✅ The role of the practitioner as activist and community-builder
Corporate communications, public relations, media and management insight
Back to Basics - Culture, Community and Creativity was the theme of PRAXIS in Pune that took place this weekend. It’s one of the biggest annual meetings of public relations practitioners in the world that takes place in India each year.
Community is an important public relations strategy. It enables an organisation to bring together a group of stakeholders around a cause aligned to a common set of values. Social and owned media are often used as platforms. The outcome is empowerment, influence and change.
The alignment between community and public relations was set out by Dean Kruckeberg and Kenneth Starck in 1998 in their book Public Relations and Community. The Cluetrain Manifesto, published around the same time, went further and made the case that communities can be both activist and economic forces.
PRAXIS heard inspiring examples of communities used to address societal polarisation, misinformation and drive culture change.
In her keynote, Sarah Waddington CBE shared examples of organisations using communities to bring people together to create understanding and change at a societal level.
She spoke about Worlds Apart, a campaign created by Heineken to bring people with polar opposite views together over a beer.
She also referenced the UN Women-convened and Unilever-backed Unstereotype Alliance, which seeks to empower individuals to become 'upstanders, not bystanders, ' against stereotypical behaviour, aiming to create a more equal world.
Communities can equally be focussed on internal stakeholders. Bruno Tourne, Head of Corporate Communications, Sanofi, built an internal employee community of 2024 Olympic volunteers from 54 countries at the Paris Olympics. The community promoted values of inclusion and the relationship between science and sport.
Practitioners are also using community engagement to act as activists and a force for change within the industry itself. Sarah highlighted the examples of the Asian Communications Network, People Like Us, and Socially Mobile.
The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), the voice of public relations consultancies around the world is tackling climate change through a UN initiative. It is creating a series of member-led campaigns and activations to mobilise climate action.
President Grzegorz Szczepański said that the role of the ICCO community raised awareness of the role of communication as a factor in the climate crisis among practitioners and in wider society.
Brenda Darden Wilkerson, President and CEO of AnitaB.org, a community for women working in technology, called on all practitioners to use their voices within their own communities. But you need to pick your fights and think hard about the battles that you engage in, she said.
Ultimately, finding personal purpose and your own community should drive every practitioner with a recognition that it is a journey, not a destination and that it can change along the way.
Have a great week.
Management
😊 JOY AS A STRATEGY: Kamala Harris and Taylor Swift are redefining power and influence by embracing a strategy built on joy, optimism, and authenticity. This approach, particularly resonating with women and young voters, has shown success in fundraising and community building, challenging traditional leadership paradigms in politics and entertainment. Source: PRovoke.
🚨 BURNOUT ALERT: Mental Health UK's 2024 report reveals one in five UK workers took time off due to stress-related poor mental health last year. The report offers recommendations for both employees and employers looking to address burnout, emphasising the need for organisations to create mentally healthy workplaces amidst social and technological changes. Source: Sarah Waddington.
Industry
🎙 PODCAST RETURNS: The Wadds Inc. Better Business Outcomes podcast is back. In this first episode, we discuss Socially Mobile and our 25 for 2025 campaign; download key insights from the recent PRCA Conference and dive into the latest Ofcom News Consumption in the UK report. Source: Wadds Inc.
📢 CHARITY COMMS CHALLENGES: UK charities face complex challenges, but strategic communications can level the playing field in the £88 billion sector. A report by Strike sets out how this approach helps charities overcome resource limitations, visibility issues, and trust-building challenges, emphasising the importance of clear brand identity, transparency, and creative engagement to achieve long-term success. Source: Strike Communications.
🌿 GREEN SCRUTINY: The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has issued guidance for fashion retailers on complying with the Green Claims Code, warning of potential fines up to 10% of worldwide turnover for breaches. The guide, applicable to various businesses in the supply chain, emphasises the importance of accurate and transparent environmental claims in marketing. Source: CMA.
🏛 GOVT COMMS INNOVATION: The Government Communication Service has published three new guides focusing on innovation strategy, ethical innovation and generative AI usage in government communications. The resources provide practical guidelines for practitioners to ethically harness new technologies, encouraging innovation while maintaining high standards in government communications across various sectors. Source: GCS.
AI
🤖 LINKEDIN AI OPT OUT: LinkedIn has updated its User Agreement and Privacy Policy to include users' public data for AI training, with an opt-out option available. This move aligns with other social platforms' practices, raising questions about data privacy and the extent of historical information already used in AI models. Source: Social Media Today.
🛠️ TOOLS REPORT: Edelman's 2024 AI Landscape Report evaluates over 180 AI vendors for marketing and communication teams across three solution categories: LLMs, creative and social listening. It’s not exhaustive but aims to help decision-makers identify enterprise-ready AI tools through rigorous, unbiased assessment of vendor capabilities and readiness. Source: Edelman.
👥 AI FOR AGENCIES: Publicis Pro’s Billy Hamilton-Stent and Jon Lonsdale shared insights on integrating AI into PR agency workflow on a recent PR Moment Podcast. Otto, the agency's AI tool, has improved efficiency and increased profits, but the duo stressed the importance of cultural collaboration and selective implementation rather than viewing AI as a cure-all solution. Source: PR Moment.
📊 PR TOOL TRENDS: Prowly's State of PR Technology 2024 Report reveals growing challenges in the industry, including tighter budgets, lack of media monitoring and difficulty demonstrating value. The report highlights a significant increase in concerns about AI removing the human touch in public relations, rising from 56.1% in 2023 to 80% in 2024, while offering insights on leveraging technology and AI to maximise ROI. Source: Prowly.
Media
🇬🇧 LONDON NEWSLETTER LAUNCH: As The Evening Standard ceases its print edition this week, Jim Waterson leaves The Guardian in the latest round of redundancies to start his own London newsletter. London Centric will charge £79.50 per year for original reporting on the capital. Source: Press Gazette.
📉 OBSERVER SALE PENDING: The Guardian Media Group reported a £36.5m deficit for 2023/24, despite growth in digital reader revenue, due to declining print and advertising income. In response, the company is considering selling The Observer to Tortoise Media and focusing on becoming more global, digital, and reader-funded. Source: Press Gazette.
Thank you to Slavina Dimitrova, Catherine Frankpitt, Michael Greer, Andrew Bruce Smith, Alan Morrison and Sarah Waddington CBE and everyone who shares and debates the stories in the newsletter via our Facebook community. You‘d be welcome to join us.