During these historical times we are continuing to speak to industry leaders about what their take is on the future. Some thoughts from some leaders:
Rachel Harrison, Co-founder of Lion & Lamb Communications said “The Future of PR is being reimagined in this time period of intense economic and lifestyle disruption with quick pivoting, ingenuity, gentleness and heightened personalization. Though I’ve been in the industry for more than twenty years and navigated countless crises with my clients including 9/11, the 2008 recession, Hurricane Dean, Ingrid, Sandy and more — the uncertainty of the current times continues to feel very different and much more global in scope.
In response to the pandemic, our travel team shifted efforts to support our hospitality industry friends with the Buy Now, Stay Later hotel bonds program, and most recently, served as a partner to The New Travel Conference, which was a week of virtual exhibits, panels, and happy hours to help the travel industry progress through and beyond COVID-19. In additional to creating new programming on our own, we also worked with our clients to create unique programming and ideas for safe ways to reopen while keeping them top of mind. Everything from how to safely navigate pool hours and entertainment to heading to our upstate clients and enjoying hiking, personalized fire pits – or even drive in movies!
The pandemic, while incredibly difficult for small businesses across all industries, will ultimately be the catalyst for much-needed change within the PR industry, as well as the kinds of stories we like to read and, therefore, the kinds of stories writers will want to tell most.
An example of an adjustment we’ve made and will continue for the foreseeable future is the shift from large in-person events to personalized mailers, virtual deskside meetings and even virtual tastings, which we successfully implemented during the recent launch of a new whisky brand, Abasolo.” And now you know how a smart lifestyle agency adjusts!!!
Adrienne Alexander of The ipy agency said “The pandemic has helped to shine a brighter light on the need for PR and what good PR looks like. So many have wondered what to say during this time & how their companies can help while not hurting their causes and business practices. Leaders and corporate executives had to look to their PR departments or PR representatives for statements on how to best communicate their intentions moving forward after the pandemic ends.”