Lindsay Mattick is VP of strategy and creative at Narrative PR, a subsidiary of Toronto advertising agency Bensimon Byrne.
Much has been written about PR agencies treading into the creative spaces that traditional advertising agencies have occupied. Whether it’s hiring creative directors, establishing in-house creative incubators or producing their own content from video to websites, blurred lines are the new norm. And while some of this shift can be attributed to clients increasingly looking to work with agencies that provide a range of services under one roof, as well as an ever-expanding social media galaxy, it is also a reflection of a greater trend—and opportunity—in our storytelling: the visualization of PR.
Narrative PR's Lindsay Mattick
One of the most established principles of journalism, ‘show, don’t tell’ is also a key lesson in the evolving PR landscape. Increasingly, it’s not just the words, but the images that help us deliver for our clients.
I read a fascinating statistic a little while ago: apparently people process visuals 600,000 times faster than they process text. Six-hundred thousand times! Combine that with the fact that people retain 80% of what they see compared to 20% of what they read and you start to realize just how important an opportunity visuals really are. With that kind of evidence, it’s no wonder Instagram has been adopted by the world’s biggest brands, from Nike to Starbucks, and is the fastest-growing mobile app, with a 66% increase in users over the last year.
For PR agencies to continue to deliver on this new opportunity, it means they need to consider the style as well as the substance in everything they touch. Whether it’s media releases that are artfully laid out with images, compelling infographics that visually convey facts or unusual media kits that truly catch a journalist’s eye, it’s clear that in today’s landscape, people are judging books by their covers—multiple, multiple covers.
Agencies need to consider a client’s desire (and business need) to capitalize on the proliferation of these inexpensive social channels, and become adapt at creating the necessary content to populate them with videos, images, etc. With a laser-focused eye on a company’s story, as well as an eye on the collective cannon of stories that affect a consumer’s pop culture pulse, PR agencies are well suited to conceptualize and create that content.
Besides leveraging these visual opportunities for our clients, there’s another compelling reason to get visual: journalists respond to it. A recent survey found that 83% of journalists regard images with content as important, and yet only 38% of PR professionals add images to their news content.
The most well-known example of this is Coca Cola, which declared its intent to ‘kill the press release’ by 2015 and launched a branded journalism site called The Journey, challenging its in-house PR folks to find more interesting and video-based ways to share stories about the brand.
In many ways, this trend is a natural evolution for PR agencies. After all, it’s an image-based industry where first impressions matter and the channels by which to make those impressions appear to be infinite. It is our belief that the agencies that are mindful of this shift will find a wealth of possibilities in front of them.
Five Tips for Visual Storytelling
1. Do a ‘five-second’ test. If you only had 10 seconds to convey your client’s message, how would you do it? This is an easy way to challenge your team to ‘see’ a story first and then imagine the visuals that tell it.
2. More is not always more. Finding the right opportunities for visual storytelling means considering who you’re trying to reach (both the public and media) and what channels they’re following. You don’t need to be everywhere—just everywhere that matters to your audience.
3. Turn complicated into simple. When you’re conceptualizing a client’s story, ask yourself: could a picture actually replace a thousand words? Is there a thought- provoking item that could bring your key messages to life? Through a video? Object? Photograph? Is there a graphic that would simplify complicated information? Prioritizing clarity can often spark ideas for visual storytelling.
4. Get inspired. Find the brands and people who are doing it best and follow them. Challenge people on your team to notice the stories that are making memorable visuals impressions and consider taking a page from their book. Ensure your team has access to the right tools they need to create visual products as needed.
5. Look in the mirror. As agencies, we are always considering our how our clients’ stories unfold. And while this is key, it’s also important to recognize how visual storytelling—whether it’s your agency’s Instagram presence or company video—provides an opportunity to add a layer of personality and convey an understanding of new opportunities in the PR universe.
