The Evolution of A/E/C Public Relations: A 2020 Line in the Sand
Posted by Communications2 on Oct. 12, 2020 / Member Resource / Subscribe 0
THE EVOLUTION OF A/E/C PUBLIC RELATIONS: A 2020 LINE IN THE SAND
Written by Nicole C. Marshall, CPSM
Public Relations, as a profession, has barely been in existence for 100 years. In that time, the world of business has certainly changed shape – perhaps immeasurably. But in no faster period, like that of 2020, has it possibly seen such permanent change.
The field of public relations is most often defined as ‘the strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.’ Historically, you have also, unfortunately, most likely heard it referred to as the field of ‘spin.’ Today, though, the historic events of 2020 have quite possibly changed the former one-way spin industry at last into the new, dynamic two-way field that we will continue to lean on for many years to come.
No Longer a ‘Dialogue’ Framed by the Ambitions of One Party
For many years, especially in the A/E/C industries, we have allowed public relations to become just the slightest subset of our marketing department. Sometimes referred to even as ‘marketing communications’, we have seen PR portrayed as little more than the wordsmithing of marketing messages in an effort to make them sound less like an advertisement. Finally, though, with new mediums emerging everyday such as social platforms, television applications, and civic gatherings – we find ourselves in a world where the two-way public relations process might finally be forced to grab hold.
As an industry, public relations groups have long prided themselves on serving as a field for the better good. With the intention of building ‘mutually beneficial’ relationships right there in the industry’s own definition above, the truth is that we have most consistently crafted self-serving relationships for much of our profession’s history. Whether the goal is to land new project contracts, garner individual reputational awareness to earn personal acclaim, or to expand our business into new service lines, the A/E/C industry has been quite guilty of utilizing PR simply as a weapon in the marketing toolkit, instead of as a discipline for the furthering of a mutual dialogue with our public audiences.
Today, though, as a result of the never-before-seen communication intensity of 2020, public trust is no longer an offering we might find easily on the table. As a result, the public relations programs of tomorrow are moving down a path to much greater complexity and organizational impact of all kinds.
Public Relations’ Role in Corporate Strategy
As the expectations of our publics become greater in the information age of today, we are finally entering the era where this two-way dialogue needs to affect more than the public relations strategy itself. In many industries, public relations professionals are continuing to earn higher seats at the decision-making table. We need to continue to elevate our own public relations ambitions within the A/E/C industry as well.
What exactly does that look like? Here are three examples of public relations’ value to the A/E/C executive’s agenda:
1. Our Project Pursuits Become a Part of Our Reputation – As members of the communities in which we work, each project we decide to pursue becomes a part of our organization’s reputation. So a Go / No-Go decision should not simply be left to operational, marketing, or finance lenses, but should also be considered through a community impact public reputational lens.
2. Our Internal Culture Is No Longer Kept Internal – In the era of GlassDoor, Facebook, and other open-door online platforms, the actions of our internal decision makers, and their influence over issues like promotions, pay raises, meeting agendas, and otherwise are a mere moment away from publication. So the way we communicate with our own team members has to also be operating within this healthy two-way dialogue format.
3. The Health of Each of Our Publics is Now Our Problem Too – From the mental health challenges faced by people of all kinds this year, to our rapid, collective education in the field of public health, to the impact of environmental health on our individual lives, no one is isolated from the very discussion of life and death anymore. This means that the seriousness of our words and actions as builders, designers, and planners has reached new heights. Being able to talk about the health of our team and the health of our building users or occupants is now becoming a baseline communication talking point. That is a big change from years past.
No Longer a Minimal Marketing Offshoot
Given the complexity, the seriousness, and the sophistication of our messaging needs, it is my prediction that our industry is not far off from its own re-positioning of our public relations roles and public relations decision making.
In the A/E/C sector, the public relations profession should be collaborating with our legal teams as much as our marketing teams; with our human resources teams as much as our business development teams; and above all else, with our company executives. Not simply crafting our own talking points but also studying and considering the input provided to us from public of all kinds, public relations is an expanding field that the building industry will be undoubtedly making more room for in the years ahead.
Nicole Marshall, MBA, CPSM is a Salt Lake City-based public relations consultant specializing in the built environment. Her firm, Curated Communications, supports A/E/C and Real Estate Development firms across the country in Colorado, Chicago, San Francisco, and New Orleans, to name a few. Her work focuses on the establishment and enhancement of public relations and communications programs for small and mid-sized companies. To learn more visit www.curatedcommunications.com.
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