Each year we ask communication leaders to predict and spot trends for the new year. In the wake of a tumultuous and unpredictable 2020, it was not an easy job. We thank them.
For 2020, personalization was predicted, in 2019, as a dominant theme. Trust topped the 2019 list. Some trends for 2021 extend what 2020 highlighted: greater emphasis on DEI, purpose and internal communication.
In addition, our communicators anticipate greater reliance on technology in PR and marketing. Several note, though, companies will use tech and social differently in 2021. One prediction is that social will emphasize joy and tap into personal experiences. PR vet Bob Pearson envisions a potential intersection of gaming and messaging platforms (page 13).
Recovery or Depression?
On the business side, the jury is out. Some see a recovery for PR revenue, particularly since the need for strategic communication rose to the fore during the pandemic. Others anticipate PR’s financial difficulties continuing, particularly for those who lack flexibility and are unable to measure their contributions with business metrics.
As 2020 was a year of pandemics and elections, we’ve added predictions categories: Post-COVID-19 and Post-Trump, though neither COVID-19 nor the president are ‘post.’
As in previous years, predictors are identified fully in their first prediction and by name only with their second.
Whatever happens, we wish all a wonderful, peaceful 2021. Most important, may it be a year of health.
POST-COVID-19
Michael Lamp, SVP, Digital, HUNTER
The pandemic collapsed into three months a process of adopting e-commerce that would have taken 10 years in the US,” according to McKinsey & Company. This is a stunning recognition that consumer behavior has been forever changed. It’s an ‘Add to Cart’ (for life).
The only path forward to long-term retail success hinges on our ability as communicators to provide context and inspiration, but also a through-line to online points of purchase. Platforms like Shopify, SquareSpace and Wix afford smaller businesses the flexibility to test ecommerce solutions without major investment in digital infrastructure. We know that habitual behavior can drive brand loyalty, so making clients part of this new online user experience will be essential to success.
Chris LaPlaca, SVP, Communications, ESPN
Communicators’ influence in helping brands navigate incredibly challenging and rapidly changing times will continue to rise. Often, it’s the communication team that has the best handle on the intersection of a company’s internal and external narrative, and increasingly we see their insights helping drive smart decision-making. Continued emphasis on consistently proactive, fact-based advocacy will be critical in a world where what the facts are is often muddled.
Michael Lewellen, VP, Marketing and Communications, University of Portland
COVID-19 has done more than spike our vocabularies with words like super-spreader and safe social distancing. It has redefined where we work; this time, permanently.
Despite those who speak of missing the office dynamic of seeing colleagues daily, there will be a huge percentage of practitioners who remain home-based by choice. The pandemic forced us to level-up technology and other resources, and to do our jobs from home. Add the meetings driven by Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and the notion of workplace now is the kitchen table, den or spare bedroom.
By the way, talk with your tax accountant about what might be deductible as business expenses, thanks to COVID-19 relocation. There is a downside, of course–LOTS of abandoned commercial office space everywhere.
Kim Sample, President, PR Council
Solving the world’s biggest problems requires collaboration. The PR industry will be a vital part of these unions.
As PR pros have counseled clients on the dual crises of the pandemic and social justice, the discipline’s value has never been clearer or more measurable. The industry has come together to tackle these crises and collaborated at new levels to keep employees safe, but the stakes will be even higher in 2021 with the availability of COVID-19 vaccines.
With half of Americans reporting that they are unlikely to get a vaccine, PR will help save lives and restore the economy by delivering science-based, emotionally compelling messages, tapping culturally relevant influencers and educating and persuading audiences through paid, earned, social and owned campaigns.
Michael Smart, Media Relations Guru, PR Coach
The perceived requirement to physically work in New York or Silicon Valley is permanently gone. Talented PR pros will secure and maintain good jobs or good clients wherever they live.
An agency based in Indianapolis always was capable of being as effective as one in San Francisco, but now prospective customers and media will perceive it as such.
Charlene Wheeless, Senior Advisor for Equity and Justice, APCO Worldwide
There will be an unprecedented focus on employee well-being. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that if your employees are at risk, your business is at risk.
POST-TRUMP
Roger Bolton, President, Page Society
Globalization has encountered severe headwinds. Nationalism and populism, as well as concerns about climate and the pandemic have created significant threats to the global trading system, causing many companies to rethink their supply chains.
At the same time, the post-war international institutions that have guaranteed peace and enabled prosperity have been under siege. In 2021, the world will begin to come to grips with the need to revitalize those institutions and preserve the ability of global markets to deliver efficiency that contributes to rising living standards and access to opportunity for people globally.
BUSINESS
Rick Gould, Managing Partner, Gould+Partners
A just-completed survey of 50 top PR agencies in the U.S. and Canada showed 76 percent lost revenue in 2020, some as much as 50 percent of their book of business, versus what they had at the end of 2019. 24 percent showed an increase in net revenue, although most gains were small. The good news is 76 percent project a recovery in 2021, with only 8 percent envisioning a decrease and 16 percent seeing a flat year. 44 percent predicted that 2021 will match pre-pandemic 2019.
Dwayna Haley, SVP, Practice Director, Porter Novelli
The communication industry is shifting rapidly, and that change is causing massive business impact to the traditional role and long-term viability of large PR agencies. Increasingly, AOR-level client relationships are a thing of the past as companies prioritize project-level support for real-time, urgent needs.
In addition, companies are looking to reduce costs and optimize spend, which requires large agencies to be nimble, smart, fast and cost-efficient to compete with niche-agency services and the emerging force of consulting groups offering similar support.
Moving forward, we will see continuous mergers of large and mid-size PR agencies to scale business and rebuild industry confidence in the full-service agency model.
Gene Grabowski, Partner, kglobal
The combined factors of the global COVID-19 pandemic, concerns over climate change, strident political divisions, the Black Lives Matter movement and growing economic uncertainty around the world are dramatically redefining how we work, play, vote and think about our lives.
More than ever, people are focused on protecting their health, their families and their jobs. And they’re looking for institutions, politicians and brands to make them feel safe. As a consequence, the work of PR in 2021 will be more relevant, more serious and more important than ever before.
Corporations, universities, governments and institutions of all kinds will be turning to PR agencies to help provide safety and comfort to their stakeholders and their families. Increasingly, consumers will expect corporations and brands to take positions on social issues and to intertwine that messaging with the delivery of products and services. PR professionals will be expected to provide guidance to companies and institutions on matters that go far beyond traditional branding and marketing.
Dr. Tina McCorkindale, APR, President/CEO, Institute for Public Relations
Companies will invest more resources into internal communication as COVID-19 continues to impact businesses and many employees continue working from home, eventually transitioning into a hybrid structure, splitting time between WFH and the office.
With the shifting needs of different types of employees (WFH, frontline, manufacturing, etc.) and the dire health situation, companies will need to ensure they have a strong communication infrastructure, especially as vaccination accessibility increases. However, outside of internal communication, more responsibilities will be heaped onto the communication function without increased budget or headcount.
Kim Sample
PR agencies are agile, delivering the right expertise at the correct time, will continue to be the biggest winners.
Annual plans? They’re a thing of the past. Instead, professionals will tap a plethora of real-time data sources–and a stronger-than-ever trust in the sharp intuition that’s honed with experience–to help clients navigate whatever 2021 brings.
With COVID-19 and its economic impact still raging, a new administration with a questionable mandate and socially minded populations that know how to activate and get their voices heard, agility is a requirement that’s here to stay. PR shops will need to continue to break down structural barriers, deepen their expertise and deploy new technologies to help those they represent see around corners.
CRISIS
Gene Grabowski
More and more, companies of all sizes will turn to experienced outside crisis communication professionals to manage crises rather than having in-house staff try to deal with them.
Most corporations have learned that just as they must rely on outside legal counsel to handle major litigation, their internal communication teams–focused on corporate marketing and branding and distracted by internal office politics–aren’t equipped to manage all the variables that arise in modern crises. Agency professionals well-versed in social media assaults, cyber attacks, product recalls, major media scrutiny and politically sensitive issues will be called to address most of these challenges as the stakes grow higher for individuals and institutions under attack.
Dr. Yan Jin, Professor, PR, University of Georgia
2020 challenged crisis communication and strategic conflict management in unprecedented ways. Besides numerous organizational crises and public emergencies, we saw the rising tides of “ sticky crises.” We use “sticky crisis” at the University of Georgia’s Crisis Communication Think Tank to indicate a crisis resulting from industry-wide, complex and challenging issues that often are intertwined and likely to reoccur. Many facets of the COVID-19 pandemic represent forms of sticky crisis mutation, detrimentally threatening public safety, disrupting business continuity and rattling social-economic stability globally.
As we continue combating COVID-19 and its aftermath, a post-pandemic communication-management system, driven by purpose and engineered via advanced crisis intelligence, will need to be built to facilitate stress-coping and resilience-strengthening across sectors.
Crisis practitioners and scholars will work even more closely to conduct sticky crisis research that generates industry-wide knowledge. Insights gained from practitioner-scholar collaboration will help us better prevent and prepare for future sticky crisis tsunamis.
Esther-Mireya Tejeda, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, SoundExchange
We are still marching through uncharted territory as we head into 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic rages on with a potential vaccine coming, a new US president will take office, racial and social unrest continue throughout the country, and we are more divided than ever. Heading into the new year, communicators will be laser focused on crisis management as we lead organizations, brands, and people through these turbulent times. More organizations will embed a crisis response team into their communication and PR departments. Communicators will be tapped for strategic counsel, critical thinking and analyses, with the focus on safeguarding brands and organizations.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Felicia Blow, Co-chair, Diversity Committee, PRSA, Associate VP, Development, Hampton University
In 2020, it finally became okay to use the phrase Black Lives Matter. Unfortunately, it took the dramatic and violent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor to raise awareness of the very real challenges that are so prevalent in minority communities. This increased awareness created a tumult of new D&I practices in companies large and small, the installation of chief D&I officers and a greater focus on seeking to understand the challenges Black and Brown communities in America face.
This pace will continue and greatly expand in 2021. I wish I could attribute this simply to an interest in D&I. Not so. The changing demographics of America and the full understanding of the business case for diversity are driving companies to institute programs and practices, which will enable them to better engage with not only customers, but employees.
Angela Chitkara, Founder, World in 2020 Project
There will be more pressure for organizations to identify and solve problems, contribute to society and for their words to align with their actions. In this era of transparency and accountability, we’ll see more information about DEI in public disclosures.
There’s an opportunity for organizations to address societal issues and polarization through engagement from employee resource groups (ERGs), the C-suite and rank-and-file employees. More companies will seek PR’s strategic counsel in embedding DE&I, which ties to corporate reputation, trust, talent recruitment and retention and innovation.
I am hopeful that organizations will work closely with the new administration in healing this beautiful country we call home and restoring its standing in the world.
Steve Cody, Founder, CEO, Peppercomm
Employee Experience programs will pivot in lighthearted, yet more meaningful, ways in 2021. Such seismic events as the global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd and rise of the #BLM movement demand that more organizations and agencies speed up their DE&I efforts AND the national election forced CCOs, CHROs and agency leaders to reset priorities, redeploy resources and invest very heavily in the employee experience.
The new year will provide new, and unexpected, challenges to these very same leaders as they strain to maintain some degree of morale, engagement, productivity and wellbeing from a Zoomed-out, burnt-out workforce.
Look for a significant rise in the use of a healthy dose of comedy and humor as purpose-driven CEOs try to convince employees that lifting their spirits–while also building resilience–in the darkest of days is, at long last, more important than surpassing Wall Street’s quarterly expectations. #PeopleOverProfits.
Dwayna Haley
While Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ( aka the JEDI initiative), always was a business and moral imperative for companies across all sectors, the hyper-polarized and mainstream attention to these issues reached critical mass in 2020.
Research shows that today’s “culturally conscious consumer,” a term AdWeek coined, expects brands they support to prioritize the imperative. People are demonstrating that expectation by galvanizing social conversation, carefully discerning where they spend hard-earned dollars and even where they choose to work.
Companies will have no choice but to create organic, actionable, sustainable and measurable impact absent of comfortable appropriation; otherwise, they will face quantifiable business attrition unlike anything we’ve seen in this country.
Michael Lewellen
The historic achievement of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket would be incomplete without one more groundbreaking move: naming a person of color as White House Press Secretary. Friends in the Black Press USA and National Association of Black Journalists remain disappointed that Barack Obama never saw his way clear to make additional history with such a pick. And he had two terms to do it. But at a time when Black voters–especially Black women–rallied in record-setting numbers to help unseat Donald Trump, it’s time to pay communicators of color this sign of professional respect and inclusion. [Editor’s Note: This prediction was made in early November, prior to the announcement of an all-female communication team, including several women of color.]
Dr. Tina McCorkindale
DE&I will be a significant focus as more companies act, while internal and external stakeholders also hold them accountable. Demands for increased transparency and demonstrations of change will move the needle (but not as fast as we would like) to increase recruitment and retention for BIPOC professionals. Companies will put in place more programs, measures and initiatives with support from leaders. However, progress at the executive level, including the board of directors, will be slow.
Kim Sample
Diversity is a must. The social justice movement in the summer of 2020 demanded commitment and action from PR. While the end of 2020 has been quieter on DE&I, the industry will be held accountable for measurable progress against promises made.
While the priority is hiring, promoting and retaining BIPOC talent, PR shops are creating supplier diversity programs, undertaking pro bono campaigns for minority-owned businesses, and making cash donations to relevant causes. A recent Davis & Gilbert study found PR firms with the most diversity are outperforming those that are lacking. That trend is sure to continue as companies demand diverse teams and supplier diversity commitments.
Charlene Wheeless
My prediction for 2020 centered on it being a year of reckoning in companies around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and a growing impatience by employees in waiting for their companies to do something meaningful. An interesting thought.
In 2021, smart companies will shift from a focus on DE&I to a talent-management strategy. They’ll recognize that the real issue isn’t DE&I and the lack of diverse talent in their organizations. Instead, they will focus on the problem and not just the symptom—systemic racism, bias, and pervasive injustice and a lack of equity within their cultures. They will realize that the racial reckoning is deeper and more insidious than they could have imagined.
Heroic leaders and companies will understand and act on the need to get comfortable being uncomfortable and see the moment for what it is—the opportunity to be on the right side of history by championing racial justice in the workplace.
DIGITAL MARKETING
Karen Jones, Chief Marketing Officer, Ryder System, Inc.
Double down on digital. The impact of COVID-19 has accelerated the need for a sound digital marketing strategy in the B2B space.
Developing a customer journey that will nurture the awareness, consideration and decision-making process by keeping a brand relevant and top of mind while a prospect engages with online content will be the focus of many B2B marketing campaigns. We will continue to see B2B customers clamor for B2C digital experiences. They want to engage with brands that can provide value-added content and services to help them navigate the complexities of their job and industry.
ESG AND PURPOSE
Roger Bolton
A year ago, I predicted an acceleration in businesses building societal value. Little did I know that the COVID-19 pandemic would make that an understatement.
Stakeholder capitalism is blossoming. In 2021, increased demand for integrated reporting of financial and ESG goals will force even reluctant companies to jump on board. The remarkable business response to the pandemic–ventilators, PPE, vaccines, therapeutics–will continue. In addition, many companies will shift attention to economic opportunity and equity, with a focus on diverse and underserved populations, as well as the mental health of their employees.
Andrew Bowins, SVP, Communications and Public Affairs, Entertainment Software Association
Truth, transparency and relevance should be top of mind for any communicator charged with shaping and managing corporate reputation.
Without a doubt, 2020 reminded us that words matter and that how we communicate is as important as what we communicate. Whether you are engaging with the media, policy makers, special interest groups or the general public, you need to be relevant and trusted.
In 2021, purpose-driven organizations that place a premium on communicating value and their role as a corporate citizen will shine above others that push messages designed to help shape P&L or sales goals.
Angela Chitkara
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) branding and communication will be all the rage. The lack of diversity and inclusion poses social risks to organizations within an ESG framework. The US remains divided. There were many issues on the ballot: race and ethnicity, coronavirus, the economy, crime and safety, healthcare policy. These societal issues are interconnected and require organizations to focus on stakeholder engagement, internally and externally.
FAKE NEWS
T. Garland Stansell, APR, Chair, PRSA 2020
With the proliferation of mis/dis/mal-information associated with everything from the pandemic to the social injustice movement, and fueled by incivility and a seeming lack of any desire for constructive dialogue, communicators will spend more time and resources working to promote civil discourse and helping to educate and extricate truth based in facts.
PRSA will launch an initiative in the first quarter that will provide resources and information to help communicators combat the pandemic of incivility, the mis/dis/mal-information that abounds, and the scourge of social injustice. There is so much we as communicators can do to help mitigate the effects of these systemic challenges and to make a difference in our society.
HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATION
Gil Bashe, Managing Partner, Global Health, FINN Partners
Follow-the-money! The global wellness economy has reached $4.5 trillion; chronic disease management in the US is $4 trillion. A sick-care system gives a poor ROI. Wellness is a big win-win-win for the households, companies and governments ultimately footing the sickness bill. Employers and payers will find that encouraging self-care and chronic-illness intervention is a smarter business model. The tools are available: AI, communication and technology put people in the driver seat toward a happier and healthier future. Communicators have a significant role in helping consumers understand that their personal health investment enables them to embrace life’s possibilities.
Dr. Yan Jin
As the trench warfare against COVID-19 continues, PR pros will combat viral health misinformation. Studies published in 2020 prescribed formulas for debunking misinformation and correcting misperceptions, including: amplifying the power of truth-telling news media and health authorities via factual elaboration and containing viral misinformation spread by enabling people to vet risk and crisis information transmitted on social media.
In 2021, practitioners and scholars will collaborate further to identify more effective approaches to health misinformation prevention and treatment. New social-behavioral research findings shed light on ways to overcome unintended effects of health communication, such as message fatigue and issue desensitization among at-risk individuals.
Public health risk and crisis communication campaigns will need to be more innovative and energizing to get out messages in a more-cluttered-than-ever media environment, reaching individuals’ minds, resonating with their hearts and motivating them to take protective action based on accurate information.
Dr. Debi Miller, APR, Director, Communications, Cone Health
The importance of, and need for, timely, strategic and effective health care communication will continue to increase. Communication leaders will be expected to guide teams through the intersection of strategy and tactics with originality and agility.
Effective communication will stress the importance of COVID-19 preventative strategies, virtual care opportunities, vaccination timing and options and self-care.
Using invaluable lessons from 2020, communicators will balance their bandwidth and appropriate use of technology to support business continuity and provide easy, instant access to information for the new remote workforce.
Enrolling internal and external audiences in helping reduce the spread of COVID-19 will involve more authentic, transparent messaging delivered using an innovative multiple channel mix. The need for local, recognizable messengers who reflect our diverse communities will be paramount.
INFLUENCERS
Allison Fitzpatrick, Partner, Advertising, Marketing & Promotions, Davis & Gilbert LLP
As commercial productions continue to be put on hold due to COVID-19, brands will shift more of their marketing budgets to influencers, particularly kid influencers. However, due to congressional pressure, the FTC will be looking more closely at these young influencers and whether they are including effective disclosures in their videos. Meanwhile, self-regulatory and advocacy groups will eye the amount of junk food being promoted in kid influencer videos.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
Chris LaPlaca
Forward-facing brands always need to communicate authentically to consumers. The events of 2020 emphatically brought that into focus. Internally, we need to listen to our diverse employees at all levels. They can help us communicate externally more effectively. Communication and DE&I pros will develop stronger relationships and strategies to continue the momentum begun in a tumultuous, but ultimately enlightening, 2020.
Dr. Debi Miller
Communication leaders will be expected to be strategic- thought partners on behalf of CEOs and most senior leaders while using a variety of new and existing tools to create and deliver effective communication to remote, deskless and in-office employees.
The goal will be to keep employees well-informed, wherever they are in 2021. Enhanced-change communication, especially to help employees overcome change fatigue, and build employee engagement and retention, will dominate the function throughout 2021.
Communication leaders also will be challenged to create content that supports and advances DE&I amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the social unrest pandemic sparked by the death of George Floyd, all while navigating a challenging and divided post-election world.
MARKETING
Karen Jones
Strike while the iron is hot. The environment we live in has created a captive audience in many industries. Developing valuable content for audiences to engage with can’t happen quickly enough. Brands will accelerate budgets, timelines and product development to take advantage of the opportunity. Making it easier to do business is the goal.
Creation of relevant content that relates to personal experience also will continue to become more critical. Customers and prospects want to engage with brands that can provide value-added content to help them navigate the complexities of their job and industry. This content needs to not only be personally relevant to the end recipient, but come in short form and digestible mediums.
MEASUREMENT
Richard Bagnall, Chair, AMEC Co-Managing Partner, CARMA International
Organizations of all sizes will scrutinize budgets as never before. Since the financial crisis, PR pros operated under intense pressure, adapting to a disrupted media, with more work to do but with less time and fewer resources. COVID-19 has put this disruption on steroids and added in significant financial uncertainty.
We are living in the age of accountability. With budgets under intense pressure, any PR pro who can’t clearly demonstrate the value that PR and communication brings to their organization will be seen as just a cost center, ripe for pruning. Difficult times are ahead for the communication and PR profession. The evolved practitioner who can clearly demonstrate strategic effectiveness will be well placed to thrive.
Richard Bagnall
The trend for organizations to look for better metrics will continue. Spurious metrics that some use to try to point to the effectiveness of PR will continue to fall in importance. In addition to the now-universally derided AVE (advertising value equivalent), hits, impressions, opportunities to see, website traffic and volume style metrics will be viewed for what they are–large numbers that don’t really mean anything.
As global economies start to rebuild from the calamity of 2020, smart organizations will look to measure reputation, their contribution to society, the strength of their purpose, and, of course, how much communication and PR supported and drove the company’s objectives. There is plenty of help to those starting on this journey. Use of the AMEC framework will continue to climb significantly.
Steve Cody
Research organizations will have to fight hard to regain our industry’s trust. Mega brand name researchers such as Harris, Gallup and MorningConsult (not to mention their academic brethren at Marist and Quinnipiac) will have a LOT of explaining to do to corporate and agency clients in the wake of their second-straight complete miss in predicting the winners of national, state and local elections.
While CCOs and CMOs will still rely heavily on Big Data (remember when BD was the bright shiny object du jour?), they will increasingly insist on a qualitative overlay to quant trends.
And they will INSIST on knowing the answer to the question Why? before signing off on a new campaign. Quant’s big failing is its inability to keep diving deeper and deeper to answer why someone thinks, acts and feels the way they do.
MEDIA
Annie Gudorf, VP and Partner, Walker Sands
Humility and relationship building are only going to become more important. COVID-19 wreaked havoc on newsrooms. In a matter of days, reporters were pulled off their regular beats to cover the pandemic. And as the pandemic has continued, many newsrooms have made staff cuts.
Reporters are tired and tasked to do more than when 2020 started. If PR pros want to be successful in telling their stories via media, they’ll need to recognize reporters are people first. Reporters are going through this as we all are. That means checking in with them to see how they’re doing and getting to know them and their coverage. How has it changed since the pandemic started? With less time but more stories to cover, communicators need to emphasize relationship building more than ever in 2021.
Karen Mateo, CCO, PRSA
Among many devastating results of the COVID-19 pandemic was further consolidation in media, the demise of several important news outlets across the country and the loss of thousands of journalism jobs.
At a time when credible information from trusted local sources is more important than ever, the consequences of these unfortunate events will have a lasting impact on maintaining an informed pubic. There’s much we can do as communication professionals to support journalists as we reimagine how to build those relationships remotely and present story ideas that are well researched, offer diversity in thought and provide high-quality sources and visual assets.
Brand storytelling across owned media channels will also be more important than before.
Michael Smart
Further consolidation of digital native media (Buzzfeed and the HuffPo merger) means additional splintering. Journalists departing traditional and new-media outlets will be starting smaller sites and even Substack newsletters–media relations pros need to follow them there.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Rick Gould
The PR M&A field was going strong in 2020 until everything stopped on March 16. From March 16-May 31 there was virtually no activity. Activity resumed June 1, but buyers are very cautious, concerned about a loss of revenue if a second pandemic wave results in a major threat to budgets.
The good news is there are buyers with substantial war chests for the right strategic acquisition. In addition, sellers must be realistic about the valuation of their firm and willing to share in any downside during the buyout period via the earn-out model used in almost all M&A transactions. Healthcare, Crisis and Public Affairs specialties are in high demand, as well as the always needed Digital, which is selling at a premium.
REGULATION
Allison Fitzpatrick
In 2021, the FTC will update its Endorsement Guides. They will focus on kid influencers, consumer reviews, affiliate marketers and how to make effective disclosures on TikTok. And,
after four years of craziness, most of us are going to take a break from our Twitter feed and read a book or two.
Michael Lamp
As we collectively turn the page on 2020, there’s a sort of Joy Void forming. While news of viable vaccines spurs optimism, there’s still a sense of anxiety dominating consumer sentiment on social. Nearly half (40 percent) of consumers already are turning to brands to help fill this Joy Void during the holiday season—through virtual gatherings and general feel-good inspiration, according to Twitter data.
As brands fine-tune social and influencer strategies for 2021, this consumer mindset must remain central to content planning. How do we create (largely virtual) moments to not only connect with our audiences, but perhaps more importantly, help them connect with those they care about most? Expect virtual reality and experiential social (livestreaming, collaborative content) to drive these efforts.
Bob Pearson, Founder & Chair, The Next Practices Group
In a world where TikTok star Charli D’Amelio reaches 10 times the audience of CNN prime time on election night, it’s obviously time to find new ways to reach our audience worldwide. Gaming and message platforms each reach about 3 billion people and their audience is growing rapidly.
Gaming is the new family room. We will learn how to become relevant via video, text, ecommerce and game mods. Imagine enabling a gamer to play Grand Theft Auto and fight racial injustice. Love the game, change the narrative.
Message platforms are the new newsroom. Imagine establishing a network of 1,000+ private groups in cities worldwide all receiving news or relevant content. More impactful than staring at a big screen in an airport. The only question: Who will lead the way, and when?
TECHNOLOGY
Gil Bashe
COVID-19 unleashed pent-up desires for efficiencies in a health system that’s historically resistant to change. Digital health will drive these changes at lightning speed–from access to providers to remote diagnostic tests to medical records. Game changers will be familiar power names, flexing their muscles to enter the three-trillion-dollar health sector.
Googlehas ability and credibility to smash obstacles to interoperability. Amazon will squeeze costly waste from an overextended drug supply chain. Apple will demonstrate clinical value as a frontline diagnostic assessment tool. Microsoft will change drug-development workflow and monitoring. These behemoths know how to integrate innovation, market to consumer expectations for personalized experience and address government cost-saving demands.
Annie Gudorf
Employees will demand more automation. This will have many practical benefits for PR pros. In 2021, we’ll start to see employees demand more automation in the workplace. Employees have heard the promise of automation for years, but most organizations haven’t delivered on that promise.
As employees get more comfortable with the technology and no longer fear automation, they’re going to start demanding their companies incorporate more tools that help automate parts of their work.
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
Felicia Blow
Challenge and opportunity will be on full display for associations and member organizations. How will associations deliver value to a more fractured, de-centralized, and interpersonally disconnected world? How can they embrace and pivot to a new normal through increased innovation, adaptability and using the speed of technology and innovation that their members so crave?
There already are predictions. First, associations that make so much revenue from conferences must adapt. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicts more than 50 percent of business travel will disappear in the pandemic’s aftermath. Social media companies and nimble competitors have affected engagement with member-based associations already.
Only the strong, well-organized, financially stable, and nimble/adaptable organizations will survive. Collaboration will be key, value-add will be critical and content/professional development surely will be king.