At the end of April 2017, I attended PR is Key, an event organised by newsroom provider PressPage. Three subjects shaped the discussions: the value of data, the rise of visual content and the need for real-time PR. Looking back, each highlighted the importance of preparation as well as speed.
Data is valuable when it produces insight
The amount of information available online can make collecting and organising company data a challenge. Describing data as “the new gold” only makes sense when it helps you understand something and make a better decision.
Start by deciding what you want to know. Then identify and analyse the information needed to answer that question. Gathering more material is not an objective in itself.
In our work for jobs platform Indeed at the time, we compared discussions about labour markets with the company’s own data. That helped us understand developments in the market and assess how they related to media coverage. It was a practical example of using data to find a story.
The event also prompted a reminder that valuable information needs responsible handling. Knowing where data is held and who has access to it is part of managing it, not something to consider only after an incident.
The growing role of video
One keynote discussed the shift towards visual content while recognising that written communication still had an important place. Rob Brown, then associated with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and agency Rule 5, referred to the growing role of video and mobile viewing.
The original article pointed to contemporary examples, including the launch of Dutch publisher De Telegraaf’s VNDG video platform. Those examples belong to 2017, but they illustrate the broader question the event raised: how should PR teams adapt when audiences change the way they consume information?
The answer is not to turn every message into a film. It is to consider what the audience needs and whether video or photography can explain the story more effectively. Written and visual content can support each other.
Real-time engagement requires preparation
PressPage’s Sébastien Willems discussed engagement with stakeholders using the April 2017 United Airlines incident as an example. Footage of a passenger being forcibly removed from an aircraft spread rapidly online and became a major news story.
The incident showed how quickly an organisation can lose control of the pace of a conversation. Public reaction develops while the business is still gathering information, and an initial response can become part of the crisis itself.
That is why a crisis communication plan matters. Teams need to know how they will gather reliable facts, agree responsibilities and respond. Speed is useful only when it is supported by judgement and an understanding of the people affected.
Turn information into useful communication
For our work at Progress, the event connected familiar activities: following developments, interpreting data, creating content and helping clients understand what is happening around them.
PR and marketing increasingly had reasons to work together in measuring and explaining results. The aim was to turn large quantities of information into insight that stakeholders could use.
After ten years of agency work at the time of writing, that combination still made my job interesting. The tools and formats could change, but there was always another question to understand and another story to communicate.
To discuss how media monitoring and a prepared communications approach could support your organisation, contact our team.
Inger
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