For Marketing’s yearly PR wrap-up series, we’re checking in with agency heads on what’s changed, what they’re reading, what inspires them and what’s to come. Here is the third and final installment.
MIA PEARSON, CO-FOUNDER, NORTH STRATEGIC
What is the biggest challenge the industry faces in 2015?
Quite simply, keeping up with the changing nature of how we communicate is going to be a challenge across industries. For us in the PR world, our challenge will be to continue to identify the emerging platforms where people are congregating and conversations are taking place. It’s not enough to have a social strategy anymore. Major social platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter can’t be ignored, but consumers are increasingly adopting new messaging technologies, including Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp. In 2015, savvy agencies will work closely with their clients to figure out which of these platforms work for their brands, and how they can be utilized to reach key audiences.
What is the biggest challenge your agency faces in 2015?
Whether we want to admit it or not, our industry is facing a serious talent crunch. There has always been stiff competition between agencies for talent, but the industry is evolving, and the makeup of top agencies is shifting to incorporate employees with specialties that lie outside the traditional PR realm. As a result, we now find ourselves looking for talent in new areas – video production, custom content, etc. – to meet the changing needs of our clients, which is placing us in direct competition with other industries to attract the best and brightest.
Your favourite work-related book?
At North, we ensure every employee has a copy of The Trusted Advisor (David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford). We see ourselves as trusted advisors for our clients, offering advice, guidance and support, above and beyond the client-agency relationship. Over the years, I’ve gone back to this book many times, and you can find well-loved dog-eared copies with broken spines on the desks of many members of my team.
Your favourite non-work related book?
Over the holidays I picked up Thrive by Arianna Huffington and I’m absolutely in love with it. She’s a remarkable woman, and I love the book because it talks about the third metric and the importance of taking care of yourself, both mentally and physically. All too often, entrepreneurs buy into the idea that you can’t be successful without overworking yourself. In Thrive, Huffington talks about simple ideas, such as the importance of sleep, and how taking care of yourself makes you a better leader.
Where/how do you find job-related inspiration?
Nothing is as inspiring as a spirited brainstorm with my team. With all the young hires we have, the digital experts, the filmmakers, the storytellers, the directors and talent within our Notch Video division, our employees are able to approach tasks in a completely different way than those trained in traditional PR. Our company is so much stronger as a result of our startup mindset and the diversified talent we have brought on board, which enables our brainstorm sessions to possess an energy that both inspires and leads to outstanding ideas.
What advice would you offer a graduate looking for a job in PR in 2015?
Be bold, be brave and go after what you want. Seek out an agency that you can believe in, and surround yourself with people who can inspire you and from whom you can learn. But be prepared to work hard. Agencies are always on the lookout for creative and dynamic talent, but that’s only going to take you so far. At North, we want people who can work hard, fit in with the team and who aren’t afraid to be themselves.
Other than your wireless device, what’s the one tool of the trade you can’t live without?
Twitter. Sure, it’s a given that Twitter, Facebook and the myriad social channels out there have become a key component of the agency’s daily life, whether we’re using these platforms for outreach, monitoring or campaigns. But properly curated, Twitter offers an information resource that is virtually unparalleled. Carefully curated, Twitter can act as your own personal news feed, offering perfectly tailored updates and insight. My day isn’t complete unless I’m able to check into Twitter several times to stay up to date with everything that’s going on in my circles.
What is your top prediction for PR in 2015?
Increasingly, agencies will understand that content is king. Storytelling is at the core of what we do, and more so than ever, it’s what sets successful brands apart from the pack… Clients are looking to their agencies to do more, to be more. Fresh, creative content strategies will be huge differentiators for the top brands in 2015.
GREG POWER, PRESIDENT, WEBER SHANDWICK CANADA
What is the biggest challenge the industry faces in 2015?
Our industry is transforming rapidly with the addition of more specialized areas — media planning, content creation, analytics and creative production — that must be integrated, monetized and scaled quickly without disrupting or diminishing the client leadership held by more traditional practice areas. When the world is more complex, client-centricity is the North Star that keeps an agency on course.
What recent job tasks weren’t part of any PR job description when you started in the business?
Everything has changed and nothing has changed. Great PR is still about storytelling that engages on a rational and emotional level. That said, owned media has changed the playbook. Today we have so many more tools at our disposal and the expertise to operate them in the form of planners, creative directors, video producers, community manager and data analysts.
Your favourite work-related book?
The Moment of Clarity by Christian Madsbjerg and Mikkel Rasmussen is a game-changer. It focuses on human sciences as the pathways to understanding behaviour and crafting narratives that truly influence an audience. People see what they believe, they don’t believe what they see. Culture eats rational arguments for breakfast (apologies to Peter Drucker).
Your favourite non-work-related book?
Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. It’s his coming-of-age story about discovering the musical and cultural figures that shaped his artistic sensibilities in 1960s New Jersey. His journey reminds you of your own journey to what defines you. If you love his album “The Nightfly,” you’ll love this book.
Where/how do you find job-related inspiration?
My wife. Leah is a unicorn; a VP finance in an ad agency who actually understands advertising, loves agency life and gets the creative product. If I say anything smart, I probably heard it from her first. She brightens my blind spots.
What advice would you offer a graduate looking for a job in PR in 2015?
Be a seeker. Never settle for good enough. Challenge convention. Stand out by contributing to the success of everyone around you. Respect your personal brand, because what goes around really does come around.
Other than your wireless device, what’s the one tool of the trade you can’t live without?
Quad notebooks, the bigger the better. I am a visual person. I like to write my thoughts down and discover ideas by association. Give me a blank sheet of graph paper, a fine point Uni-Ball pen and a puzzle, and I am a happy and productive boy.
What’s your top prediction for PR in 2015?
Visual storytelling will rule. The brain is not wired for print, it is built to interpret a visual world. Words will continue to disappear. Content platforms delivered through mobile devices are driving conversations and influence. A picture has always been worth a thousand words and since everyone now carries a camera, thanks to their smartphone, everyone has the potential to tell a compelling story.
KRISTA WEBSTER, PRESIDENT, VERITAS COMMUNICATIONS
What is the biggest challenge the industry faces in 2015?
The industry is changing at rapid speed and everyone is building the plane as we fly it. In particular, social media has been the game changer as it relates to how we communicate – multi-visual is the new ‘multilogue’ – and this means we need to reimagine who we hire, how we think/verbalize and literally create a new industry lexicon as communicators that place as much importance on photography, animation and video, as we do on the written word. This doesn’t come without its challenges, because not all great communicators are visual thinkers. It also means that we cannot throw in the towel on a beautifully written headline or strategy, or we risk diluting our profession into glorified tacticians.
What is the biggest challenge your agency faces in 2015?
Finding the appropriate balance between creativity/ innovation and account work. This year we launched our Growth & Innovation Lab, and learning how to integrate our new elevated offering to our team and clients was our biggest (but anticipated) challenge and achievement.
What recent job tasks weren’t part of any PR job description when you started in the business?
What we are expected to be as communicators hasn’t changed at all. We still need to be highly strategic, curious, creative thinkers who understand how to engage third parties – media, influencers and stakeholders – to drive positive word-of-mouth.
That said, how we communicate and practice our craft has changed considerably. Digital has truly redefined the playing field for PR by allowing us to see the impact of our ‘art and science’ approach in real time.
Media monitoring still exists and provides more value than ever as we continue to evolve how we measure success. Thankfully, we just don’t have to cut up newspaper clippings or create massive, dust-collecting WRAP reports anymore.
Your favourite work-related book?
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. An oldie but a goodie and still as relevant today.
Your favourite non-work-related book?
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. In fact, my dog is named after the character Boo Radley.
Where/how do you find job-related inspiration?
Working with young raw talent is inspirational. There is more great, new talent out there than I have witnessed in a very long time and their freshness and openness to learning makes me see the same things in a completely different light.
What advice would you offer a graduate looking for a job in PR in 2015?
Spend more time listening and observing body language in social situations and meetings. What is not said (the subtext) is often more telling than what is. Emotional intelligence is a critical skill that must be honed over time.
What’s your top prediction for PR in 2015?
Melding media buying with influence. Modern age PR will accomplish reach and engagement through highly credible earned content that is amplified through paid.
