PR Futurist | Stuart Bruce | Purposeful Relations

Welcome

ICCO head's emotional appeal to support Ukraine

At the online Davos Communications Summit ICCO CEO Francis Ingham made an impassioned appeal for the global public relations community to continue its support for Ukraine.

In this issue we've also got a free crisis communications webinar, Talkwalker's report on the world's most loved brands, the CIPR's annual State of the Profession report, and news of the latest acquisitions and launches in the CommTech and PRTech world.

News

“Be on the right side of history” – Francis Ingham urges Ukraine support at Davos Communications Summit

Purposeful Relations co-founder Stuart Bruce spoke at the Davos Communications Summit. The summit opened with an emotive keynote from Francis Ingham, the chief executive of ICCO and director general of the PRCA. Francis talked about how the public relations and communications industry was emerging stronger from the pandemic, but his most powerful remarks were when he appealed for the profession to provide support to Ukraine.

Stuart has worked extensively in Ukraine for a variety of clients, including the Ukrainian Prime Minister's office and Cabinet, Ukraine's largest company SCM and start-ups such as esports specialist WePlay Group. Since the invasion he has also provided pro bono help on several initiatives to support Ukraine.

Crisis communication

PRCA crisis communications for sport webinar

Stuart Bruce recently did a webinar for the PRCA (Public Relations and Communications Association) on crisis communications in sport. It was hosted by PRCA Sports Group Chair James Stibbs and my fellow speaker was Katy Markham. It’s a crisis communications 101 for anyone who has to deal with difficult or challenging issues in sport, but the lessons are equally applicable to other sectors.

Research and reports

New Brand Love report identifies the world's top 50 most loved brands

Talkwalker and HootSuite have teamed up to publish the Brand Love Index which looks at 1,500 brands around the world to find the 50 'most loved'. It looks at three qualitative scores - The Passion Score, The Customer Satisfaction Score, and The Trust Score. It also has individual rankings for some countries.

What surprised me (Stuart) is there isn't a single brand in the global top 50 list that I actually use, or even find particularly appealing. The UK list has two - Lego and Land Rover - that I do like and either use or have used.

CIPR's State of the Profession finds the reputation of PR has improved

The CIPR State of the Profession 2022 report is out. As usual, it contains some interesting data on diversity, salaries, job satisfaction etc.

One of the most interesting findings is that just over half of in-house respondents said the reputation of public relations had improved within their organisation. The article explores this in more detail.

New survey identifies top challenges faced by digital marketing professionals

This research looks at digital marketing professionals, but still provides useful insight for public relations and communications professionals. Many of the challenges and tools used are the same.

The CIPR State of the Profession report found that the most common activity was copywriting and editing, but that writing skills were second in the list of missing PR skills. This survey of digital marketing professionals finds that writing is also the top missing skill.

Investment in new technology directly links to growth

New digital transformation research indicates that 30% of businesses are now using robotics, augmented reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning.

The main drivers for digital transformation are improved efficiency, cost savings and better customer experience.

CMOs lose out on 13% of their marketing budgets due to underutilised MarTech

This is interesting research that backs what we've found with PR and communications teams. Two out of three chief marketing officers (CMOs) are using less than 50% of their marketing technology stack. It also finds challenges with people, integration and skills.

This is why we set up Purposeful Relations and created CommsTransform™. PR and communications teams (in-house and agency) have a haphazard approach to digital transformation buying solutions ad-hoc to meet specific needs. It means they aren't properly integrated and aren't fully utilised. Digital transformation starts with culture, identifying the problems to be solved, and equipping people with the skills needed.

Ofcom urges tech firms to keep women safer online

Ofcom is one of the richest sources of high quality, reliable data about online behaviour and media consumption in the UK. Its latest report reveals real-world concerns about women’s safety and wellbeing are mirrored in the online world.

Professional practice

#CommsHero Week 2022 - CommsHero

CommsHero Week brings together dozens of speakers from across the PR and communications world. This year Stuart Bruce is one of the speakers alongside Andy Barr, Farzana Baduel, Helen Reynolds, Koray Camgöz, Rebecca Benn, Amanda Coleman, Nafisa Shafiq, Naomi Jones, Sarah Waddington, and many more.

PRTech CommsTech MarTech news watch

Answer the Public acquired by Ubersuggest

Answer the Public and Ubersuggest are two excellent tools to help PR and communications professionals benefit from SEO. We advise clients on choosing the best CommTech tools from the hundreds on the market, however we also use some in our business. This acquisition brings together two tools that we use on a regular basis. It's also yet another example of an innovative UK technology business (Answer the Public) being acquired by a US business.

Prowly adds media monitoring to its PR workflow solution

Prowly is another European business (Poland) that was acquired by a US technology business (SEMrush). It is using the business to expand its offering and has now added media monitoring to its 'all in one' PRTech software. Prowly sits at the lower cost end of the CommTech market.

Purposeful Relations

Why not try a PowerHour?

One of the services Stuart has offered on an informal basis over the last few years is ad-hoc one-to-one advice and mentoring to both in-house PR professionals and PR agencies. This ad-hoc service can now be booked online with the launch of Stuart's new PowerHour which provides a one-hour confidential video chat.