• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Information Links
  • Skip to Site Search
  • Skip to Footer
  • Skip to Accessibility Information
  • Home Page

Information Links

Haymarket Marketing Communications:

  • PRWeek
  • Campaign US
  • MM+M
  • 30-Day Trial
  • Register
  • Sign in
  • Search
  • Menu
  • US|
  • UK|
  • Middle East|
  • Asia

PR Week Global

  • Menu
  • Search

Main Navigation

Menu

Main Navigation

  • US|
  • UK|
  • Middle East|
  • Asia
  • News
      News
    • Agency
    • Breakfast Briefing
    • Consumer
    • Corporate
    • Healthcare
    • Media
    • Public Affairs
    • Technology
    Show
  • In-depth
      In-depth
    • Agency Business Report
    • Power List
    • Newsmakers
    • Women of Distinction
    • Bellwether Survey 2021
    • Hall of Fame
    • 40 Under 40
    • Salary Survey
    • Health Influencer 30
    • Best Places to Work
    • Career Guide
    Show
  • People in PR
      People in PR
    • Opinion
    • Newsmakers
    • Steve Barrett on PR
    • Don Spetner
    • Dashboard 25
    • Around the office
    • Pride in PR
    • CEO Focus
    • CMO Focus
    • Femme Forward
    • Pets in PR
    Show
  • Resources
      Resources
    • Ebooks
    • Digital Editions
    • Agency Business Report
    • Salary Survey
    • Campaign Case Studies
    • Bellwether Survey 2022
    • Cannes 2022
    • Dashboard
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • Places to Be 2022
    • Contact Directory
    • Jobs
    • Renew
    • Subscribe
    Show
  • Events
      Events
    • PRWeek US Awards
    • PRWeek 40 Under 40
    • Women of Distinction
    • PRDecoded
    • PRWeek Global Awards
    • PRWeek Purpose Awards
    • Healthcare & Pharma Comms Awards
    • Hall of Fame
    • Brand Film Awards
    • Webcasts
    Show
  • Jobs
  • Directory
  • Agency
  • Breakfast Briefing
  • Consumer
  • Corporate
  • Healthcare
  • Media
  • Public Affairs
  • Technology

  • Trending :
  • 40 Under 40
  • Power List
  • Best Places to Work
  • PRWeek Awards 2023
  • Agency Business Report

Partner content

In partnership with

Hill and Knowlton Strategies

Disruption of influence?

Both the Brexit vote and Trump's rise to power has made 2016 an annus horribilis for everyone in the pundit-expert-prediction-business. For the PR industry, though, the ongoing transformation of influence brings both challenges and opportunities.

by Lars Erik Grønntun is Chairman and CEO of H+K EMEA 28 November 2016

  • Share article on Twitter
  • Share article on Facebook
  • Share article on LinkedIn

Influence is the lifeblood of the PR industry. We help our clients influence where people go on holiday, which clothes they wear, what books they read ¾ even who they want to work for. But to wield influence, we need to leverage trust. The public is influenced by people or organizations they trust.

There’s been a recent shift in influence. In the political realm, this is exemplified by both the Brexit vote and Trump’s election. The traditional political elites have lost influence over voters. This is also true for marketing. Five years ago, getting a favorable review in a prestigious newspaper was equivalent to a box office hit. Now it’s all about endorsements from online trendsetters.

Cause: declining trust

The root cause of this is a megatrend of decaying trust in all manners of elites and establishment. Big business, traditional media, international organizations, and subject matter experts ¾ the list of elites is long. This is a challenge for the PR industry, as we very often represent these elites, regardless of whether we are marketing a can of soda or a political concept.

At the same time, this disruption brings along massive opportunities for us. This industry thrives in turmoil. We are well placed to help our clients rebuild trust and find new avenues of influence. But to do so, we have to understand how influence has changed.

One key development in that regard is the media is being dismantled right in front of our eyes. The biggest agenda setter in the U.S. election was Trump’s Twitter account. He used his own channels to build a movement, which in turn gave him influence. This is a key learning point for our clients, too ¾ "centralized" influence through elites is losing its power. We need to help them build movements to wield influence.

Blurring and shifting

One consequence of this media implosion is audiences are increasingly blurred. This means we need to work in a more integrated manner ¾ across channels and target groups. This is an opportunity for us, and one of our key differentiators versus other communication disciplines is our deep target group insight. When everything needs to be coordinated and integrated on our target groups’ terms, we are best placed to orchestrate effective campaigns.

We also need to understand our audience better. How do they consume information? How do they make decisions? That is why Hill+Knowlton Strategies and our subsidiaries RDI and Group SJR partnered with AIG to examine the role of data in our daily lives. The survey ¾ the first public opinion poll about the public’s attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors about data ¾ found people overwhelmingly still look to data to inform their decisions on transactional matters. On personal matters, though, we are significantly less willing to rely on data alone.

The implosion of media has left us with an explosion of content, as evidenced by our recent research project Thought Leadership Disrupted, carried out in partnership with The Economist Group. People are drowning in content, and facts just don’t cut through in the same way anymore.

We need to marry facts with emotional communications to make an impact. Facts and emotions are a potent combination when delivered in creative and novel ways.

Getting better all the time
We need to continue helping our clients wield influence. But, to do a good job going forward, we need to change. We need to get better at conveying facts in new ways. We need to get better at reaching grassroot influencers. We also need to use creativity to create movements ¾ brand movements or social movements ¾ to ignite change. If we’re able to do that, the megatrends definitely points in our favor. 


More...

  • China's Age of Ambition

  • Clean Business is Good Business: Corporate Governance in a Digital Age

  • People, Not Patients: A new perspective from H+K Health

  • You're Your Own Worst Enemy

Have you registered with us yet?

Register now to enjoy more articles and free email bulletins

Register
Already registered?
Sign in

Resources

  • 40 Under 40

  • Best Places to Work

  • PRWeek Awards US

  • The Power List

  • Pride in PR

  • Brand Film Awards

  • Healthcare & Pharma Communications Awards

  • Agency Business Report

  • Bellwether Survey

  • Women of Distinction

  • Salary Survey

  • Dashboard 25

  • Hall of Fame

  • Health Influencer 30

  • Purpose Awards

  • PRDecoded

  • Webinars

  • Find a Job

  • Podcasts

  • Subscribe to PRWeek

Resources

Up next:

Shaw has worked at PayPal and Edelman.

Meta hires Dan Shaw to spearhead people comms

BLK will fund your date at a Black-owned business

BLK will fund your date at a Black-owned business

The worry is not only that data can be harnessed by prosecutors in states where abortion is illegal. (Photo credit: Getty Images).

Perversely patient-centric? How data brokers figure out you’re pregnant

There are about 9,000 U.S. cases of monkeypox. (Photo credit: Getty Images).

Gilead, LGBTQIA+ orgs unite to combat monkeypox outbreak

How not to talk to kids about vaping, via the Ad Council and American Lung Association

How not to talk to kids about vaping, via the Ad Council and American Lung Association

Tazo will debut the ad on TikTok.

Tazo shows making of ‘regenerative’ TikTok ad to explain tea line

Breakfast Briefing: 5 things for PR pros to know on Tuesday morning

Breakfast Briefing: 5 things for PR pros to know on Tuesday morning

Based in Boston, O'Brien will oversee 12 staffers. (Photo credit: Andy Ryan Photography).

BCW’s Drew O’Brien joins Seven Letter as partner

(Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Visit Orlando hires PR agency for UK and Ireland

Instacart searches for Choco Taco went up 30,000% on July 26.

Choco Taco’s retirement: How its comms team quickly pivoted after backlash


JOIN, SHARE, LIKE, FOLLOW US ON:

  • f
  • t
  • I
  • l
  • yt
About PRWeek
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Advertise
Subscribe
  • Subscribe to PRWeek
  • Newsletters
  • FAQ
Global
  • PRWeek UK
  • Campaign Asia
Haymarket © Haymarket Media Group Ltd. | Terms & Conditions | Cookie Notice | Privacy Notice
IPSO