Skip to content
FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Jonathan Bean

Blog post -

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Jonathan Bean

Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at Mynewsdesk and moderator of FutureComms15, Jonathan Bean shares his thoughts on the state of PR and a glimpse of what to expect from the event... 

1. What can we expect from you at FutureComms15?

I will be moderating the event and interviewing Robert Phillips about his new book, Trust me, PR is Dead. My objective for the day is to ensure that we collectively gain as much knowledge as we can on the future direction of PR and communications as our industry goes through one of the most profound evolutions in its history.

2. Why have you chosen to focus on these areas?

Many in the PR and comms world that I speak to are painfully aware of the need for evolution and revolution in the industry. Equally, many of those individuals are reliant on a pay cheque from either a large agency group or corporation whose business models and practices have been born in another era and they are too afraid to rock the boat! Not Robert Phillips. He left his job as Head of Edelman's European business and has done a lot of thinking about the industry since. My objective will be to find out whether Robert is actually an outsider that sees no benefits to the practice of PR and communications or is just a passionate change maker for an industry that he has risen to the top of.

3. Whose talk/s are you most looking forward to and why?

I am looking forward to all of them. It will be interesting to hear Robert Rose's take on the PR industry from a content marketing perspective and I am looking forward to each and every panel discussion with great panellists and subjects that I know are the centre of conversations at many companies. Also, I am looking forward to hearing from David Schneider as I believe we need to take ourselves far less seriously and have a bit of a laugh!

4. Would you say PR is dead?

PR is not dead. In light of digital transformation requirements and the consequent rise in the importance of earned media, PR and communications could be entering its golden age. This to me is not a sign of a dead industry. However, it is certainly needing to evolve to survive and thrive. The lines between PR and marketing are converging. The leader of one of the worlds largest PR agencies recently told me - he has met with more CMOs in the last 8 months than he has done in the last 8 years; and they have all fallen in love with earned media. 

While many of the skill sets the traditional PR professional has acquired are still very useful, we need to ensure that these skills are complemented with skills in data, ROI measurement and various digital competencies that aren't necessarily associated with a comms professional.

5. What are your views on the current state of PR & content?

There was the rise of SEO in the 2000's, social media over the last 7 years, and more recently, content marketing. And content marketing has become central to many organisations, but so should PR. Now, there are two schools of thought here. Either the PR professional will be at the centre of their organisation's content marketing strategy and execution, using their brand and corporate story and creating valuable content experiences for their audiences. Or, they will simply be used as one distribution channel / function in their organisation and become the poor relation once again of an expanded marketing department whose budget is shifting towards owned and earned media. It will be different in every organisation but I for one hope that more PR and Comms professionals move into the corporate storytelling role, however it is labelled, in the future.

6. What are your predictions for PR and marketing for the next 12 months?

There will be more debates over the identity crisis (that both marketing and PR professionals love to talk about!). But two things are for sure. There will be a continuing shift from paid to earned and owned media within corporate marketing budgets. Whilst some communications professionals will still be regarded as fluffy with no real impact on their organisations success, many in-house teams and their agencies will continue to produce great work in terms of creative ideas and execution that has real impact on an organisations' business objectives. Let us be judged on the great work that we do and not focus on the identity crisis which no-one can control.  


“Mynewsdesk

Topics

Categories

Contacts

Press Officer

Press Officer

Press contact Media inquires
Adam Karseland

Adam Karseland

Press contact Press contact +46 79-075 64 25

Related content

​Is PR Dead: Robert Phillips To Make Rare Speaker Appearance For FutureComms15

​Is PR Dead: Robert Phillips To Make Rare Speaker Appearance For FutureComms15

Controversial author Robert Phillips has been confirmed as a speaker for FutureComms15 - the PR and comms event which is being held at The Crystal, London. Run by PR technology business, Mynewsdesk - it coincides with the release of the paperback version of his book - Trust Me, PR - on Thursday 18th June.

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With David Schneider

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With David Schneider

David Schneider. An actor in Hollywood blockbusters such as Mission Impossible, and Steeve Coogan's I'm Alan Partridge. A stand-up comedian. Oh...and a Twitter obsessive with over 196k followers (not that he's counting) and founder of ThatLot (an agency specialising in viral videos and images) - will be speaking at FutureComms15. Here are a couple of spoilers of what to expect from his talk:

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Robert Rose

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Robert Rose

​Robert Rose – author, chief strategy officer and thought-leader – will be joining us on the 18th June for this year’s FutureComms. We asked Robert a few questions to give us a taster of what’s to come…

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Zoe Clapp

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Zoe Clapp

​Zoe Clapp, Communications Director of the multi award-winning UKTV, gives us a few teasers about her upcoming presentation at FutureComms15...

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Shivvy Jervis

FutureComms15: 5 Minutes With Shivvy Jervis

Editor, presenter and previously named as one of CNN's leading ladies, Shivvy Jervis talks to us ahead of FutureComms15. Here's what she said to say about her talk and the state of PR and comms...

Reputation & Responsibility: The Confident Future Of PR

Reputation & Responsibility: The Confident Future Of PR

The amount written about the identity crisis that the PR industry is currently experiencing astonishes me! In a recent post, the excellent Stephen Waddington claimed the PR industry lacks confidence. I agree with him. It’s also hard to get away from comments about the PR & Communications industry’s need to think and act like MBA’s and improve their knowledge of business.

Futurecomms15: PR’s Stockdale Paradox

Futurecomms15: PR’s Stockdale Paradox

Over the years I've come to see that healthy debate stimulates progress and change. Last week I had the pleasure of chairing Mynewsdesk’s Futurecomms15 in London and the outcome was a good argument. I am tired of events that are just filled of corporate case studies and self congratulatory awards. I guess there is a place for those type of events but this was certainly not one of them...

Video: Highlights from FutureComms15

Video: Highlights from FutureComms15

The biggest PR & communications event, FutureComms15, was held in London on 18th June. What got communications professionals talking and how do we stay on top of our PR game? What seems to be the holy PR grail for brands?

Mynewsdesk - The smart way to improve awareness and relations

Mynewsdesk helps companies create awareness, find the right audience and build strong relationships.

By providing a user-friendly online solution, Mynewsdesk simplifies and streamlines the publishing, distribution and measuring of your PR and communication efforts. All in one digital place. By consolidating all aspects of PR in one platform, brand and media monitoring is also made easy, helping companies track their engagement over time .

Mynewsdesk has 1.6 million unique visitors monthly and publishes 80,000 news stories per year. Over 4,000 companies across the globe trust Mynewsdesk’s platform to improve their PR efforts and 70% gain media uptake on their news.

Find out more at: www.mynewsdesk.com

Mynewsdesk

Rosenlundsgatan 40
11853 Stockholm
Sverige