The future of European public relations: key findings from the ECM report

Trust and alignment with management remain top challenges for the European public relations profession.

The latest edition of the European Communication Monitor (ECM) identifies public relations management's most important strategic issues in the past 15 years. The research programme conducted by five European universities also addresses future issues.

Organisational trust and aligning public relations with management and business strategy are the leading longstanding issues for public relations practice.

Trust is an important intangible asset that provides an organisation with a licence to operate within a market or the broader public sphere. Practitioners continuously prioritise it over multiple other values created by public relations activity.

Alignment between public relations and management is also a longstanding issue for practice. Research has addressed many issues but has repeatedly failed to cut through to practice. These include the business model of public relations functions, measurement and evaluation, and benchmarking public relations practices.

This is my own area of doctoral research. My analysis is consistent with the report.

Sustainability and social responsibility have also been a main concern for European communicators. These issues became less important between 2008 and 2022 because of the financial crash but are now among the top three strategic issues again.

The challenges and opportunities related to the intensified speed and volume of information flow in an increasingly digitalised and globalised world is also cited as an issue.

The study identifies key insights and drivers of success for the next decade.

Leverage potential of data and tools

Digitalisation is the most important trigger and backbone for the rapid transformation of agencies and public relations functions. This transformation goes well beyond new channels and forms of stakeholder communication. It fundamentally impacts the structures and workflows of communication management and the communication profession.

Develop specialist competencies and new roles for professionals

Managing and executing strategic communication in a global and mediatised world is a complex task. Few other professions change so quickly. The move towards engagement across multiple media platforms, the use and management of large data sets and the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) require new competencies. They must be addressed to enable practitioners to keep up with the sector’s evolution.

Reach and impact audiences in a hyperconnected world

Globalised media, analogue and digital have produced a hyperconnected world in which communication is not only connecting people and organisations but is becoming the environment in which we live. Reaching and impacting audiences is becoming easier and harder for organisations simultaneously. The mediatisation of our lives calls for new ways to understand and manage media and relations with stakeholders.

Lead and motivate public relations teams

Excellent communication depends on advanced technology, media, and skilled practitioners – but also on diverse teams that foster collaboration and innovation. The ECM and related studies in other continents have researched these aspects in detail to identify drivers of success.

Build relationships in times of misinformation and distrust

Trust in the media and other institutions has declined across Europe over the last decade. While the rise of social media has opened dynamic spaces for meaningful and interactive stakeholder engagement, it has also spawned new challenges for strategic communication.

As content on social networking sites is shared in real-time and with little ability for editorial filtering or fact-checking, misinformation is now common in digital online environments.

The ECM 2023 Report concludes the successful phase of this transnational study based on a broad quantitative research design. You can download the full report and previous studies from the ECM website. The research project will recommence in 2024 with a new, more focused, and advanced research design to be announced later this year.

ECM is a collaborative research project led by Ansgar Zerfass (Leipzig University, Germany), Dejan Verčič (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), Ángeles Moreno (University Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain), Ralph Tench (Leeds Beckett University, UK), and Alexander Buhmann (BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway).