Cyndie Bettant, Cision Brand, Marketing & Impact Leader and Editorial Director Culture RP and Marc Michiels, Editor-in-Chief Culture RP wanted to hear the feedback from some of the contributors to the Culture RP Cross Gen’ book.
Would they have written the same text today? How do they see the future of their profession? How do they want to support younger generations? And if talking about Culture RP Cross Gen’ expresses the outcome of these subsequent digital transformations, it is also a positive vision of the future…
The floor is given to Anne Vulliez, specialist in brand identity and engagement communication.
Co-construction, guarantee of a roadmap in line with the need for a new value contract by brands.
What comments would you make? at work?
Many thanks to Cyndie and you Marc for offering us these pearls which trace the evolution of the communicator’s profession, as complex as it is fascinating. By reading the different chapters, we can effectively measure the impact of transformations – digital, social, environmental – on the profession.
Also good for the format, practical and educational.
I also like this little conversion between you.
If I had to recommend the book RP Cross Gen’ Culture to someone, what kind of profile would it be and what would you say to convince them?
In my opinionCulture RP Cross Gen it goes well beyond the scope of Press or Public Relations and addresses the drivers of brand strategy, who need to consolidate the connection with their entire ecosystem. It therefore invites brands to rethink their role in society because they are now evaluated based on their ability to respond to a collective need on an economic but also ecological and social level.
What has changed in the last 10 years in the way products and brands are presented to consumers?
Today we live in a society based on mistrust. And the omnipresence of digital in our daily lives, characterized by immediacy and the injunction to transparency, constitutes a dazzling accelerator for pointing the finger at those who are not worthy of trust. We can clearly see here the challenge that brands face to build new values and contribute to consumer reassurance. This was also the topic of my column on RP culture, in 2020: “On the road to a new value contract.” For brand managers as we are, this means resonating with our audience to create closeness and therefore complicity, a prerequisite for any authentic relationship. Consumers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and other actors who constitute the stakeholders of an ecosystem of mutual trust capable of co-building the history of the brand over time and of adopting the appropriate posture in each chapter of this history, in short of (re)giving it means.
How would you define “PR culture”? In your opinion, is it sufficiently taught/transmitted to future communicators to become “Cross Gen”?
If younger generations actually feel a disenchantment with PR, perhaps it is because they retain the image – or even practices, of PR from another era that is now obsolete. Trying in vain to send a standardized CP to all the editorial offices, thinking that you have “done the job”, and hoping to be relaunched, in reality is not of much interest. On the other hand, empathizing with a journalist chosen for his favorite topics and for the editorial line of his media (paper or digital for that matter) is much more stimulating. It will then be a matter of equipping him by demonstrating the impact of his action, editorially and numerically, to encourage him to do so. Return to the fundamentals of human relationships.
How do you see PR culture navigating the future? What are the emerging business trends, the weak points of PR to work on and, conversely, its strengths to sublimate?
We have moved from a transactional model to a conversational model in which brands work to start conversations with their audiences in order to create a connection with them, for daily complicity. But here too, vigilance. The words, no matter how touching, remain just words, they have yet to be translated into actions. A necessary coherence, a necessary alignment between purpose, brand discourse and impact of its action. A speech that keeps its promises and knows how to apologize when it doesn’t keep them. Relationship basics, again.
Artificial intelligence is already on everyone’s mind, what impact will it have on public relations professionals? Is this good news for the profession?
I think we’re having the wrong debate about generative AI. The risk is not of being replaced by AI, but of being replaced by a person who masters it. Of course, it saves time, produces quality standard content, summarizes and generates volume. What about the creativity and attractiveness of the content?
More than ever, the profession will stand out if it develops differentiating branded content, based on a reason for being, beliefs, values and an emotional relationship that cannot be imitated or neutralized by an artificial intelligence. The profession must also be a guarantor of overall coherence.
And for this we will have to return to the field, meet individuals in real life and in their world. The other battle is that of disinformation which is accelerating with the proliferation of deep fakes, false announcements, false launches, etc. Hence the need for increasingly targeted monitoring, to cite one’s sources…
Are PR professionals ready?
Do they have a choice?
What would you say to people who still doubt the strength of public relations culture?
The PR culture will be strong if the profession equips itself with the means.
Given the many challenges ahead, it seems to me that this is a rather exciting playing field.
What if I have a question for the authors?
Given the speed with which the profession is evolving, are you thinking of a next edition within 10 years 🙂?
Culture RP Cross Gen’, the key skills of the new BRAND CULTURE MANAGER.
What should be the future of the communicator profession? What current and future skills are essential? After years of promotional campaigns that have not always worked to the benefit of consumers, communication must now regain the trust of the public, who are increasingly demanding, more informed, more active and less loyal.
1min30 Hydraulics / Preface: Caterina CervoniPR consultant, media and influencer, expert in PR 2.0, social media and content marketing.
Buy the book: Fnac, Amazon, Leclerc…
Renewing this relationship will involve developing a true brand culture that is authentic, engaged and sustainable. This book reflects 10 years of social, technological and professional developments and allows communicators of all ages to identify the transformations to implement to orient their role towards the transversal management of brand culture.
Authors :
Cyndie Bettant, Brand, Impact & Communication Leader at Cision for almost 10 years and responsible for publishing the Culture RP blog, Cyndie organizes meetings, conferences and interviews to share the evolution of communication and understand the growing challenges brands face. In each of your experiences, you have always placed people and new technologies as the main levers of performance and push communication professionals to reinvent themselves with a more inclusive, more transversal, more strategic and more digital vision of their profession.
LinkedIn : https://fr.linkedin.com/in/cyndiebettant
Marc Michiels, passionate about Japan, author of about ten works between photography and writing, Marc Michiels loves to be where you don’t expect it! To all those who exercise in their actions a luminous singularity and a respectful blend of the colors of each… He supports the blog Culture RP – Cision France, since 2016 as chief editor and Content Marketing, Social Media Manager since 2012 The notoriety of brands for regarding the transformation of uses and intercultural dialogue is its emblem: “Being resonant in life, today, means coming to life, it is also inspiring, involving and shining beyond an elegant triptych to formalize complex thoughts at the service of all… a “Brand Culture of influence” in a certain sense! “.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/michielsmarc/
