Kicking and screaming – 2020 has made Creative PR, a necessary new reality.

Those hiding in the dark of old-school PR and getting away with it, have been firmly dragged into the sunlight of creative PR campaigning in 2020.

The PR landscape has changed dramatically over the last couple of months. The old playbook for consumer campaigns has not only been thrown out the window, but it has also been set on fire and buried in the garden.

We are suffering from COVID-19 overload and the media will eventually give their audience a break and they will turn to us for help.

Lockdown has been a challenge especially for those of us that thrive on collaboration – sometimes it’s just so difficult to convey creative ideas through a computer. Well, the challenge, is often the solution. When you find you can’t convey an idea quickly and simply to your colleague, do you really expect it to translate to consumers?

We are seeing more creative ideas that connect to a simple human truth and are not complicated. Communicating passion points, in a simple straight-forward means is what we are seeing come through with creative PR recently.

Remember: A big idea doesn’t have to be convoluted

Cultural relevance has a whole new meaning in 2020. Consumers are looking for good news and entertainment to share with their friends and family, and if you don’t provide it, they will find their own. We have seen this through the dramatic rise in boomers and millennials joining Tik Tok, where they can freely create entertaining content and share fun news about their families and friends.

Consumers are the true content creators in 2020

Same rules, different space! Observe, listen and engage where appropriate. Only join in and create content that is relevant to your brand. This is the opportunity for PR to drive brand creativity rather than holding on to the supporting role we always seem to be given. Our ability to keep our finger on the pulse and ideate on the fly is what will help us take the lead in the next phase of 2020 – and beyond.

The challenge we are seeing now is that many brands are frozen and don’t know what to do during this period.  Consumers are even more demanding now, wanting digitally lead content 24/7.

Which means it’s time to make sure your communication is relatable, relevant and can change as the conversation evolves.

Brands have to be ready to change direction in the middle and evolve the campaign on the fly. 2020 has provoked unprecedented change, and consumers expect you to be able to keep up with the changes they are going through.

If not, expect a lot of social distancing between your PR plans and your audience.

This is an opinion piece by Ima Peter, Cheil Group Account Director on Samsung.
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