What Lies Ahead In 2017?

Time to dust off the crystal ball and gaze into the year ahead.   Because we are a member of the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN), we happen to have crystal balls all over the world.  Here’s what some of our international partners have to say about PR in the coming year:

• Christina Rytter, advisor and managing director, Scandinavian Communications, Copenhagen, Denmark:  “I see continuing growth in clients’ demands for international communications strategy and high quality content for digital and social media.”

• Jim Bianchi, APR, president, Bianchi Public Relations, Inc., Detroit: “In the United States for 2017, with post-election polarity and mistrust spiking among consumers, trust will be more important than ever, and the PR industry will have more opportunities to help clients of all types to rebuild that trust and repair relationships through genuine positive action.”

• Frédéric François, managing partner, Two Cents Content & Communication, Brussels: “Our public relations actions continue to evolve into content marketing activities. This means we do not only produce (and spread) content through press relations, but also on blogs, social media, at events and for SEO… Our goal? Create awareness, attract customers and generate leads and sales for our customers. To succeed, strategic thinking has never been more important!”

• Judy Kuramata, executive director, Integrate Communications, Tokyo: “The PR industry in Japan has shown stable growth in last a few years.   Our work will focus more on consulting in the marketing and branding areas, as well as in the  newly growing social media area, including risk management, and less of a focus on media relations.”

• Yap Boh Tiong, chairman, Mileage Communications, Singapore: “Less PR Budget.  Less Retainers.”

• David Landis, president, Landis Communications Inc., San Francisco: “I predict that the three big trends to watch in our industry are: voice search, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars.”

• Owen Cullen, managing director, Cullen Communications, Dublin:  “Content is our industry’s most precious commodity, although the events of 2016 showed that we have yet to achieve balance in the supply/demand of high quality, original, verifiable content. As we continue to evolve our content-creating skills and options, video – in particular live video – will likely emerge as one of the key PR trends of 2017. It won’t appear in most job descriptions but all the most successful agencies will be entirely staffed by videographers, each capable of capturing ‘the story’ from multiple angles for multiple audiences. Cameras at the ready!”

• As for me: “I think there may be a reality check for the unbridled fake news sources and more skepticism from the public-at large about the credibility of their news sources.”

What do you think is ahead for the PR industry?