What Makes PR Professionals Successful?
Today, PR work is largely shaped by digital channels and vast amounts of data. The challenge is to capture the attention of consumers amid the flood of campaigns and deliver your message effectively. But what was the daily life of PR professionals like before the digital transformation? At that time, journalists were the key to communication success, and PR managers relied on print, TV, and radio, as well as press conferences and traditional public relations. Thomas Dillmann, editor-in-chief of PR-Journal, shared his insights on how he experienced this era and offers valuable tips for PR professionals:
Twenty years ago, you were in the midst of your PR agency days. You experienced firsthand how the industry worked back then and how it has changed over the years. What was your daily work life like back then? What defined PR?
At the beginning of my time in the PR industry from 1993 to 1997, I worked in a small PR agency that was part of a large advertising group. Digitalization was still far off: press releases were distributed by mail or fax through service providers. To stay competitive, we had to secure increasingly larger accounts. We achieved this by winning various accounts from Bonn ministries.
We were able to secure a very important account with the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs on the topic “No Violence Against Children” and later on “No Violence Against Women.”
In my PR time, I learned that compared to journalism, a lot of emphasis is placed on providing a service tailored to the client. Therefore, my first press release was incredibly frustrating due to its self-congratulatory tone. That was my chance to show everyone, as a journalist, how it should be done! Or so I thought.
Nevertheless, I still believe that press releases should be formulated as neutrally as possible. The goal is for journalists to pick up the offered topic. The threshold for doing so must be particularly low for them. Therefore, I am amused today by the press releases I have collected in my chamber of horrors (always delightful), which fail to do this and are far too promotional and flowery.
What mainly shaped my daily work was the goal of creating real added value for the recipients in all our PR campaigns. Therefore, we not only raised awareness of the topic with a poster campaign but also developed an entire training concept for the various audiences. Moreover, at that time, real public relations and press work were still the order of the day. We traveled throughout Germany to present and discuss the issue of violence against women and children at various events with numerous cooperation partners and at press conferences.
This love for detail and in-depth campaigns makes for really good PR work, in my opinion. To do this, it is initially important to find the right employee for a topic who has sufficient expertise in the communicated field. This significantly increases the quality of PR content. Additionally, it is important to identify the right audience for the topic and then find ways to address them. These can be unconventional and unexpected. It is often not worth using only mainstream channels for PR.
What did you learn during your agency days that you would like to pass on to today's PR managers?
I believe personal contact is extremely important! In my opinion, some PR professionals think that it is enough to post a series of social media posts to place a topic within a certain target group. This may work for product-oriented topics. However, for the positioning of a company and its image building, it is still crucial to win over the media. For this, you need a good network of many contacts, which PR managers must build and maintain throughout their careers.
This ability to maintain personal relationships is, in my opinion, currently somewhat lost. A charming, intelligent, perhaps even humorous phone call with a journalist can lead to far greater success than an email. Because that way, you remain memorable.
Looking back, what has changed the most in the PR industry over the past 20 years?
The most noticeable changes have been caused by digitalization. As a result, PR work is losing more and more of its personal touch. Digital media and press distributors can reach many more people. Additionally, there are now even AI-based tools that take over writing texts. Therefore, agencies are increasingly booked for the technology they have available rather than for their highly qualified staff.
What do you think is better today than it was 20 years ago? Did digitalization have any positive effects?
One advantage is the multitude of available channels. Twenty years ago, everything depended on journalists. Today, owned media is also a big topic in the industry. These channels should always be used to complement various campaigns to reach audiences in multiple ways. This has expanded the spectrum of PR work, significantly increasing the demands on communicators.
We are also currently experiencing a revival of PR agencies. Many companies that previously relied mainly on short-term marketing effects are now realizing that such short-term communication successes are not sufficient for long-term business success. It requires more in-depth content, which PR agencies deliver.
This development has also led to a change in the role of the CEO. He/she must represent the company on digital channels and give the company both a personality and a face there. As a result, the requirements for CEOs, as well as their PR advisors, have changed. This opportunity to show more personality is, in my opinion, a very positive development in the context of digitalization.
Marketing and PR are increasingly merging. Even PR agencies or in-house PR departments are offering both services in parallel. What do you think of this trend?
I generally consider this development a good approach, as both areas can complement each other very well. Mercedes-Benz recently set an example: the communications department is now part of marketing.
Nevertheless, the disciplines must differentiate in certain aspects. Communication can only work well if everyone focuses on their core competencies. For PR, these lie clearly in the area of strategy and content delivery, text, corporate publishing, and addressing media and multipliers.
Marketing and advertising are much more short-term and focused on quick results or immediate effects. These differences need to be recognized, understood, and acknowledged.
If a company understands how to create synergies between marketing and PR, such a merger can be very valuable and promising.
What skills must a PR manager possess to be successful?
Never being satisfied with the current status, but always continuing to educate oneself, is a skill that every PR professional should possess.
Continuous learning is even more important today than it was 20 years ago. Additionally, curiosity is a great trait. One must be open to new topics, willing to delve deeper into the client's subjects, and acquire new expertise.
Moreover, young PR managers should gradually evolve from the role of a service provider to that of a consultant, advising their clients for or against something. This requires in-depth knowledge and media competence to understand the public reactions that different content can trigger.
What is the best campaign you have ever seen or that has stuck with you for a long time?
One campaign that I find incredibly clever but is hardly present in the German market is the Tampon Book. As part of Scholz&Friends Berlin's campaign for The FemaleCompany, tampons were sold in a book to be subject to the reduced tax rate of 7% instead of the usual VAT rate of 19% for feminine hygiene products. This highlighted the fact that hygiene products, which are regularly needed by half the population, are taxed too high. This created a very intelligent campaign mechanism that had a significant impact on society and generated enormous reach. This PR stunt also won the Grand Prix 2019 in Cannes.
Thomas Dillmann
Editor-in-Chief PR-Journal
Thomas Dillmann is editor-in-chief of the industry platform "PR-Journal". He has been reporting on the latest news and developments in the PR and communications industry on a daily basis since 2014. He previously worked as a press spokesman and PR consultant for companies and agencies.