I’ve spent 20 years working in PR and comms, not only building profile, but largely in the hot seat dealing with reputation, risk, major incidents, crises and strategy. So, I read The Times article about PR’s “new dark arts” with interest. It’s encouraging to see strategic communications and senior counsel being increasingly valued as Julian Payne, Chief Executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Edelman, notes: “There are more chief communications officers [CCOs] at the boardroom table than ever before.” But I don’t think the profession is discovering something entirely new. It’s rediscovering what good strategic PR has always been about, albeit in a much faster, more complex information environment, with AI adding another layer.
I’ve written before about why reputation isn’t optional, why Corporate Affairs needs to have a seat at the table, and why reputation is earned in the quiet times, through good culture, good leadership and credible, strategic PR so this feels like the next part of that argument (see previous blog posts). I’ve never seen PR as simply publicity, or crisis communications as simply firefighting. For me, it’s about building and maintaining reputation, trust and credibility, through good strategy, relationships, preparation, judgement, understanding, spotting risk early – often before it is obvious to others, spotting patterns, challenging poor practice, encouraging organisations to do better, helping leaders make good decisions and often acting as a catalyst for cultural change. I will also add ethics into that mix. As senior comms practitioners we should, and invariably are, the people asking the pokey questions. That’s part of the role. Being a corporate conscience.
What has changed is the environment. Information moves faster. There are more channels, more voices and far less control over what gets said. Digital footprints are increasingly permanent.
My approach to reputation and crisis communications has always included understanding the wider information environment. I’ve had specialist training, including from the Home Office, and have long considered the risks posed by misinformation, disinformation, mal-information and propaganda including how organisations can respond without inadvertently amplifying them. AI adds another layer to this. What an organisation has said, done and had said about it online can increasingly influence not only what people find, but what AI systems understand about it and, in turn, what they communicate to others.
But I don’t think the answer is just to fill the internet with more positive content. Yes, it’s not unhelpful specifically in relation to what A.I scrapes but…reputation isn’t built by saying nice things about yourself at scale. It’s earned and built through substance, credibility, consistency and what people actually experience. Surely, it’s more credible when it’s external testimony rather than purely ‘tooting one’s own horn’ repeatedly? However, it is important to ensure accuracy, credibility and balance.
This is where I think the human value of experienced communications advice becomes more important, not less. Twenty years in the profession has given me more than a CV. It has given me judgement. I’ve learned from the successes, also failures, the things that worked brilliantly and the ‘teaching moments’ as my old mentor used to say. I’ve learned through doing, observing, winning, losing, advising, evaluating and… feeling. That is something AI will never be able to do! It can scan reports and news coverage for sentiment, but it will never feel it or the impact. I have, and those experiences, including understanding what caused things to work or fail, stay with you.
I’ve also learned not to assume that experience means I always have the answer. I test my thinking. I bring in other specialists where their expertise can strengthen or challenge it – formally and informally for a quick ‘check and test’. I test ideas with audiences. I listen. I watch. I can read people. I change my mind when the evidence or instinct tells me I should.
I’ve been learning about and using AI, and it can help with research, analysis, structuring and some of the more functional parts of communications. That’s useful and means I can spend more time doing the things that require judgement, curiosity, creativity, challenge, empathy and human understanding. Understanding what people really mean, not just what they say. Knowing when a message will land badly. Seeing the risk that isn’t immediately obvious. Knowing when a communications problem is actually an organisational problem. Knowing when to push and when to stop. And knowing when to bring someone else into my thinking.
That, for me, is the increasingly valuable part of PR: not activity for activity’s sake, not simply generating more content, but providing experienced strategic counsel that can build, maintain and protect reputation, identify risk, prepare for difficult moments and help organisations make better decisions.
Perhaps PR really is entering a new golden age where the “dark arts” are valued. But I don’t think the principles are new. Some of us have been practising them for quite a while and it turns out the secret isn’t a spell or a crystal ball – it’s experience, judgement and asking awkward questions early enough. Although on more than one occasion it has been ventured that what I do is witchcraft, and I’ll take that plus I do have the hat, and the t-shirt!