PR among the digital winners

Two years ago I was on a panel at a PRCA event and predicted a bright future for PR consultancies. The digital market is coming our way, I said, as more attention is paid to effective communication (the stuff PR specialises in) and less to the technology of delivery (which is what digital agencies do best).

Unlike any other prediction I have ever made, including the racing ability of horses and the performance of Arsenal, this one is coming true.

Putting the words together, it turns out, is quite a skilled task and shouldn’t be entrusted to the office intern or the jobbing techie, if you care about your brand.

So the future is bright, which makes it a pleasure for Richmond & Towers to be a sponsor of next week’s PRCA Digital Awards. We’re supporting the Digital Professional Of The Year category, and are very much looking forward to seeing who comes out on top from a very strong field.

I’m going to make another prediction though, which is that these awards won’t exist in a few years’ time. Or rather, that they won’t need to exist as a separate digital event. That’s because the trend that I accurately, if accidentally, forecast is only going to continue. ‘Traditional’ PR and ‘digital’ PR are quickly becoming indivisible and PR – the art of telling the truth well – is now the lead discipline for much of today’s marketing communication. The Digital Professional Of The Year is fast becoming the PR Professional Of The Year.