In today’s scenario, because of the increasing use of smartphones and digital media each and everyone has a voice that can reach millions, this has made the role of PR all the more challenging. To create a prominent presence in such competition, a PR person has to come up with original and outstanding ideas regularly. There is so much content available for the people to read or watch on different platforms, this makes the public selective of what they invest their time in. According to a study by Microsoft, the average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds. This means that as PR professionals we have eight seconds to hold the interest of our target audience. This is where creativity plays a major role, this can only be done if your idea or approach is creative enough and calls out to the target audience. Public relation is the voice of the brand/company and creativity helps in making that voice clear and distinct. Public relation makes sure that the brand is heard properly, it builds and nurtures the brand reputation and helps it grow in the market.
Following are two examples of PR campaigns that justify the need for creativity in PR and how it can bring a positive change if used effectively:
In 2017, an Investment firm, State Street Global Advisor called out companies for having great gender disparity on their board and raised a fund to invest in companies with more women in leadership. To promote this thought the company organised a PR activity on International Women’s Day by installing a bronze statue of a strong little girl staring down the iconic charging bull on Wall Street, New York. This activity did not only gain billions of social media impressions but also touched the emotions of people by tapping on a sensitive issue with such creativity. This shows that creativity in PR if exercised correctly can make a huge change.
Related: Public Relations Campaign of Titan Company
Trash Isles is a country made out of trash. On World Oceans Day the Plastic Oceans Foundation and LadBible submitted an application to the UN to make the trash isles an official country. Until then all the governments of different countries were ignoring this big problem because they were not liable for it legally. This change made the countries bound to help with the plastic and trash collected in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. To make it into an official country the Trash Isles began citizenship applications online and within a short period, it had more citizens than some countries. The country had a flag, currency and even the passport for its citizens. The campaign got millions of media impressions and support from different countries. This was a highly creative PR campaign that was acknowledged on different platforms.
Public relation is establishing the communication between the public and the brand and if creativity is used effectively in PR it can also bring change in the society while further elevating the brand. PR needs creativity and innovation regularly to build a reputation.
–Sakshi Jain
Sakshi Jain is an alumna of part of the Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. She interned with Adfactors PR Mumbai and was recruited by the firm for full time roles. She holds a BA degree in Mass Communication from Prestige Institute of Management and Research, Indore. She has done a two-month internship with Aim High Consulting, Bengaluru. Her interest in the field of communication and Public Relations comes from her love for reading, writing and meeting new people. She is always keen on learning new things. Apart from that, she is in love with food, dance and cinema.
