Written by Tanya Kropacheva

London College of Communication’s second PR Guest Lecture,  supported by Precise, took place last week featuring Weber Shandwick’s UK and EMEA CEO Colin Byrne. Titled 'We know where we’ve been, but where are we going?,' Byrne’s talk considered aspects of PR’s new directions and included tips for the future of the industry – although he also acknowledged that some of this, of course, is difficult to predict given how rapidly changing the industry is.

Byrne started by taking a selfie with the audience, setting a relaxed tone for the presentation. It also led naturally to his first point around the power of smartphones and their influence on our lives. Particularly pertinent was the fact that more people in Africa have access to a smartphone than to a toilet.

While this was a lighthearted way to approach the topic, Byrne spoke at length about how technology and social media make an enormous impact on everyday life and the thus on the ways PR practitioners must operate. Practitioners need to be able to assess the world around them and respond instantaneously. This is particularly true with social media, where we no longer have hours to create thoughtful and planned responses, but instead must react immediately for Twitter.

Byrne used KitKat’s recent and much retweeted example of this trend as it creatively responded to the iPhone 6 bending in people’s pockets scandal. “We don’t bend, we #break #bendgate #iPhone6plus,” the tweet read.

This real-time joke was retweeted 28,000 times and gained great exposure for the brand through social media engagement. Byrne was quick to point out that the budget behind this was £0, and yet it resulted in a powerful PR boost to Kit Kat.

Byrne was clear that although times have changed for the PR industry – and practitioners are adjusting – the PR industry still has a reputation problem. PR is represented, mostly, negatively in popular culture and this is reflected in the minds of people distant from the industry.

In response, Byrne suggests that the best way to lead the PR industry to a better future is with through greater engagement; for example using clients’ language rather than our own and creating establishing a dialogue with society to improve PR’s own reputation.

As a key part of this, Byrne concluded by arguing that the future of PR has to be digital, visual and female. While the first two attributes should be obvious, Byrne sees that the future success of the industry requires a recognition of key female traits: high levels of emotional intelligence and a willingness to listen. The adoption of these values is going to be essential for the PR industry to follow in order to evolve and thrive.

The next lecture will feature Matt Cowan, director of communications at Nelson Bostock who will discuss how PR can help London's tech sector grow.