CIPR publishes crowdsourced 2015 trends book #PR2015

One of my pledges as President of the CIPR for 2014 was to foster a stronger sense of community within the CIPR. The organisation is the sum of its members who hail from its 14 regional and national, and 11 sector groups. Last year we asked each of the groups to look forward to the coming 12-month and share what hot topics and issues that are on the horizon for their members. The book has received almost 20,000 views.

We’ve repeated the exercise this year to create the #PR2015 book of insight and trends affecting public relations. The result is a powerful snapshot of the state of the profession in the UK. You can view the 30-page book on Slideshare below or download a PDF copy by clicking this link.

There are many common themes in #PR2015: content marketing, media change, integration with other areas of the organisation, the blurring of internal and external audiences, regional events and infrastructure projects, an increasing recognition of the strategic value of public relations, and measurement of the economic contribution of public relations.

Some of the specific issues highlighted by contributors in the book include:

• the organisational shift from engagement with publics via the proxy or traditional forms of media, to direct two-way engagement via communities
• infrastructure projects such a road building and superfast broadband as a shot in the arm for regional economies
• emerging local television networks as an opportunity for brands to engage with their audiences on local issues through timely and relevant content
• the ongoing conversation around the devolution of the regions and nations as an opportunity for brand engagement
• sporting events set unite the UK and act as a fillip for regional economies including the Ashes; Tour of Britain; and the 2015 Rugby World Cup
• the General Election set to dominate traditional media and news for at least the first half of the year

Ours is a profession embracing change as public relations shifts beyond the silo of communications and becomes part of every area of a modern organisation from sales to customer service, and from product development to human resources. It is a profession confident of its purpose and future, underpinned by the CIPR’s drive to improve professional standards.

Thanks to all to the contributors and in particular Andy Ross at the CIPR for managing this project and developing this report. His drive and determination is the reason that this publication has been realised.

I’m confident that that you will find #PR2015 useful.