PR in times of Covid-19

Public Relations over the years have evolved and adapted to modern techniques and processes and platforms. From information dissemination to traditional print & radio media to digital forms, PR has swiftly moved to the digital space, still giving the traditional mediums its due importance.

Once in a life time disruptive events like Covid 19 have a severe impact on the lives of people and how they function. Workplaces become smaller, teams start working remotely, work is reviewed online, there is suddenly a need for technology dependency to adopt new tools for ease of doing business.

In these tough times and with all the negative information and with the focus of media houses to highlight about the pandemic, the current challenge is to create a positive information flow which reaches out to the masses and benefits the client. With businesses on a downward, and traditional media houses also reducing the content due to literally no business in the last 2 months or so, clients will take time to recover from this muted period. A bounce back to boost growth is inevitable and there lies a huge opportunity to reach out to the masses with their information. PR companies will have a task at hand with so much information and projects coming their way.

Post Covid-19, which would take a few months or a year, PR would build more on its strength of networking, with credibility and delivery. Clients will want to engage PR companies which have a better reach and network across all mediums and media houses would like to link themselves with credible PR companies which provide right information and generate revenue for them.

While one thought is to cut costs and directly approach the various media houses, companies doing this will realise that its not their core business or strength as there is a cost on information dissemination involved in the process. With their network and time and effort, it would not be economically viable to reach out to media houses on their own and they will have to engage a PR agency. Moreover at time of crisis, it is the PR companies which will sail them through and overcome the tide.

PR having evolved over years and with focus on networking, COVID-19 will have an impact but not to the extent where it disrupts the way PR functions. A few changes we may witness is Press conferences being done with less man power and moving towards digital streaming, PR events with select people and gathering especially the important influencers. Select information disseminated by the media houses to maintain their creditability and quality. The idea is, a selective approach will be implemented and we will see a rise of new niche players who focus on specific sectors. With an outburst of many digital and online information portals, focus will shift to selection of mediums based on clients need and budgets. Credible and clean news channels – print, radio, digital; Critical Influencers will have a major role to play in the selection of information dissemination 

PR has had its share of ups & downs, but the bottom line is nobody can live without it. Managing any company or individual image and news/ information is critical and with the modern day technology where there are countless channels to pass on information including the digital mediums, what goes out and where it goes out will define the success of the project. Networking with the right mix of clients and media houses will be the mantra for a faster turnaround of information dissemination.

Covid-19 or no Covid-19, PR has had the knack of finding its best way to survive and has proved its importance and need time and again.