Creativity and Innovation: How highly prized is creativity and innovation in your area of specialisation? How is it defined?
Creativity and Innovation are buzzwords commonly used in the PR industry, with little consideration of what those words mean and what needs to be done to achieve it. Studies have concluded that 44.4 per cent of journalists felt that PR pitches were dull with little spark (Parker & Kent, 2005, p. 2). This contradicts the notion that Public Relations is renowned as a creative industry, comprised of creative people, producing creative content. It is thought that PR practitioners have an innate sense of creativity, however, creativity is a skill that can be trained, practiced and developed. It is a skill that is not understood and appreciated enough in the public relations sphere (Palea, 2010, p. 20).
De Bono (1971) explains creativity as “breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way”. Public relations practitioners understand creativity as a way to “earn trust, to add value, to change the attitude, behaviour and beliefs of the company’s publics” (Levinson & Levinson, 2008, p. 146). Creativity means to be original, and as Al and Laura Ries state, creativity does not belong in the advertising department, rather it belongs in PR (2004). Creativity has steered from being the instrument for successful advertising; shifting to a means for fulfilling objectives in the public relations department (Palea, 2010, p.20).
Promotional activity is the most common context for creativity in public relations. Product launches, promotional events, public announcements and photo calls are among the many promotional activities that can be made to stand out, or have greater public appeal, if a degree of creative thinking is applied. However, if the product or message being promoted is intrinsically newsworthy, creative thinking is not as important, and at times, not necessary. A simple announcement about a topical subject (such as the controversial quotes of Donald Trump during the presidential election campaign) can be enough to attract large media and public attention. A-list celebrities, strong political profiles and people involved in scandals generally fall into this category. However, a certain degree of creativity is still required to cover these stories; PR practitioners need to create original ways for subjects to be photographed, obscure news angles and new associations with other celebrities to keep their subjects current.
Aside for the particular cases as mentioned, creativity has other roles to play in other areas of PR including internal communications, crisis and risk management, general strategy and nurturing client and media relationships (ContentExtra, 2006, p. 2). As noted in the SpeakEasy Intern Blog from Eisbrenner Public Relations, one intern explains the amount of creative effort involved in producing the weekly internal newsletter, InternalEis, to consistently engage each reader by using fresh and exciting content (2013). Creativity in PR will more than likely result in positive outcomes for clients. The development of creative communication strategies and execution methods can help beat the surrounding competition and get your message heard above the other ‘noise’. An analogy can be used by comparing PR strategy to battle plans on the warfront. For example, in the battle of Troy soldiers were hidden in a Trojan horse in order to penetrate enemy lines. Famous battles have been ones with tactics not previously imagined; creative, unimagined PR strategies aim to have the same outcome. In the case of crisis management, wacky or left-of-centre ideas are sometimes required to combat anticipated media attention, distilling unfortunate information and creating empathy for those affected by the situation. This kind of creative thinking has the ability to contain and control, an otherwise adverse, situation.
Although it is important to be creative in PR as a point of differentiation, it is also a necessity in adapting to an ever changing and complex media landscape (Parker, Wayne & Kent, 2005, p. 5). PR practitioners must now deal with the constant changes to the media landscape brought about by technological innovation and development (Palea, 2010, p. 22) making it far more complex. Internet and social media are gaining more territory with publics no longer being reached by traditional means. This new online landscape, fuelled by social media, is a wiry mess of different mediums and platforms of communications. There exists a mess of channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, Snap Chat, YouTube, KiK, Twitter among many others. PR practitioners must not only understand this complex online environment, but creatively execute messages that compliment each social media channel.
Creativity in public relations is not only measured by the outcomes of various promotional activities. Creativity is now viewed as “a central element in organisational culture” (Sudhaman, 2015). Now PR agencies are devoting more resources to nursing their employees’ creativity (Sudhaman, 2015). The creativity that arises in PR agencies comes from the practices of top level management. In a study titled ‘The Effects of Leader Communication on Worker Innovation’, it was found that there was a positive relationships between a manager or leader’s communication abilities and worker innovation and creativity (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2004). Clegg describes the Five Way Course to Creativity in five simple terms:
1. Culture
2. Techniques
3. Personal development (through training)
4. Mental energy, and
5. Fun
If any given PR agency wishes to achieve excellence, defined as “stakeholder satisfaction and long-term business success” (Parker et al. 2005, p. 7), it must create an environment where the “creativity of the employee is nurtured, developed and sustained through education and training, involvement and teamwork” (Eskildsen, Dahlgaard & Norgaard, 1992, p. 524). This commitment to creating a suitable environment for creative thinking and action can achieve positive outcomes. Studies have shown that 73% of in-house practitioners are more likely to approach their management with big creative ideas (Sudhaman, 2015). Responses were also collected from PR agency clients, who have highly rated creativity as a fundamental element in their decision to retain an agency (Sudhaman, 2015).
Creativity is highly prized in the PR profession. Creativity demonstrates the agency’s ability to adapt to an ever-changing market place. Creativity has positive outcomes for PR practitioners and their clients for this reason. They are now able to deliver new and different ways to engage with their target market and successfully relay their messages. However, creativity is not only highly regarded in PR for the positive outcomes it achieves, but the positive work culture it creates. A workplace that nurtures creativity and creative freedom creates a fun and dynamic workforce who will dedicate themselves, knowing they can freely express their ideas.
References:
· Content Extra, 2006, The Importance of Creativity to the PR Profession, Content Extra, London.
· De Bono, E. 1971. ‘Lateral Thinking for Management — A Handbook’, American Management Association.
· Eskildsen, J., Dahlgaard, J. & Norgaard, A. 1999. ‘The Impact of Creativity and Learning on Business Excellence’, Journal of Total Quality Management, Vol. 10, No. 4–5, pp. 523–530.
· Levinson, J. & Levinson, J. 2008. Startup Guide to Guerrilla Marketing : A Simple Battle Plan For Boosting Profits, e-book, [Accessed 1st April 2016] <http://RMIT.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=679711>
· Ries, A & Ries, L. 2004. The fall of advertising and the rise of PR. HarperBusiness, New York.
· Speak Easy Intern Blog. 2013. The Importance of Creativity and Adaptability in Public Relations, 24 June, available at http://www.eisbrenner.com/the-importance-of-creativity-and-adaptability-in-public-relations/, [accessed on 1st April 2016].
· Sudhaman, A. 2015. ‘Creativity in PR 2015: Industry Embraces Creative Role as Client Demands Rise’, Creativity in PR 2015, Holmes Report, available at http://www.holmesreport.com/research/article/creativity-in-pr-2015-industry-embraces-creative-role-as-client-demands-rise, [accessed on 1st April 2016]