media update’s Adam Wakefield was there to hear what leading minds within the public relations and communications space had to say.

The conference, hosted at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg, was opened by outgoing PRISA president Thabisile Phumo. After welcoming delegates, Phumo spoke of the importance of raising the bar of public relations in Southern Africa, and why the industry needs the courage to redefine itself so it is fit for the future.

A central pillar of this redefinition is ethics within the industry.

“Unless we put the issue of ethics back on the agenda, we are doomed to fail as professionals and as an industry,” Phumo said.

It is a good time to be in public relations

The keynote speech was then delivered by Maxim Behar, president of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation. 

“There is a visible merge of the three main public communications all over the world; advertising, PR, and digital,” Behar said.

“A lot of people are asking the question 'who will be the leader of the future united business?' and a lot of people say advertising.”

However, in Behar’s eyes, it is PR experts who will be the leaders of the future united business, but it will not be public relations as we know it. The reason for that is because PR will create the content and clients will come to them to manage their reputations and handle crisis communications.

That being said, Behar mentioned three characteristics in PR that have not changed since PRISA’s founding 60 years ago. They are:
  • Ehics and integrity; 
  • Quality and measurability; and 
  • Speed.

Communication in business and thought leadership

Following a networking break, Sari-Liia Tonttila, managing director at Ahjo Communications Oy in Finland, was first to speak in the ICCO track. She addressed the topic of thought leadership, how it starts within the organisation, and how employees can be empowered to be their organisations’ biggest advocates.

Thought leadership is critical in this process, as it brings growth and is a continuous process.

The key message guides your actions and communications, which feeds into open dialogue, which feeds into getting recommendations from clients and influencers, which feeds into purpose and message, which feeds back into the key message guiding your actions and communications.

“Be prepared to be in contact and share knowledge tirelessly,” Tonttila said. “You have to be tireless to see possibilities and get lucky.”

The most successful employee advocacy stories are those where companies think it can help employees be thought leaders. Individuals are thought leaders, not companies, and if employees become thought leaders, the company will grow as a result.

Public relations is entering a period of growth, but challenges remain

The next speaker in the ICCO track was Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA and chief executive at the ICCO. He delivered a presentation on why the PR industry, as a whole around the world, is optimistic about its future prospects, but what factors, including those self-induced, are holding it back.

Based on research conducted by the ICCO, there are three factors driving growth, profitability, and optimism within the industry.

The first is that corporate reputation is increasingly valued by companies. The second is marketing spend is moving from expensive advertising campaigns and other marketing activities towards public relations. Third, is the merging of industries and PR offering non-traditional services, moving into other disciplines.

However, the most pertinent problems revealed by the research, based on thoughts of a number of agency heads around the world, and in order, were:
  • Staff retention;
  • Staff recruitment;
  • Financial pressure to meet profit and margin targets;
  • Economic conditions generally;
  • Competition from other marketing disciplines;
  • Clients unwilling to commit sufficient funds; and
  • Inability to effectively measure.

“We are blessed to work in a vibrant, dynamic industry of the future. Powerful now, and more powerful as every year goes by. We are working in an industry that is growing in every single region of the world and we are delivering work that chief executives increasingly value,” Ingham said.

However, for this to continue, PR has to address the issues holding it back, including investing in an evaluation, holding clients to agreed metrics of success, changing how they charge for their services, charging more for their services, paying their staff more, and hiring staff from diverse backgrounds.

Broad topics within public relations addressed ahead of Day Two

The second last event of the day saw a detailed panel discussion take place covering the five big changes in the PR landscape every business should know about. They are:
  • measurement/ROI;
  • ethics, crisis communication;
  • reputation; 
  • how to win; and 
  • retaining new business.

Bridget von Holdt, regional president of the ICCO, then closed out the day ahead of the PRISA AGM held later that evening.

In between, presentations were held on topics that ranged from the social representation of power in African female public relations leaders, personality types employers need to be aware of, to the logistics of elections media.

Other subjects such as reputation management, a leadership communication value chain model, storytelling as a tool for social innovation, and why authentic communication breeds authentic brands were also covered in an information-packed day for delegates.

Day one of the PRISA Conference set the stage for day two, where topics such as ethics, managing news in digital media, business innovation through brand communication, digital transformation in public relations, 10 changes that will affect the future of PR, and future proofing PR will be discussed.

For more information, visit prisa.co.za.

The 20th edition of the PRISM Awards is taking place on Saturday. Read more about the venue in our article, The Park – House of Events on 7 are proud to host the 20th PRISM Awards.