Mynewsday 2021 - Megatrends in PR and communication

Let us introduce Brian L. Due, one of the inspiring keynote speakers at this year’s Mynewsday. Brian has worked as a consultant, editor and researcher in communication, PR and marketing since 2000. Today he is an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, where he researches emerging new technologies and their impact on social life. His presentation at Mynewsday will focus on the major trends in the near future that affect the PR field.

Brian is renowned for his work on new trends and the consequences of digital transformation, which he recently published in the book “Langt fra Silicon Valley: Digital transformation i danske virksomheder”. These trends and how they affect the PR and communications industry will be the focal point in Brian’s presentation at Mynewsday the 11th of November - as well as advice on how to keep up with them.

Your session will focus on trends, new technologies and how it will affect people within the PR and communication industry in the future. What will this year's participants on Mynewsday learn from you?
I will focus on 5 megatrends post-corona that have consequences for PR and communication:

• The digital transformation into working from home and rethinking office spaces.
• Commtech, the rise of the Metaverse and the use of AI in PR.
• Wokeness and the need for climate and gender initiatives.
• The human touch, and how service design thinking has evolved in a changing world.
• Ethics and the challenges of using data, the rising surveillance capitalism and the growing public resistance.

You have a long resume with a great experience with more than 15 years in PR, communication and marketing. How did you end up as an associate professor?
I have a background in philosophy and social science. My first job was as co-editor in the Danish publication Kommunikationsforum. I then wanted to go into academia and did a PhD about the practices of innovation. I got an appointment as assistant and later associate professor at Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen. The reason I enjoy the academic world so much is because I think it’s such a great luxury to be able to dive into deep research over any spark of curiosity about what is going on in the world.

In your role as professor at University of Copenhagen, what do you think is the most important message you can send to your students?
Be passionate about something. Find out what really interests you and spend time digging into it. Dare to be creative and step outside of the dogmatic road and dogmatic paradigms. And work hard. Don’t think too much about a straight career. If you are passionate and good at whatever you are doing, interesting jobs will follow.

What skill do you think will be important to have in the future, to be a successful communicator?
Not all people in communication should do the same job. But there will surely be fewer PR-people writing short simple texts because AI will do that. Much will be automated. Instead, more people will need to specialize in either being strategic counselors and advisors with regard to branding, internal processes and/or making highly creative content, or go in the more techy direction and be able to work alongside advanced computer systems with expertise in systems.

Give us your biggest trend within PR and communication for the future
The key task is always to be relevant just where the customers (or employees) are, and in the future everyone will increasingly and constantly be living phygital (physical + digital). Our physical lives will be immersed in larger and larger digital universes; in what Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg in his visions calls a Metaverse. This world will be filled with messages and commercials and designed to be loved by PR and communication. However, I am not a technology determinist: I do not believe that technology determines the development of our society’s social structure and cultural values. I don’t believe that technology is the solution to all problems. And I do hope that we will see the emergence of digital infrastructures that are not governed by a few big tech companies.

Mynewsday is one of the biggest industry gatherings for marketers, PR professionals and communicators across the Nordics. The event takes place on November 11th and this year's theme is The Future of PR and Communications. Make sure not to miss it by signing up for free here!