✅ Monday briefing: The public relations economy
Media, technology and platforms, artificial information, and tools
Sector media has noted a slowdown in the agency market and broader public relations industry.
Organisations are cautious about spending. Decisions are being delayed and postponed. The economics of running an agency have become more challenging. The pressure on talent has shifted to skills. Payment terms are being extended.
PRovoke’s Arun Sudhaman calls it a "secret slowdown.” His analysis reflects the natural optimism of public relations practitioners in the face of a challenging situation.
Agency bosses and in-house communication directors need to be realistic about the second half of the year. At this point, annual 20/20 plans (20% growth and 20% margin) are fiction.
The real paradox for the public relations profession is how it helps organisations reconcile the expectation of growth with environmental and broader ESG concerns while growing itself.
There is always opportunity. Sudhaman identifies "stakeholder concerns, whether geopolitics, diversity and inclusion, ESG, employee engagement, health and wellness, or workplace transformation."
I'd add artificial intelligence (AI) advisory. Policy, reputation and risk are all the domains of public relations. Also, brand proposition, plus creativity and sales, however, this is also an example of the growth versus green paradox.
Sarah Waddington CBE recently wrote about the opportunities the current economic conditions are creating in the agency market. Smaller agencies are seeking larger platforms. Larger agencies are looking for the opportunity to invest and develop in new markets.
Let us know if we can help your team with business planning or skills. Have an excellent week.
Media
🗞 AI NEWSROOM BOOM: A World Association of News Publishers survey reports that newsroom leaders are spearheading the deployment of AI in newsrooms. Management, rather than individual journalists, are driving adoption in almost half of all newsrooms. Read more. (Source: Andrew Bruce Smith, Press Gazette).
⚠️ AN AI WARNING: Meanwhile ex-Google safety lead Arjun Narayan has highlighted concerns over AI-generated news articles. He raised issues related to low-quality content and errors and called for greater AI transparency and accountability. Read more. (Source: Andrew Bruce Smith, Gizmodo).
🎙️ PODCAST BOOM: The Podcast Show highlighted the changing landscape of journalism. Podcasts are being used to build direct relationships with readers. Producers emphasised using video clips, catchy titles, and avoiding long lead-ins. Read more. (Source: Alan Morrison, Press Gazette).
Technology and platforms
📷 INSTAGRAM EXPLAINER: Instagram uses different rankings in each part of the app. An explainer makes sense of the Feed, Stories, Explore, Reels and Search algorithms. Read more. (Source: Alan Morrison, Instagram).
🔍 NEWS BUBBLE CHALLENGED: A study challenges the narrative that algorithms create filter bubbles. It suggests that Google users choose to engage with more partisan news than they are exposed to via search. Read more. (Source: Andrew Bruce Smith, Nature).
💻 DIGITAL DIRECT: Google has updated its marketing playbook to address increasing privacy concerns. It suggests a focus on building direct relationships and first-party data. Read more. (Source: Alan Morrison, Think with Google).
🚩 META PRIVACY FINE: Meta (formerly Facebook) has received a $1.3 billion fine from the EU for privacy violations. Facebook transferred the data of EU citizens to the US in violation of GDPR legislation. It must end US storage and halt EU data transfers. Read more. (Source: Neil Patterson, Search Engine Land).
🔮 NEXT-GENERATION SEARCH: The co-founder of DeepMind predicts a ten-year shift from keyword-based search to fluent natural language interactions. Google currently rewards engagement, not answers, said Mustafa Suleyman. Read more. (Source: Andrew Bruce Smith, Search Engine Land).
🐦 TWITTER DISINFORMATION: Twitter has withdrawn from the EU's voluntary disinformation code. The code prevents profiteering from disinformation and fake news, increases transparency, and stops bots and spam. Read more. (Source: Catherine Arrow, BBC News).
Artificial Information
🔧 AI TOOLS TESTED: Editing, translation, transcription, media analysis and creative brainstorming are all practical applications of AI tools, according to FINN. It urges practitioners to familiarise themselves with the benefits and pitfalls of AI tools to gain a competitive advantage. Read more. (Source: Stephen Waddington, FINN).
❌ AI OVERSTATED: According to academic and AI sceptic Rodney Brooks, AI performance is being confused with competence. He said that large language models predict what an answer should sound like but do not provide facts or create knowledge. Read more. (Source: Andrew Bruce Smith, IEEE Spectrum).
Tools
📊 ANALYTICS MIGRATION WOE: Analytics expert Simo Ahava is critical of Google’s migration from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. The new platform is overly complicated and Google has failed to engage its previously loyal community. Read more. (Source: Andrew Bruce Smith, Simo Ahava's blog).
👥 LINKEDIN BUYER INTENT: LinkedIn has enhanced Sales Navigator with additional buyer intent signals. A new account hub prioritises accounts based on activity on the platform. Read more. (Source: Alan Morrison, LinkedIn).
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