Building trust will remain key in public relations
09/12/2023 • Agency news
Milena Avramović Bjelica, co-founder and executive director of Chapter 4 agency was asked, as one of the PRO PR GLOBE award winners, how she sees the future of public relations. Below is her answer, which was published on PRO PR LinkedIn account.
‘Public relations and communications are an ever-evolving area. Both areas are continuously changing shape, first of all owing to the advancement of technologies, channels, and tools used to define a target group and the messages they are to receive, but also because of users’ habits. I believe that in the near future, public relations will continue to develop even more quickly, owing to different platforms available not only as communication channels but also as pillars of support to us, people working in communications. First of all, I refer to AI tools we’re already using to analyze data, recognize trends and create targeted campaigns. Currently, we are accustomed to personal contact. However, I have a feeling that personal contact will be reduced in the years to come, keeping in mind the growing use of VR offering a completely new kind of experience for users (for example, a visit to a factory or an exhibition and an opportunity to get acquainted with the company’s values from afar, where physical presence is not necessary). We are talking about the so-called augmented reality with “digital generations” taking center stage in the future. I’m convinced that both AR and VR will be used to create interactive PR campaigns. Voice technologies are already getting ever more integrated into our everyday life and they too will be an integral part of PR and communication campaigns in the future. People in the PR business will have to be willing to keep learning and adjusting to the latest developments, and that is something we didn’t need in the past. Here I primarily refer to laws and regulations on data privacy. Users will have to have clear knowledge about data privacy and they will have to know that their data will be protected and used in a safe way, keeping in mind the quantity of personal data already shared on social networks. However, what’s always been important and will remain important in the future is the need to maintain high-quality relationships between a company and a user, an efficient communications campaign prepared with the needs and wishes of the target public in mind, where transparency, authenticity, and integrity are of key importance. PR campaigns will continue to build trust between the brands and the users, engage users even more in the future, and create a lasting bond between them.’