place of it, I believe we will begin to see more community managers proliferating the ranks of PR firms, notably those that make social media part of their core. These community managers will be responsible for engaging stakeholders on behalf of brands online and for managing brand discourse in perceptually authentic ways.
Clients get Clout
IF (this is a big IF) PR can take the lead on social within client organizations, then we may see internal clients become more uniformly recognized for their value and contributions. Social can be the PR industry’s stalking horse for earning a more influential seat at the adults’ table. Sure, there are hundreds of PR professionals who have already earned this seat, but I believe there are still thousands yet to come. Clients with more power will equate into clients with more resources which in turn will help spawn organic growth—the healthiest growth possible for a firm.
A Social and Digital Backbone
Per my earlier points, any firm that does not recognize, embrace and monetize social and digital, and make it part of their DNA, is a firm on its ways to becoming a fossil—and fast.
Managing Generation “H”
“Helicopter parenting” refers to an entire generation of youth who have been closely reared and doted on by their parents with few conditions or constraints. This means that management at firms will have an entire generation of young professionals who may need some extra coaching and mentoring. I call it Generation H.
So, how do you deal with this? You will need to employ a corporate style Ferberizing of sorts. In other words, a professional development program that covers process, etiquette and protocol in addition to technique. The goods news is that Generation H is better educated, extremely tech savvy, eager to advance and enjoys being challenged.
Fragmentation of the Global Behemoths
The large global agencies may have to begin to break up into smaller pieces, while managing client conflicts, in order to continue to grow, . It may mean that there is a move back toward specialty shops, but in this case they would be super-specialty shops with global reach and cross-functional bench depth like never before.
Great article, Aaron. I especially like: “…any firm that does not recognize, embrace and monetize social and digital, and make it part of their DNA, is a firm on its ways to becoming a fossil—and fast.”
I think the role of the community manager (and the title right along with it) is going to change moving forward. The role will have to expand and shift as digital/social spreads into other communications initiatives.
Hey Aaron,
Your article has some great points. Alas, I think clients no longer care or are aware of the difference between an AD or a PR agency. I think it’s only the astute who recognize what rocking PR can do for you. And as more and more amateurs jump into the social space, as more and more companies take the task in-house, we’re going to see miscues and mistakes–and some will cost big.
As social media matures, clients will understand the need to seriously and measurably execute, especially public companies. Until people understand that social media is dangerous–that it can blow up in your face–or that a dead channel is a very bad thing, we’re going to experience this pain. I think it’s a maturity issue and some firms will better manage their offerings.
What most people do not get about social media is that it is about producing a continuous stream of positive messages. That’s not what ad agencies do, are good at, or even get! For your firm to focus on social is natural. For the ad guys to do it is trendy and in the long run they will either turn into something else or move on.
I predict many of your predictions will come true long before 2020; in fact, many already are. This is great fodder for agency business planning. Thanks for sharing.
Great insight, Aaron. The one point I would add is that PR has a home-field advantage over advertising when it comes to digital. The name of the game is still about communicating messages in 3rd party environments where we don’t have a great deal of control. We’ve been doing this since the days of Ivy Lee; only the tools have changed. PR’s #1 task is to understand how and when to utilize the new channels and platforms. Expertise and recognition. Typical ad agencies have to do this AND adapt to environments where subtlety and authenticity rule.
Aaron: Loved your point about “Helicopter parenting” and the effect on Generation H PR employees. But let’s not forget the clients! Gen H kids will have less actual personal interaction with people than any generation before. Texting, social media and other ways of electronic communication have all but eliminated the need to actually talk to or meet people face to face. That means when they HAVE to do that– whether it’s making an appearance on “old” media like TV and radio or speaking in front of a group–they may not be successful. Future PR firms will not only need to provide more “coaching” for their Gen H employees, they’ll need to provide that for their Gen H clients, too.