Smoke Signal, A Public Relations Podcast

It is PR Measurement Month! This year, we speak renowned measurement leader and author Mark Weiner. Here’s a bit about Mark to set the scene: His latest book PR Technology, Data and Insights was named one of the top three PR books for 2022. He is a member of the exclusive Arthur Page SocietyThe Institute for Public Relations  awarded him Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018He is a member of the PR News all of FameThis year our theme builds on the Public Relations Institute of Australia 2023 Conference theme Ignite to Spark. For Mark his ‘spark’ in many ways came down to a sign he saw outside a coffee shop in California – Begin Simply, Simply Begin. This neatly frames Mark’s advice on measurement and evaluation of PR: there are so many obstacles and challenges but begin simply, simply begin and learn as you go.For Mark, the key to proving the value of PR is to understand the priorities and preferences of the people who make the budgeting decisions and from there identifying what metrics matter. Often, communicators assume they know what the executive want without asking them directly. Mark puts it like this: “You are three quarters of the way home if you negotiate properly, understand what is meaningful to them, what is measurable and what is reasonable Once you have that you eliminate a lot of obstacles and traps.”Mark talks through how using a marketing mix model, bringing in data from all disciplines, can be the way to talk the language of business. In Mark’s experience, advertising gets 70% of the budget and delivers approximately $1.10 in terms of sales; price promotion gets 28% and these loses 25 cents on the dollar; PR gets the remaining 2% of budget and delivers $8 on every dollar. Where is the PR for that! One of the symptoms of not properly measuring is that PR hasn’t earned the trust of executives in the C Suite. And if you’re ever asked about the value of PR again, here’s a quote to shoot back across the boardroom table:“PR is the only form of marketing communication that lifts all boats. So when PR, when earned media coverage in particular, is positive and prominent, sales are easier and advertising works better. And the alternate is true, when the news is prominent and negative, it creates harm.”

In this episode I am joined by Dan Wilcock, Sustainability and Governance Manager for the UN Global Compact Network Australia.The UN Global Compact Network may be the biggest movement you haven't heard of. A special initiative initially set up by then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, it is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, and take action in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.With more than 18,000 companies across 160 countries, it is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. In this discussion we take a dive into all the different terms out there - greenwashing, bluewashing, whitewashing,  green hushing – and what they really mean for PR and comms professionals.Dan wraps all these terms up into the neat package of ESG-washing and says the reason we are seeing more of this now is that there has been a real increase in appetite for ESG information and that is coming from every direction – customers, employees, boards, supply chain partners, finance providers – all these groups now have an active interest in what a business is doing on ESG. This has been accompanied by a rise of misinformation. An online sweep or corporate websites by ACCC put it at more than half of businesses had made concerning claims about their environmental credentials. For Dan there’s a spectrum from puffery through to outright fabrication, with the majority being sloppiness and hyperbole – which doesn’t excuse it. The UN Global Compact Network just completed a series of consultations with the Australian business community on ESG which found:We’re in a transition period, there is a lot happening very fast. Businesses need to upskill and likely mistakes will be made.Businesses are consumers too. A third of businesses they spoke to had also fallen victim to greenwashingReporting and disclosure is very much in flux – there’s a way to go for organisations to streamline data gathering, and delivery of the right narrative93 percent of our respondents said green hushing had been considered as a potential approach as a result of the attention that it's getting right now.The business community is looking for more detailed guidance from regulators. (Check this guidance from ACCC giving eight principles for trustworthy environmental and sustainability claims)For Dan it is about developing a bit of confidence, closing the capacity gap and being informed - businesses should not fear regulatory action from making legitimate and truthful environmental and sustainability claims.And why does all this matter? Because business will only get harder for companies that aren't aware of their impact and aren't transparent about their impact.

In this episode of Smoke Signal, I am joined by Scott Brinker, a.k.a Chief Martech, author of the Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic. Scott is in the envious position where is hobby and passion has become his career and vice versa. First launched in 2011 with 150 tools, the latest 2023 version, released last month, featured an unbelievable 11,038 tools and technologies. This exponential rise in Martech is mirrored in Commtech.“Everything that marketing does is now connected or driven or powered some way by something digital but that was not always the case,” Scott says. “Back in the day, even senior marketing executives we're highly dubious about tech.  “That is where the Martech Map was conceived, to show marketers the range of different software that was probably already being used in their organisation… and there’s a lot of them.”Scott sees both supply and demand factors leading to this significant growth over the years. “Technology has essentially have lowered the barriers to entry. If someone has an idea for what they believe is going be a valuable software tool for marketers, they can get into the market with it. “But there's the other side of this too. I can't think of any other profession that has gone through so much change and so much expansion of scope over this past decade… So marketers as a result, are always open to  technology that's going to help.“There's this symbiosis where there are lots of Marchech startups a year to tackle these new challenges, and a lot of demand among marketers to figure out how do we how do we do this.It is not a podcast in 2023 without speaking about AI. So what impact with AI have on this Martech Map?“It is  going to be incredibly disruptive to the existing Martech Map because I do think  a lot of things are going to change. One of the things AI is doing in the software world is yet another thing to dramatically reduce the barrier to entry. “Generally, I do not know. I am absolutely fascinated to see how this plays out. But I feel pretty confident it's going to be a lot of change in this industry.”

PR Futurist Stuart Bruce features in this episode of Smoke Signal Podcast, sharing his insight on how tech is impacting the practice of public relations.Regardless of what you call it - CommTech, CommsTech, PRTech, one thing is clear, technology is impacting the practice of public relations at an exponential rate. Whether it is to enhance, augment, make us more efficient, there seems to be an app, website or tool for every aspect of our role.The challenge we face though, as Stuart points out, is that PR professionals are notoriously slow at embracing technology. There is a list of examples - blogs, social media, SEO – where we’ve been late to the party.Referencing a quote from long-serving Microsoft communication professional Tom Murphy, at a conference at which Stuart was in the audience: “PR people don’t need to worry about big data because they haven’t even mastered small data yet.” That was circa 2005 and for Stuart believes it is still very much true today.Stuart gives listeners a first exclusive insight into a yet-to-be-released global survey his firm Purposeful Relations has just completed into attitudes of PR people to tech. It finds around 40% of people are using excel to manage contacts = further evidence PR people don’t embrace tech. Talk about CommTech naturally falls into discussing AI and the launch of ChatGPT which has brought the role of technology in PR to the fore. Stuart is astounded by the varying degree of different attitudes when it comes to AI with some at a peak of inflated expectations and others in a trough of disillusionment (citing the ICCO survey that found 25% of PR leaders say they will never use AI).While ChatGPT has been grabbing the headlines, looking forward, Stuart is most excited about the launch of Microsoft Copilot – the integration of AI into the day-to-day tools we are all using presents a phenomenal opportunity for PR professionals… The flip side of that is if you look at how most people us Word, PowerPoint or Excel, they can’t even use the basic features. The challenge (and opportunity) for PR professionals is two-fold: using CommTech and AI to improve what you are doing – make it faster, better, easier; and on the others side it is really understanding the ethical implications  and being knowledgeable enough to advise your organisation on where and how to use AI. Here, Stuart suggests taking a look at the Aletheia Framework which was developed by Rolls Royce as an open-source toolkit for assessing ethical issues and trustworthiness in using AI within an organisation.As a PR futurist, Stuart knows it is way too difficult to predict the future. Especially in the case of AI which, as Bill Gates says in this letter, is as big an innovation as the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone. But what he does know is that as PR professionals we need to stay up to date, we have to experiment, and we must keep an open mind about doing things differently.

It is only February and it almost feels like we can already call it – 2023 will be the year of AI.It has been impossible not to get caught up in the ChatGPT tsunami that has made headlines, swamped social media feeds and seemingly replaced the weather as the most popular piece of small talk before meetings.Not to add to the deluge, but rather to cut through the hype and the noise, in this episode I speak to UK based digital and data PR expert Andrew Bruce Smith. Andrew is Chair of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations AI in PR Panel and in this episode he tells us that in the past two months there’s been over a quarter of a million media articles on ChatGPT globally and over five million social media impressions. It certainly has certainly enjoyed a charmed PR run.AI has been the next big thing for the last decade. And on November 30 last year that actually came true, literally overnight, with the launch of ChatGPT. PR and comms professionals have been obsessed by how ChatGPT can write but Andrew explains the use cases go far beyond content – it can be a media trainer, plan crisis comms scenarios or be our research assistant.And while it has captured the headlines and made everyone pay attention, Andrew is quick to point out that ChatGPT is just one of a universe of AI tools that have the potential to transform the role of PR and communications. He recommends practitioners check out https://futuretools.io/ - a free online searchable database of AI tools to help you explore the many different AI tools that may be of use in your role.Andrew makes a point that seems to have been missed in the noise surrounding ChatGPT. If we truly believe PR is not just about communication, that is, not just what organisations say, but more importantly what organisations do, then the role of the PR professional in this AI world is two-fold: we need to understand the opportunity for using these tools in our role as communicators, and also, perhaps more importantly, the reputational, moral and ethical implications for organisations using these technologies.While welcoming the introduction of ChatGPT as marking the democratisation of AI. Andrew is also quick to caution about the ethical challenges, warning that it is clear all these amazing technologies can be good or bad with the ease at which misinformation and disinformation can be weaponised being quite scary.Will AI transform PR, and our organisations, or just be another tool in the kit bag of PR professionals? Andrew gives shares his views in what no doubt will be an ongoing discussion and debate for a long time to come

Most PR practitioners are used to managing issues. In fact, many thrive most when they are in the midst of a major crisis. But what about war? That is the situation that has faced Julia Petryk, Head of PR at MacPaw, since Russia invaded Ukraine at the start of 2022.MacPaw, is a software development company that has apps installed on one in every 5 Mac computers worldwide.  It has 30 million users and 500 staff with its headquarters being in Kyiv, Ukraine.“PR as a business function is so critical and when you’re facing difficulties like a war it is becomes so obvious…. I would like to inspire others –even though they may not work under such stressful conditions - that PR does matter.” Creating the PR ArmyThe Ukrainian PR Army was formed on day one of the invasion with the single aim of using our weapon for fighting for truth – the word. Since then it has been fighting against Russian propaganda, fighting misinformation and fighting for truth. “With the PR Army we found the most effective way of fighting for truth is by giving access to the truth – through eyewitnesses, and through experts.”Working from the bathtubDuring air raid attacks, Ukrainians are advised to go to a bomb shelter. If it is not possible then they work in hallways or bathrooms – as they don’t have windows.To bring much deserved attention to this stark reality faced by Ukrainians today a mock creative agency has been created - Bathtub Creative as a communication campaign to raise awareness and funds.The power of purposeJulia is working under such stressful conditions yet maintains motivated to do so much because of an underlying alignment of purpose in what she is doing.“I am doing everything that I do for my very selfish goal that my grandchildren have the option to live in Ukraine. I want to preserve my country for future generations for the future. It really drives me and gives me so much energy.”How can we help? Julia calls any and all help appreciated. She urges people to check out the Ukrainian PR Army and the Bathtub Creative website, visit the MacPaw Foundation and if you can donate time, expertise, money – resources are desperately needed.And here is a very heartfelt thank you from the people of Ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=PqYSGrGz6HU

It is November so that means one thing – it is AMEC Measurement Month. In conjunction with The Public Relations Institute of Australia this episode features an in-depth discussion with measurement pioneer, Katie Paine.This year’s Measurement Month theme is Measure What Matters. Katie coincidentally wrote a book by that same title way back in 2011 and says what matters today as a communication professional is that you are making a difference to the bottom line in a way that senior leadership expects you to contribute. That doesn’t necessarily mean making a sale, it may be increasing credibility or increasing trust. The big ah ha moment that set Katie on her lifelong measurement journey was the realisation that communication people speak in words and everyone else speaks in numbers; so our job is to translate it.How do we do that? Katie suggests starting with something concrete. A product launch, an event, something that has a specific measurable goal, and a project you can carve out and measure the impact of communication on the business goals. A week before the launch, sign up for a free trial of a media listening tool, use Google Forms to do a survey right before and right after the initiative.  Measure something very discrete and concrete that doesn’t take a long time to set up. Show those to metrics to senior leadership and you will get funded for your next project.The good news today, according to Katie, is that measurement is much more sophisticated with the combination of media analysis, survey research, web analytics, social analytics coming together in an integrated dashboard where practitioners able to show how they are doing relative to the organisational objectives. Check out The Communication Dividend as an Australian innovation doing just this.Listen to this podcast even if your eyes glaze over at the thought of measurement as Katie has a great turn of phrase. Here’s a few of my favourite from our chat:Measurement is the vaccine for the stupid stuff - the advantage of having measures of success based on goals and objectives is that you can say this decision gets made based on our business objectives;Analyse your data from the worst to the best - you find out more from failure than you do from success so be sure to find out what didn’t work;The problem with AVEs or impression is they give big numbers that confuse the c-suite…  they are like sperm, lots of them out there but very few of them do what they are intended to do;I think the biggest mistake PR people have done with measurement is saying look how well I have done and insisting on all the charts going up and to the right;Don’t tell people what you think they want to hear, tell them what they need to hear. Do it in a way that cuts through all the charts and number. You are storytellers, tell a story with the data.After three decades writing and speaking on measurement and evaluation, Katie hopes that we can start to spend less time worrying about how to set up and do measurement and more time actually using the data to find insight and give better advice. The problem in the past was getting the data, today there is no shortage of data, there is a shortage of insights. Practitioners need to dive into the data to find the ‘ah ha’ moments.

In this episode of Smoke Signal I continue to take a deep dive into climate communications. I am joined by Belinda Noble, who is President and Founder of Comms Declare – an Australian coalition across the communication, marketing, media and advertising sectors united to drive positive climate action.“Comms Declare wants marcomms to be respected and trusted... We want people’s talents to be used to promote solutions that make the world a better place… Our end game is to make fossil fuels as socially unacceptable as tobacco” - Belinda Noble, Founder Comms Declare  Belinda first took up arms against the role of PR and communications in promoting fossil fuel clients post the Black Friday Bushfires in 2019. She decided it was time for action and founded Comms Declare which today is very much part of a global push to call out the PR, marketing and advertising  sectors for their role in helping shape the climate change debate. The focus on the PR sector in particular has gained significant momentum over the past year:Edelman – the world’s largest independent PR agency - handed a petition at the time of COP26 calling on it to resign all fossil fuel clients A US Congressional hearing was held earlier this year into the role of public relations firms in preventing climate action with an accompanying a report detailing "deceptive" and "misleading" tactics they use for their client campaigns. And just in recent weeks the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres used a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York to call out the “public relations machine raking in billions to shield the fossil fuel industry from scrutiny” Comms Declare recently released a report that quantified the impact of the PR, comms and advertising industry on climate change. The F-List named GRACosway as the PR/Lobbyist agency responsible for the highest volume of scope 3 emissions – that is the emissions of their clients, which include the likes of Santos, BHP, and Glencore – totalling 20,612,667 tonnes of CO2 equivalent  which is on par with Kenya.In this discussion, we discuss one of the key issues and challenges for PR practitioners – greenwashing: that is providing misleading, or outright false, information about the impact a company is having on the environment. Comms Declare is tackling that head on and calling out culprits such as: Santos which is currently being taken to court to prove its claims to be reaching net zero by 2040; Ampol for claiming to offer a carbon neutral fuel; and Glencore’s recent brand campaign titled “Advancing Everyday Life” - which Belinda explains is co-opting all the imagery of the renewable industry but does not mention their main commodity, coal – as just a few of the many examples So we would see that as greenwashing as well. “When it comes to green claims, and particularly emissions, which is so serious and the implications of inaction are so hideous and almost can’t be contemplated  to be leaving out half the picture and putting yourself forward as an environmentally friendly company I would say is quite a misrepresentation of the facts... No one is perfect and no one is expecting perfection but if you say you are going to hit net zero you better."

In this episode we are tackling the climate crisis. We are six months on from COP26, where the outcome didn’t match the hype. Australia’s State of the Environment report has just been released and generated world headlines for the grim picture it painted and the environmental challenges facing Australia. And we are seeing an energy crisis globally as we struggle to agree how to a transition to renewables.Against this backdrop we take a timely and much needed deep dive into the role of the PR industry in helping to inform, educate and navigate this global climate crisis.Joining me in this episode is UK -based practitioner Laura Sutherland. Laura has over a decade experience working in the sustainability, environment and climate sector and is founder of Aura Advisory, a strategic communication and advisory consultancy dedicated to helping organisations accelerate to a sustainable future.Laura is also a member of the UK industry body PRCA’s Climate Misinformation and Climate Change Strategy Group which has just released its second annual research report exploring the attitudes and perceptions of practitioners – as well as consumers - towards the climate crisis. The research confirms that climate, environmental and ESG issues are quickly becoming an increasing part of our role as strategic communicators:More than 9 out of ten (96%) of PR professionals now advise their clients and colleagues to understand the climate crisis and how they can effectively communicate the part they play - up from 82% last yearAlmost half (45%) have noticed their clients or organisation attempting to greenwash, however 89% have pushed back on this and 57% managed to change the approach as a resultAlmost all (97%) said they have taken action to address the climate crisis but only 48% measure their carbon footprint71% of consumers say they would stop buying from a brand if they knew it had misled its customers about having a positive environmental impact57% of the general public don’t know the outcome of COP26 and a third (33%) felt the agreements made at the conference didn’t affect themThere are so many aspects of climate change and in this discussion we get into a range of areas: the ethics of working for organisations not doing the right thing for the environment; the call for integrating climate change and sustainability within the school syllabus; the risk of professional communicators pushing ‘spin” and getting lost in what Tony Jacques aptly described as “the conga-line of initiatives and their snappy acronyms”; and the role of Government versus business in the climate debate.

July 16 is World PR Day  – a day dedicated to recognising and celebrating public relations and communication. Yes even PR needs PR.I am joined by one of the committee members responsible for organising World PR Day, Enitan Kehinde, for a Q&A on the initiative, the events and how practitioners can get involved.“PR is a very important practice across the world, across businesses and across governments, so it is time for us to prioritise PR…. Our goal is for practitioners across the world to answer the call of duty to help people, companies, government communicate more honestly and responsibly.”  - Enitan KehindeThe theme of World PR Day 2022 is Trust, Truth and Transparency with a number of headline initiatives to mark the occasion:#MyPRStory - PR professionals are encouraged to share their own personal experiences from their journey in the PR industryPR Bible – development of a crowdsourced wikipedia with all the best PR resources from across the world.A fireside chat on twitter spaces – with global PR leaders discussing this year’s theme Enitan, who was recognized as one of the 40 under 40 women in marketing communications in Nigeria, also shares her impressive #MyPRStory, including leading the establishment of Nigerian PR agency bhm’s UK office and founding a network to support young women in PR and communication.Get involved in World PR Day by telling your #MyPRStory, join the conversation on socials #WPRD  or take The PR Pledge.

Shane Allison and I always enjoy a robust discussion and in this episode we dive into two areas that we are both passionate about – the role of professional industry associations and the uptake of CommTech across the PR sector.It is just over 100 days since Shane took on the role of President of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) and he has certainly hit the ground running: rolling out a 2022 Member Program; unveiling a number of working groups to address key issues impacting the industry right now - such as the skills shortage and diversity and inclusion; and advocating for a name change to better reflect the changing nature of the profession.While we disagree on the need for such a change, Shane is committed to setting solid foundations, ensuring members get tangible value from the PRIA, and driving long term growth. “I am a huge believer in the role of the PRIA to champion for our industry, to support our profession and to recognise the great work we do.” - Shane Allison. Equally passionate about CommTech, Shane this week will present at Mumbrella CommsCon in a session titled:  Challenges, Pitfalls and Opportunities of Building your CommTech Stack.In this discussion, Shane gives us an insight into some of those challenges and opportunities; calling out the industry for being “scared” of automation when in fact we should be embracing it as a way to both help us achieve better outcomes and freeing up valuable time and resources.While you are here, take a read of the Commtech User Guide that Shane developed to help PR professionals on their CommTech journey.

At its core public relations is reputation management. Building, protecting and repairing brand reputations is what we do. Research shows that organisations with better reputations outperform their peers, better attract and retain talent, inspire deeper loyalty and develop louder advocates. A brand’s reputation is built by both what it does and what is says – making communication a fundamental building block of reputationIt is in that context that I picked up with interest the 2022 Global RepTrak 100  which ranks the corporate reputation of the world’s leading companies. In this episode I am joined by Oliver Freedman who heads up RepTrak in Australia and APAC to discuss all things reputation. In this report, which RepTrak describes as the definitive ranking and analysis of corporate reputation, the reputation research firm searches the globe for the world's best corporate reputation.At its core a good reputation is an emotional attachment that individuals have towards a company – the level of trust, admiration, respect and good feeling. Oliver talks through the seven drivers of reputation - products and services; innovation; financial performance; employee wellbeing; its citizenship in the community; corporate conduct and governance; and leadership - as well as some emerging themes from across the globe:ESG is only increasing in importance… the public is only becoming more disappointed. There is a desire – and a sense of expectation - from the community for companies to put the community in front of profits and drive real change…. But while there are a lot of commitments there remains growing disappointment that real change is not happening quicker.  Media and reputation are symbiotic. How news outlets discuss organisations impacts reputation, how corporate reputation is perceived impacts how news outlets discuss those organizations, and so on.You’re not competing against your competitors for attention, you’re competing with everyone, everywhere, all the time.  Gone are the days you compare performance against just your competitors; you’re not just competing with other companies, you are competing with politics, you are competing with COVID. It is about being smarter, using the right channels to reach the right audiences with the right content. So which brand has the best reputation in the world?  Surprisingly it is not the new and cool tech companies that may come first to mind. Rather the list features companies that have been around for many decades, but despite the world changing dramatically, have stayed true to who they. Many are also luxury brands - Rolex, Mercedes, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson – they are classic, but the innovate and they are aspirational.Take a listen to hear the who else makes the list and why.

It has been the communication story that has dominated the past 12 months – getting Australians vaccinated.Last month, we marked one year since the COVID-19 vaccination roll out started in Australia. While our vaccination rates are now among the highest in the world, a successful roll out was not always so certain.One person who has been deeply engaged with this communication challenge is Darren Behar who is Managing Partner at one of Australia’s largest independent consultancies – SenateSHJ. In this episode of Smoke Signal, Darren takes us back to that time 12 months ago when we’d emerged from the depths of 2020 hoping that 2021 was going to be the year we returned to normalcy. It didn’t pan out that way. Mixed messaging from Federal and State Government, competing narratives, and a rise in misinformation and disinformation saw the push to vaccinate start out, for lack of better words, in chaos.Darren explains that in the early days there was no playbook for facing such a big challenge. It was being made up on the run – and that was a challenge for everyone, not just communicators.While there was much confusion and complexity, it is at such a time that you need to go back to first principles: what is going to motivate individuals and communities and drive action?“Peers, friends, family and trusted organisations in our lives are more likely to motivate us to change our behaviour,” Darren says. “Grassroots communication was key to help those at the front line communicate with their communities and stakeholders directly.”While much of the attention was on the Government communication – no one will quickly forget the daily press briefings to announce case numbers – this was becoming increasingly challenging. Senate SHJ research found trust in Government deteriorated rapidly during the pandemic. While almost 60% said Government was effective at keeping them informed in 2020, 12 months later, just a third said Federal Government communication was influential in their behaviour – this at a time when they were trying to maintain COVID-safe behaviour and also get people vaccinated.This made creating a social movement at the grassroots vital in overcoming this distrust and the increasing amounts of misinformation. Darren explains this was achieved by bringing together five elements: Common Cause; Catalyst; Connection, Coordination and Conversation.There was also a need for more than one story and Darren sees three narratives that came together to help drive up vaccination rates:Duty: as a citizen this is the right thing to do for all Australians.Consequences: help open our borders quicker so we can travel and see family and friends; help open up the economy and get back to your local coffee shop.Responsibility: keep your family and community safe.In terms of the lessons to add to the playbook for the future. Darren has three for leaders (Government and business):We need to be transparent and a more authentic in our communication: do what we say we are going to do.We have to be prepared to acknowledge faults: fess up when you mess up. It is ok to be vulnerable.Stories and narratives matter: It took a while to get them right but when it worked it drove tangible change.

PR and journalism have a long and deep symbiotic relationship. So in this first episode of Smoke Signal for 2022 I thought it timely to take a deep dive into the current state of journalism and predictions on how the media industry will continue to evolve in the year ahead. The past two years has seen news media rise in importance and relevance as audiences turn to trusted sources for health and economic information. As we look forward to 2022 the question becomes what’s next?Senior Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Nic Newman has studied trends in media and journalism for over a decade. He has just released his latest research paper, Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2022 which looks at the state of the profession and the key challenges, and opportunities, for the year ahead. The research encompassed 246 senior editors and publishing leaders from over 52 countries, including a number of senior leaders in Australia. Here’s a few highlights from the report that we discussed in this podcast.Revenue models continue to evolveIn recent years revenue models have substantially changed. Where it used to be advertiser-focused it has shifted to be much more reader-lead in the form of subscriptions, memberships, donations and events. The wider adoption of subscription formats for music (i.e. Spotify) and entertainment (i.e. Netflix) has paved the way for news media to more actively adopt this model. However, there is a limit to  the  number of subscriptions people are willing to pay for, and Nic believes we are getting towards that limit. Generational divideA real challenge for publishers is being able to engage audiences of all ages. 95% of all digital news subscriptions are paid by those over 30 years old.Younger audiences consume news in very different ways. For example, those under 25 are unlikely to have brand loyalty; are more likely to be spending their time on social platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram etc; and they want convenience.The role of journalist becomes ever more challengingThere’s a lot of noise on the media industry being in crisis, but in fact 60% of media leaders in the survey said revenues had increased over the past year. Only 8 per cent said revenue had fallen. That reflects the rise in subscriptions revenue and the bounce back of digital advertising as advertisers look to back trusted media brands.Journalists on the front line are facing burnout - the relentless 24/7 news cycle; needing to work across ever more formats and outlets; and then on top of that the global pandemic and associated stress – addressing this is high on the media leader’s agenda for 2022.Big tech and mediaYou can’t talk media without talking big tech. While there has been much made of the recent revenue sharing agreements that Google and Facebook have made with publishers around the world over the past year, the trouble with these according to Nic is that there is not much transparency around the deals and it was mostly the big media companies getting the lions share of the money. This is not necessarily good for audiences; not good for innovation; not good for local news; and not good for competition. You also want to ensure media companies aren’t overly dependent on income from platforms as they need to be independent enough to robustly report on these same platforms.The take-out for comms professionalsSmart brevity. In this world where there are so many different choices and people are short of time, how can you get your point across quickly, effectively. Using the right format at the right time.

The global pandemic has fundamentally reshaped the communication profession, with communications becoming more materially important to the C-suite than ever before. So, as we look ahead to 2022, what does this mean for the role of corporate communicators?Research from Edelman in the US looks at exactly this question. The report – The Future of Corporate Communications   – was based on a survey of over 200 Chief Communication Officers across the US. In this episode, I am joined by co-author Geren Raywood, who gives us her take on some of the key opportunities, and challenges, facing communication professionals in the year ahead.On the role of Comms today: The strategic positioning of corporate communications within the organisation has fundamentally changed. The pandemic pushed the discipline forward in the way that any good crisis does - communicators had to be in the room to be able to help the c-suite to help maintain stakeholder engagement and brand reputation through the global pandemic. It provided a lot of opportunities to elevate the role of communications.On employee engagement: Employee communication has moved way up the agenda and this is not just a passing fad. The underlying issue is the social contract between employer and employee is changing... the fundamental expectation that employees have for the work experience, how an organisation treats them and how an organisation engages with the outside world is changing and the power dynamic is shifting. On organisations taking a view on societal issues: It is here to stay. 73% of CCOs say societal issues have changed their communication agenda in the past 12 months. That is huge.On measurement: There is increasing expectation from the business to prove results. Communicators are moving from counting the volume of communication or basic channel performance to measuring the impact of communication on behaviour. Are they moving audiences – whether external or internal – to do a certain action?On the role of the communicator: There’s been an expansion from just media relations or internal comms skills to teams needing to have advanced digital, advanced multimedia, brand PR, and increasingly today, data and analytics skills – the demand for communication has never been stronger.On CommsTech: The first challenge of CommsTech is defining CommsTech - The tools, tech and data that allow communicators to precisely target, measure and shape perceptions and behaviour at the individual level… Using AI, analytics and Natural Language Processing to mine insights and then apply those insights into communication strategy to reach an audience where they are.On the opportunity in 2022: The pandemic, for all its hardship and tragedy, has created this moment for communication to take centre stage in the organisation and claim its position as fundamental to business performance and business success. The number one item on the agenda in the coming year is not to lose that momentum – how do you institutionalise those changes made during the pandemic.

In this episode I speak with Tom Watson who is both an academic, currently emeritus professor in the Faculty of Media & Communication at Bournemouth University in England, and an esteemed author, writing about measurement and evaluation of communications for the past 30 years, including being co-author of three editions of the seminal textbook Evaluating Public Relations.Tom takes us back to the origins of PR measurement and evaluation; way back in fact to the first President of the United States, George Washington, who wanted to know what people thought of him – not too different to the goal of every politician today.Tom describes the global pandemic as the biggest ever communication measurement and evaluation scenario ever –the greatest data collection on behaviour change and attitudes we have ever seen. In many ways a golden age for communication measurement and evaluation because the outcome of communication has become so vitally important.Communication professionals are very good at words, narrative, creation of stories but in Tom’s words, we have to grow up and become adept handlers of data how to gather it, how to process it, and how to express it.“Gather the data anyway you can because any data is better than guesswork.”Tom points practitioners in the direction of a German Model called Communication Controlling which has at its core a goal to show the business value of communications – what was the impact on the strategic and financial targets of the organisation. To this end, Tom warns practitioners off using the term ROI, referring his research with Ansgar Zerfass -when management talk about ROI they are talking about return on employed capital, when communications talk about ROI we are talking to intangibles that can’t be added to the balance sheet. Even if we have one number – an AVE, for example, (which Tom describes as being a classic example of the statement of easy, simple and wrong) – it isn’t an amount that actually exists.Tom puts it simply - the idea of one metric is not reality. We have to have a portfolio of measurements – being both tangible and tangibles.This is the latest in a series of podcasts released during Measurement Month. Catch the other podcasts on this blog, on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.

November is Global Measurement Month, and in association with the Public Relations Institute of Australia, this month Smoke Signal Podcast will feature a series of episodes with global leaders in PR measurement, all under the theme of “reimagining measurement and evaluation”.In the next episode of the series I am joined from London by Allison Spray who is H+K Strategies Global Head of Data + Analytics as well as an International Board Director for AMEC.Allison describes measurement and evaluation as being like a tailored suit – there is no one size that fits all.  Every client is different, every business has different goals and measurement needs to reflect that reality.As part of her role with AMEC, Allison lead a working group for developing a PR planning Framework. For Allison, It all begins and ends with strategy – what do you want to happen and back track from there. “What is it you are trying to achieve and do the metrics I am tracking right now prove that I have done that – it is about thinking beyond what data I can collect easily and moving to what do I need to know.”The Global pandemic has seen everyone get a lot more fluent in the language of data and statistics – we have had to, it has been coming at us everyday. But data has been around a long time, however the scale of data we are talking about now is literally incomprehensible. Allison cites a fascinating statistic: by 2025 it is estimated humans will interact with data every 18 seconds – that makes data science, AI and engineering increasingly important for the future of communications but for many professionals big data seems miles away from what they are doing day to day.And Allison accepts that the volume of data makes traditional manual analysis almost impossible, rather what is coming is augmented analytics. The use of enabling technologies or machine learning to help analyse the data, making it digestible and helping practitioners get to the insight faster.Brandwatch, Signal AI and Quiid are all examples of technology and tools that, often with engaging visualisations, help make sense of the data. If Allison could change one thing, it would be that measurement doesn’t only come at the end – so many pitches measurement is literally the last slide in the deck. Knowing what you want to achieve and working backwards.“Measurement needs to be throughout – it needs to be in the front, in the middle at the end. Measurement is an iterative process, constantly evolving, and that is the most value measurement can bring.”  We will be releasing a new Measurement Month Podcast every Monday throughout November. Be sure to subscribe via the blog, iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.

November is Global Measurement Month, and in association with the Public Relations Institute of Australia, this month Smoke Signal Podcast will feature a series of episodes with global leaders in PR measurement all under the theme of “reimagining measurement and evaluation in public relations”.This first episode of the series features Dr Glenn O’NeiI. Based in Geneva Switzerland, Glenn is founder of OWL RE, leading evaluation, research and communication projects for NGOs, UN agencies and international organisations.Glenn strongly believes measurement and evaluation needs to both prove the value of communication and improve the practice of public relations.“Working with the NFP sector, NGOs and UN Agencies there is really a desire to use measurement and evaluation in a way that also helps continual learning – and that is important. It becomes as much about proving what we’ve done has made a difference as how do we improve for the future,” Glenn says.Showcasing the application of measurement in practice, Glenn uses this example on a Euro 33 million anti-smoking campaign #exsmokers are unstoppable which he reviewed and assessed to show the opportunity, and challenges, with measurement and evaluation for PR practitioners.In summing up this campaign, Glenn says monitoring and evaluation done well can really support the communicators the contribution they are making based on sound data.To move the dial on measurement and evaluation, Glenn believes research, evaluation and monitoring should be at least five to ten per cent of every professional communicators workload every day.Glenn is an advocate for the profession jumping from measuring outputs (number of people reached, tonality, share of voice) to measuring outcomes (changing in behaviour, attitude and knowledge).“PR is great at deliverables but the measurement remains superficial. Jumping from outputs to the outcomes is not easy but today is not impossible. To measure outcomes it comes back to asking, consulting or observing people; how can algorithms and technology help us as communicator more effectively and efficiently look at behaviour change.”To achieve this, measurement should start from the beginning of the communication program to set a baseline. At the very start, at a minimum, estimate where the organisation is and where it wants to get to. Then set up points to monitor throughout the campaign.We will be releasing a new Measurement Month Podcast every Monday throughout November. Be sure to subscribe via the blog, iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.

At the start of the global pandemic as the world was turned upside down I put a hold on this podcast. So for the first episode back I thought it only right to look at how COVID-19 has impacted the world of PR and communications. Stephen Waddington says COVID-19 had an “immediate and dramatic effect on PR and communications”. He authored a report for the UK Government Communication Service titled COVID-19 Communication Advisory Panel Report to look at what the impact those experiences may have on professional communication over the long term.In this episode we speak to Stephen Waddington direct from his house boat on the River Thames to discuss some of the key take-aways from his report: Communication as a strategic management and leadership function. Professional communications was absolutely critical for organisations throughout COVID-19 and has ensured professional communicators a seat at the ‘table’. A significant increase in focus in employee engagement and internal communications as workers went remote. We have let people into our home and it has had a humanising effect on society, and how leaders communicate. We’ve discovered new channels and ways to communicate to overcome the absence of face to face communication but we need to find a balance.An acceleration to digital media. More than just more channels what we saw was innovation and creativity we’ve seen emerge across all aspects of communication.Impact of disinformation and misinformation. Especially concerning was the role of social networks to quite easily disrupt and cause harm in terms of misinformationStephen Waddington writes a regular blog and weekly newsletter, follow him on Wadds Inc here https://wadds.co.uk/blog

Measurement, Evaluation and Learning is how we should be reframing the discussion around metrics in public communication according Jim Macnamara, in a special Measurement Month episode of PR podcast Smoke Signal.Jim Macnamara is a Distinguished Professor of Public Communication in the School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He is internationally recognised for his research into evaluation of public communication and for his work on organisational listening.We begin this discussion with a look at Jim’s latest book – released in July this year – Beyond Post-Communication: Challenging Disinformation, Deception, and Manipulation.The book challenges the notion that fake news and the rise of distrust on all levels is a result of a “few bad apples” such as Trump, Russian trolls or the power of social media platforms. Rather Jim presents a compelling argument, citing numerous examples in our discussion, to show that in fact professional communicators – PR professionals, government advisers, advertisers and journalists –are as much, if not more, to blame for widespread dissemination of disinformation.However, the book is not about finger pointing but rather how we move forward as a profession – Jim shares some of his strategies for improving the practice of professional communication.It is in this context we discuss, Measurement and Evaluation. If we’ve moved into a post communication, post trust world, how does measurement and evaluation need to evolve.And for Jim, the oft-repeated reasons for not doing rigorous evaluation – lack of budget, lack of time – are simply excuses. To move from being a cost-centre to a value-add centre, we need to show outcomes and business impact. It is also, according to Jim, the key for PR professionals to progress their careers and truly get a “seat at the table”.It is also why Jim talks more today about M, E & L. Measurement and evaluation is often looking in the review mirror, a process of looking back to justify. Rather, Jim says the emphasis should be more on the learnings – both how can we use these measures to assess how can we improve our programs and campaigns moving forward; and also applying learnings to ourselves and how can we can continually improve measurement and evaluation.In this discussion, Jim uses two current case studies as examples of how measurement can showcase tangible business outcomes – a review he is leading for the World Health Organisation on its evaluation of communication programs globally and a project he oversaw for global financial services firm Achmea.While these are large scale projects, Jim recommends practitioners start small, show a result, prove your value and then go back and say we can do more. And once the business sees tangible results they naturally become even more committed to PR and communications.Jim’s final word of advice for practitioners when it comes to measurement and evaluation: Practitioners need to know research methods from Google Analytics and social media analytics through to surveys. You need to be evidence based – that is what is required by management. Too often in our field we rely on feeling and intuition.The PRIA Education Community Committee is driving a series of initiatives to mark AMEC’s Measurement Month throughout November. Be sure to visit www.pria.com.au or www.educompria.wordpress.com to see a full list of events.