After the events of the pandemic, it is important to note that there is something that Covid-19 did not change but rather reinforced: our profession has a purpose, which is to generate bonds of trust between people, organizations and brands through conversation.
In the new normal, this purpose will involve, among other things, helping brands to be more valuable and responsible than profitable. This does not mean leaving the business aside, but rather that today, more than ever, brands will have to show closeness and concern for consumers who increasingly opt for those that are committed to their community, social causes, the environment, working conditions and health, among other issues.
In this sense, today there is an excess of information that makes people observe the communication proposed by brands in a different way. For this reason, in order for a brand to rely on values, whether social or ecological, it must first demonstrate coherence between its storytelling and storydoing, that is, between what it says and what it does. If that doesn’t cut across your entire culture, the commitment isn’t real and becomes just another sales pitch. Clearly, the image of organizations is an increasingly vulnerable asset, in the face of increasingly informed consumers who easily detect any false step and expose it, supported by the immediacy offered by social networks. It will be key, then, to develop a proactive and non-opportunistic attitude and communication: listening and solving problems.
It is in this context that, more than ever, sensitivity, understanding and empathy are the characteristics most valued by consumers, which is why building trust, relevance and commitment is essential for brands that seek to achieve public consideration and generate connection. with them; and that is where public relations comes into play to value the strategies that are committed to executing those values.
Under this premise, our profession has always been and will continue to be vital for any organization. However, we all know how difficult it is to understand that its value does not translate immediately into money, but that its benefits are more linked to long-term effects such as the care and protection of the company’s image, its communications and the relationships it builds with the press and its audiences, which translates into the attribute that encompasses everything I was mentioning above: credibility.
In short, today the challenge of our profession is not in the moment in which we live or in the accelerated technological change that it caused, but in how we face the simultaneity of both. That is, how we reconcile the need to build bonds of trust, relevance and commitment that characterize an ethical and responsible organization, with transparency, viralization and the new demands of prosumers.