What to Watch for in 2025 (Episode 2)

TRANSCRIPT:

Doug Simon, CEO, D S Simon Media: Once again, we’ve invited a dozen of PR’s top pros to share their hot takes, advice and predictions for communications in 2025. Among the topics they discussed, multiplying the impact of earned PR, the need for action, not change, reaching out to the huge 47 million rural population in America through its own media channels, tips for enhancing client relationships, and a refresh on intentional listening. So, I hope you listen intentionally to what they have to say.

Diana Littman, U.S. Chief Executive Officer, MSL: I think one of the things that’s going to be most important in 2025 is thinking about action and thinking about the actions that you take and being very action-oriented rather than being change-oriented. Something that is very inherent to the world of PR and PR professionals is the need for authenticity and also consistency and then the actions that you take around that. I think, for this year in particular, this is really where the power in business communications is going to come from.

Chris Hook, Communications Lead, Cadence: This is really the year where folks should be thinking about how do you multiply the impact of your PR? And so, once you get those golden pieces of media coverage, how are you using your digital channels, your digital engine, to micro-target that coverage back to your key stakeholders, your ecosystem, your customers, your investors. And then tracking that and looking at that next step of what is the next stage in their journey. So, it’s really multiplying the impact of earned media in 2025.

Lucia Lee, Vice President of Media and Public Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System: We have these larger editorial meetings where we share news and developments that we’ve learned about, and then we stand up these working groups around some of the stories to get the maximum impact. And so, that really is important. So, the structure of your team, the agility of your team, making sure that you create the room and space to navigate as well. I know sometimes we are so quick to try to place that story because we’re either excited or because of the pressures of getting and landing that story, but it’s really important to slow down a bit and make sure that you have considered how the story comes together into the right, more effective way to get the maximum impact.

Michael Rinaldo, Senior Health Communications Consultant at Michael Rinaldo Health Communications: Intentional listening is going to become increasingly important. We have more sophisticated tools. We have better ways to target. We have content that’s driving narrative, but often companies, organizations, politicians, especially in the healthcare space, miss the mark not because they didn’t connect with their target, but because they didn’t understand what they were thinking or what motivates them. I think a refresh on intentional listening is going to become incredibly important as we move into the new year.

Megan Noel, Global President, Corporate Affairs, Golin: Business transformation and corporate reputation are now inseparable, and the organizations that thrive in this environment are the ones that take a multi-stakeholder approach and pair the right data and research with the talent to be able to create personalized, authentic, and trusted communications.

Joe Gargiulo, Executive Vice President, Coyne Public Relations: What’s really important is not only to focus on which technologies are right for the work that you do and your team’s work, but how those technologies impact the end result. Staying focused on core fundamentals such as key messaging, smart strategy and execution seamlessly. Technology is going to help us, but technology is not the end result. It’s how we incorporate the technology in our work that’s going to be critical in 2025.

Amira Barger, Executive Vice President of Health Communications and DEI Advisory at Edelman: 76% of people said that when DEI initiatives are attacked internally or externally, companies should address the criticism directly. And this shows that trust in DEI remains high and the expectations for companies to engage rather than retreat. There are five top ways that companies and leaders can defend DEI work. Number one, demonstrate the positive impacts of DE&I work on every employee base. Take critiques seriously and use them to strengthen your strategies and programs. Defend the work with facts through things like annual impact reports, but also consistent communication. Invite critics to be table to meaningful dialogue and really address the concerns they have and answer their questions. And finally, encourage employees to speak up about their experience, how has belonging increased for them because of the DEI initiatives that exist?

Michael Kempner, Founder and CEO of MikeWorldWide: As I talk to marketers, it’s clear that they live in a crisis of confidence. So, as PR people, we have an opportunity to counsel them with more precision and more predictability. So, as people think about what AI is all about and how they’re going to use AI, it should become much more than a buzzword. To me, it really is about how do we use data and AI to create much more precision, which then should lead us to a greater predictability of outcome. And the closer we can get to predictability, the more we become the antidote for the crisis of confidence.

Vanessa Donohue, Vice President of Health, Antenna: I believe one of the primary focuses for 2025 is going to be on data. Data is a large word, it encompasses a lot, but two primary points. One is that the data will absolutely be able to help our dollars work harder by connecting the dots. So, how do we use that data to determine who we’re speaking to and where they are? But on the flip side, also making sure that we’re not losing that authenticity. So, really keeping the humans at the heart of the story, which is what we’ve done, you know, from a foundational perspective.

Jeff Winton, Founder and Chairman of Rural Minds and CEO of Jeff Winton Associates: Pay attention to the 46 million people that live and work in rural America. I personally and professionally do a lot of work in this subset of our population, which is 14% of the U.S. population. And I’m surprised that many people aren’t aware that there’s a whole ecosystem of media channels that reach people in farming communities and in other rural areas, like where I live and work. It’s a very efficient way of reaching people in this part of our country, and it also will give corporations instant credibility because you are taking your messages to the media outlets that they have grown to respect and trust over the years.

Jackie Cox Battles, New York Consumer Brand Practice Lead and North America Consumer Brand Practice Growth Lead, Weber Shandwick: You need to completely rethink the definition of media because the truth of the matter is today, everybody is media. And media is now defined on personal terms, which means what people see is what they consider media. So, that could be an online article, a creator social post, or even a celebrity podcast. The lines are completely blurred. The second is that polarization is profitable, and so it’s not going anywhere, and that means that brand safety is going to be critical in terms of how we navigate this new year.

Kristi Tyll, Managing Partner, Stratacomm: With everything that’s been going on in the United States, it’s going to be so important for us to approach our client relationships with curiosity, heading into one-on-one conversations and group meetings with questions that are going to help us really understand their environment and the challenges that they’re facing. And the better we understand those, the more we can collaboratively work with them on solutions to help move their organizations forward.

Doug Simon, CEO, D S Simon Media: Thanks for tuning into our video podcast and if you would like to be part of this special, ongoing series throughout the year, let us know at prstopprostalk@dssimonmedia.com.