By Anthony Mutua (Kenya)
Managing Partner, AM Communications Ltd
The global PR and Communications industry, valued at over 100 billion US dollars, is grappling with disruption fueled by rapid technological and social change. Innovation in communication technology, shifting audience demographics and heightened public scrutiny of businesses all point to a fascinating but unpredictable future for the industry.
The traditional PR practice – media relations, reputation and crisis management, brand communication, public affairs and lobbying, internal communication, investor relations, stakeholder engagement and corporate social responsibility – will undoubtedly retain its relevance into the foreseeable future.
However, what will change is how PR is managed, given the way new digital technologies are upending the way content is delivered and fragmenting audiences. That said, three major global megatrends are driving the transformation of the African PR landscape and creating novel growth opportunities.
- Digital disruption
Rapid digitisation of communication is already disrupting the traditional PR model in favour of a more digital-centric approach. The press release is no longer the primary tool for disseminating news and information through media. Editors and reporters are accepting content filed via online platforms like WhatsApp and Twitter. Journalists are uploading news stories on-site at client events. In this era of citizen journalism, where anyone can break the news on social media, newsrooms are under pressure to go fully digital or become irrelevant.
A 2019 report by the International Public Relations Network (IPRN) confirms that many practitioners view digitisation as the industry’s most significant change. Fortunately, Africa is well into the digital content revolution.
The explosion in smartphone use has seen power shift from brands and their gatekeepers to news-hungry audiences who are consuming and pushing content online.
A recent survey by IPSOS in Kenya, for instance, concluded that the smartphone as a communication gadget offers “unrivalled access to cross-media opportunities – Radio, TV, social media, print….” This spells the need for a different approach to media relations and brand communications. Nowadays, digital PR is integral to crisis and reputation management.
There is immense opportunity in digital for PR and communication firms to create, curate, and tell stories from Africa in an exciting and authentic way, targeting both local and global audiences with the mobile screen as the main channel, thus reducing dependence on traditional media platforms.
The phenomenal success of revolutionary digital financial services like M-Pesa in Kenya is a clear demonstration that Africa has what it takes to fully digitise media, where content previously inaccessible due to cost or limited reach of traditional channels like newspapers, TV, radio, and magazines, is now readily available to a broader audience.
- Sustainability
The second notable megatrend revolves around civic and consumer activism, underpinning greater scrutiny around businesses and products. While there is an opportunity for African PR practitioners to hone their reputation management capabilities, they have to reckon with heightened government regulation and public demand for greater disclosure around the environmental and social impact of businesses. Social license is now the premium currency for brand equity.
In response to the greater need for transparency, more corporations are now going the extra mile to publish sustainability reports, financial data, and other mandatory regulatory disclosures. In Kenya, most leading publicly listed firms have made Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting an integral feature of their annual reports.
Sustainability will be a major driver of PR in Africa and the rest of the world. Beyond pitching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stories to the media, attention will shift to the actual impact of business activities on people, communities and the planet.
Rather than focusing on a project launch, the media will be more interested in a testimonial-based, human-interest story demonstrating a long-term transformative impact on beneficiaries.
- Globalisation
The world has become one big village where local issues can be global news and vice versa. A story about human rights abuses on a flower farm in Kenya is likely to attract international headlines the same way the conflict in Ukraine would provide context for a story on high fuel prices in Kenya. This inter-meshing of global and local stories is now a reality from a PR perspective. Audiences are local and global at the same time, thanks to social media and news websites.
As Africa becomes more integrated into the world economy, global firms are pitching their tents on the continent. The uptick in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) inflows points to Africa becoming the next global market arena.
African PR agencies are thus uniquely positioned to offer homegrown communication solutions to international investors and businesses eyeing this promising but untapped market. Big global PR networks are already collaborating with local agencies to provide integrated marketing communications solutions.
The future
However, despite the promising prospects, the PR industry in Africa will need to invest significantly more in research to support data-driven decisions. Getting reliable data about PR, especially in Africa, is a challenge.
Concise and authoritative industry reports will be highly valuable in benchmarking regional experiences against global best practices.
We must also continuously invest in talent compatible with the transition into an intrinsically digital PR environment.