The Role of an M&A Advisor and Tips for Choosing One | M&AAdvisory Insights

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Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are significant for any business, especially when selling. An M&A advisor acts as a guide, strategist, and negotiator to help ensure a successful transaction. Sellers often need the expertise advisors bring since buyers tend to have more experience with acquisitions.

Key Functions of an M&A Advisor:

  1. Valuation and Preparation: Advisors assess business value and help prepare it for sale, enhancing its appeal.
  2. Marketing and Buyer/Seller Search: They leverage networks to find suitable buyers discreetly and craft attractive narratives to present the business.
  3. Negotiation and Deal Structuring: Advisors handle negotiations objectively and structure deals that meet your goals.
  4. Due Diligence and Closing: They manage due diligence, coordinate with professionals, and ensure a smooth closing.

Choosing an advisor ensures the expertise needed for a successful M&A process.

How to Select the Right M&A Advisor:

Choosing the right M&A advisor is essential for a successful transaction. Here’s what to consider:

Legal Requirements: In the UK, advisors must be qualified accountants from a Chartered body or be registered with the FCA for financial expertise in M&A processes.

Industry Knowledge: An advisor familiar with your industry provides accurate valuations, targeted outreach, and effective negotiations.

Track Record: Look for a strong history of successful deals in your industry.

Network: Connections to buyers, private equity, and banks can open valuable opportunities.

Communication: Choose someone transparent, proactive, and consistent in keeping you updated.

Fee Structure: Understand and align the advisor’s fees with your budget and deal size.

Cultural Fit: Good chemistry ensures smoother collaboration over the course of the transaction.

An M&A advisor meeting legal requirements, understanding your industry, and aligning with your goals is key to a successful deal.

Learn more 

Are Earnouts Going the Way of Skinny Jeans? | M&AAdvisory Insights

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Earnouts, once the “skinny jeans” of M&A deals, are increasingly falling out of favour. For years, they were the perfect compromise: buyers could defer risk, and sellers had a clear incentive to deliver strong post-deal performance. But just like skinny jeans, their time in the spotlight seems to be fading—and for good reason.

At the heart of the issue is a tug-of-war over ownership and operational control. With an earnout in place, legal ownership doesn’t fully transfer until the final payment is made. For buyers, this is a logistical nightmare. They can’t fully integrate the acquired business, align cultures, or execute strategic changes without risking disputes. In fast-moving sectors like marketing communications, this delay can mean missed opportunities or, worse, a loss of competitive edge.

Sellers are also rethinking their stance on earnouts. These structures often breed conflict, as both sides struggle to agree on post-acquisition metrics like revenue, costs, and strategy. What starts as a collaborative partnership can quickly turn into a contentious negotiation, souring what was supposed to be a win-win deal.

What’s Taking Their Place?
Newer, more flexible deal structures are stepping into the spotlight. For example:

  • Minority Retentions or Buyer Shares: Sellers keep a stake in their business or take equity in the buyer. This aligns interests on both sides while giving buyers the operational control they need. Sellers benefit from future growth potential and can exit later—often at a higher valuation.
  • Deferred Payments and Price Adjustments: These alternatives tie payouts to pre-closing performance, sidestepping the common friction points of earnouts while still sharing risk.

These options offer a balance: buyers can integrate without delay, and sellers gain clarity and the chance for a second bite at the apple.

The Bottom Line
Earnouts still have their place, particularly in deals where future performance is unpredictable. But their rigidity doesn’t suit today’s demand for agility. Buyers want seamless integration; sellers want fairness and transparency. Neither side wants to be bogged down by the legal or emotional baggage of a complicated earnout structure.

So, are earnouts completely out of style? Not quite—but they’re no longer a default choice. Like skinny jeans, they’ll still work in the right situation, but only when the fit is just right.

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Ten PR and Communications Industry Leaders Set to Speak at the World PR Day Fireside Chats on July 15 and 18

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Ten notable PR and communications professionals from across the world have been confirmed to speak at the World PR Day Fireside Chats on Twitter Spaces on Friday, July 15, 2022 and Monday, July 18, 2022 as part of the annual celebrations.

Themed “Trust, Truth and Transparency”, the second edition presents another opportunity for professionals to put forward a unified global agenda and propel each other to answer a call of duty, help stakeholders to communicate more responsibly and be more deliberate about using public relations to build, innovate and develop.

“The Fireside Chats give us an opportunity to hear from revered professionals across the globe on the need for practitioners to help people, companies and governments communicate more honestly and responsibly,” Convener, World PR Day, Ayeni Adekunle says.

Amongst the speakers are leaders of global PR associations, agencies, media and companies:

Alastair McCapra, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)

Alastair McCapra, who has been Chief Executive of the CIPR since 2013 after working for several other professional membership associations, will join the fireside chat as a speaker. Alastair is renowned for introducing corporate affiliate membership, a new chartership assessment process taking the CIPR virtual in 2020. Nearly tripling the number of members who complete CPD each year is the achievement he rates as his most important.





Emma Wenani Chief Director, GMA Worldwide


Emma Wenani is a Communications Professional (Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Project Management and Events Management) with over 10 years of experience working in different capacities at senior management level in mainly consulting and media firms. Confirmed as the moderator of the fireside chat; Emma currently oversees the Communication Units for Global Media Alliance Group as its Chief Director leading her teams in providing strategic and objective advisory services to the clients they work with. The team currently works with and services clients in the telecommunication, banking, agriculture, non-governmental, nutrition, government, technology industries among others.

 

 

 

Francis Ingham, Director General of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA)

Francis Ingham: For the past 15 years, Francis Ingham has been Director General of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), operating out of London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires and Dubai. Since 2013, he has also held the position of Chief Executive of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO). Representing over 35,000 practitioners, PRCA is the largest PR professional body in the world. ICCO is the global voice of public relations associations and its membership comprises 41 national trade associations, collectively representing over 3,000 PR firms.

 

 

 

 

Jacob Puthenparambil_Founder & CEO, Redhill

Jacob Puthenparambil is a communications expert, opinion leader, author, serial entrepreneur, and business leader with over two decades of global experience. Jacob is also the founder and CEO of Redhill, a global communications agency. Headquartered in Singapore and with a presence in eighteen countries and twenty-one cities, Jacob oversees a team of more than 150 talent across Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, India, Greater China, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia, along with growing teams in the Middle East, Europe, and the US.

 

 

 

Nitin Mantri, President, International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO)

Nitin Mantri is a dynamic leader in the world of communications. He’s the Group CEO of Avian WE and the President of International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO). He is also a member of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA)’s Global Advisory Board and Co-Chair of PRCA Asia Pacific and PRCA Ethics Council. He was the President of the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) for five years – from 2015 to 2020.

 

 

 

 

Obabiyi Fagade, Marketing Manager Heineken, Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe

Obabiyi Fagade is the Trade Marketing Manager for the Africa Middle East and Eastern Europe region at Heineken. In this role, he is responsible for identifying and unlocking growth opportunities, developing commercial toolkits for brand building and ensuring alignment and consistency of local brand initiatives with its global strategy. He has developed various global Heineken campaigns, especially for the brand’s biggest football sponsorship platform – The UEFA Champions league.
An experienced and award-winning marketing professional, Obabiyi is skilled in the development of digital communication and individualised data-driven marketing (iDDM). He is particularly skilled and experienced in Marketing Management, Innovation Management, Integrated Marketing Communication, Advertising, and Brand Activation.

 

 

Rachel Roberts, President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)

Rachel Roberts is the Founder and CEO of an award winning UK PR practice, spottydog communications. She is also currently serving as the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and is a CIPR Chartered Practitioner. Rachel has worked as a communications consultant for over 20 years operating in-house for British Telecom and charity Cancer Research UK, and within the consultancy sector at Jackie Cooper PR (now part of Edelman) and Harrison Cowley (now part of Grayling).
In 2010, Rachel founded spottydog communications as an independent consultancy in Birmingham, UK and has organically grown the business to create the 20-strong team that now exists, picking up over 30 industry awards along the way, including in 2019 the accolade of PRCA’s DARE Awards Industry Leader of the Year.

 

Steve Barrett, Editorial Director, PRWeek

Steve Barrett: As the VP and Editorial Director, of PRWeek & Campaign US, Steve oversees content operations across Haymarket Media’s flagship business titles – PRWeek and Campaign US. In 2021, he received the Timothy White Award, named after the longtime editor of Billboard Magazine, which is given out annually by the Jesse H. Neal Awards to an editor whose work displays courage, integrity and passion. PRWeek is the premier global media business brand for the communications and PR industries, publishing online and in print.

 

 

Sylvester Chauke, Chief Architect – DNA Brand Architects

Sylvester Chauke: CNBC Africa Young Business Leader of the Year 2017, Sylvester is a multi-ward winning entrepreneur and founder of Adweek’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Agency in the world 2020, DNA Brand Architects.
After a lustrous career as the National Marketing Manager for Nando’s South Africa, Sylvester joined broadcasting giant, MTV Networks Afric,a as its Director of Marketing and Communication before establishing DNA Brand Architects; working with some of the most revered global brands on the African continent.
Besides running South Africa’s Large PR Agency of the Year 2021, Sylvester Chauke is one of the 22 young leaders from around the world sitting as the Advisory Council for the World Economic Forum Global Shapers and was selected to join the Harambe Entrepreneurs Alliance in 2018.





Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, President, African Public Relations Association (APRA) and Group Managing Director, CMC Connect (Perception Managers)

Yomi Badejo-Okusanya is the Group Managing Director, CMC Connect (Perception Managers) with over 30 years to his credit. He started his career in 1988 and he later founded CMC Connect Limited in 1992.
He is is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) where he was past Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter. He also sits on the boards of several blue-chip companies in Nigeria.
As part of his continued efforts at mainstreaming Africa into global public relations practice, Yomi has served as a Board Member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA). His love for Africa is evident in his selfless service to the African Public Relations Association (APRA) where he served as a two-term Secretary-General and is the current President. He was recently appointed as West Africa Chair for the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).

 

 

Details on how to participate in the 2022 World PR Day celebrations are available on the World PR Day website – wprd.app/world-pr-day-2022.

Does Transparency Pay Off?

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And other strategies for delivering good service

By Remek Gabrys, Commercial Director, Sapio Research

 

“Unfortunately, I will not be able to help on this occasion”. How often were you brave enough to say this to your existing or prospective client?

It was only a few months ago when I moved to Sapio Research, 10 years+ into my client management career, that I saw the whole team being encouraged to do this.  It felt really refreshing!

Market research is a fascinating and important industry. It should never be underestimated. It helps to make educated business decisions, provides justification for strategic investments, identifies new opportunities, lowers business risks and much more. Market research is behind the sustainability of organisations, no matter how big or small they are. I’ve been a part of it for many years now and I still love it!

On the other hand, it is also a very competitive industry. Over the last decade since I’ve been working in the industry, market research agencies started to pop up everywhere like mushrooms after the summer rain. UK, US, Asia… the numbers are growing, and everyone constantly thinks about new and innovative ways to position themselves in front of clients as “Global Leaders”. Marketing departments are swamped with demands for new campaigns. New business roles are created.

Online panel providers cannot stop informing potential clients about how many respondents they can reach, how fast, how cheaply and where. These figures do not go up in tens or hundreds of thousands of people. We are talking about millions now! Looking closely, we see these are not real as usually the number of active panelists is much lower than that, but hey! Seven digits always look better than let’s say five, right? In my experience, many qualitative providers, both for in-person and online research, do pretty much the same too. Boasting about their facilities (many of them without convenient ways of getting there), recruitment capabilities, quality of respondents they can provide etc. Again, a lot of information is not entirely true and goes straight into the same bucket called “marketing tricks”.

Looking at all this, I cannot help but notice that somehow the market research industry created (knowingly or not) a bit of a toxic melting pot. Clients started to learn that not everything we tell them is as we describe it. They started to pay less attention to the quality of research and its genuineness, mostly focusing on cost and fast turnaround. The idea of loyalty went out of the window a long time ago, as there is no need for it right now.  And who could blame them?

It is us as research providers who put more attention on quantity instead of quality. It is the industry ready to sell services for the sake of selling them (quite often this practice is being encouraged from the very top of the leadership). It is us who are ready to lower costs to the point of running projects for pennies, just to bring another name on the board, so we can shout about how many new clients we have and how fast our portfolios are growing. Clients see all that and rightly take advantage of it on regular basis. At the same time, the understanding of real market research value diminishes right before our eyes. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. – Does this resonate in the PR & Comms market too?

What is the solution to all this? Transparency!

One of Sapio Research’s values is being forthright (together with friendly, fast and flexible), and I cannot stress enough how important it is. Not just to me personally, but also to our clients. The combined experience of our Team is up to the highest level and research solutions we bring to our clients are simply outstanding. I know, I’ve worked with a lot of teams.

However, would I say we are the best in the industry, or that we are the “Global Leader”? No, I would not. Not because I do not like this type of statement but because this would be a stretch. Because we are aware of our limitations and shortcomings, and we are not afraid to admit it, especially when talking to our clients. And neither should you! Although we all need to strive for the excellence in fields we specialise in, it is pivotal to know what we can and cannot do. Simple as that.

So, while I entirely appreciate it is not easy to admit to this common ‘over exaggeration’ practice, I would advise market research (or any other) agencies to stop saying you “are the ‘best'”, as you are probably not. Stop describing yourself as a global leader because there is really no such thing (well, at least not for long). Stop creating unreal statistics because all you do is paint a misleading picture, which affects the whole industry. Just be honest. In every aspect of your work.

In the long run, there is nothing better than that. Perhaps going back to basics and reminding ourselves about this can help us rebuild the industry’s reputation and best practices.

Whether research or PR agency, instead of blowing our own trumpet, what about the following?

  • Do not be afraid to admit that there is something you do not understand. From the moment you receive the brief, it is all right to let the client know there are bits which are blurry and to ask for clarification.
  • Provide the feedback based on your expertise and knowledge if changes to it are needed. Clients do not need to be research (or PR) savvy. We are the experts; therefore, we should be positioning ourselves as such (even if it means tweaking the brief).
  • Do not overcommit on what you can deliver and where. Being truthful is important and trust me, if you are not, your client will very quickly figure that out.
  • Do not change your cost after the project is commissioned! It is extremely unprofessional and leaves a long-lasting negative impression. It is fine not to be sure about certain aspects of the projects, especially those which are niche. At the same time, it is not that difficult to let the client know about your assumptions, estimates or provide different cost options based on different scenarios. All this at the bidding stage though, not after the sign off.
  • Keep your clients informed and in the loop. They are often new to market research and giving them reassurance about the progress is crucial for developing a strong relationship
  • Stick to your deadlines. The outcome you provide is only the first step in their journey and not doing this can have some serious consequences.
  • Ask for feedback after project completion. Real, honest feedback! It is a constant learning process for all involved and knowing how your performance is ranked should be considered one of the biggest assets for your company.
  • Finally, do not be afraid to educate your clients. Either by providing them with a real picture of the process or by offering some complimentary learning sessions to make them better equipped too. For example, Sapio Research offers “Lunch & Learn” sessions for teams from different sectors and in different markets. All this with remarkable success and appreciation.

 

Do not get me wrong here, please. I am not trying to slag off the industry I love. I know plenty of fantastic market research agencies around. I was part of some of them. Sometimes I was a client too. My point is that unfortunately there are still some “bad apples” out there and I hope that one day there will be absolutely none. Once that happens, we can all get back to being proud of what we do and the industry we represent.

 

Team Indonesia Win Gold at Cannes Young PR Lions

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Indonesia’s Randy Handoko and Joshua Tjandra, creatives at Leo Burnett Jakarta, are the winners of this year’s Cannes Young PR Lions competition. The team from Colombia, Rony Saavedra and Manuel Barbosa Granados won Silver, and from Germany, Alexander Walter and Katharina Kiriakou claimed Bronze.

At the global final, Randy and Joshua competed against 26 national winners to be crowned the world’s best young PR creatives. Teams had 24 hours to create a global campaign based on a detailed brief from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The brief challenged competitors to create a campaign that would get the attention from youth around the world to help make a video combating racism. The winning campaign idea was a flight anti-racism video – a safety video created by youth around the world that protects travellers against racism.

Rob Morbin, ICCO Deputy Chief Executive, said:

“Congratulations Randy and Joshua, for developing a powerful campaign that I hope will come to life on every in-flight screen across the world. Their winning work sets the bar for the entire industry and is a celebration of creativity’s power to change the world for the better.”


Also, to our UK-based colleagues, on Wednesday, 29th June, the PRCA will be hosting a Cannes Debrief: Digital & Creative Groups (in-person networking) event for all interested to hear first-hand about what caught the judges’ attention this year.

Social & Influencer Lions Jury President, Caitlin Ryan – VP Creative Shop EMEA at Meta, in conversation with PRCA Digital Co-Chair, Candace Kuss, will show award-winning case studies, talk about inspiring work and emerging themes, and share top tips for 2023 submissions.

If you’d like to reserve a seat for this event, please register your interest here!

Dark Social: What Every PR Professional Needs to Know

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By: Richard Benson, Founder, Releasd

 

Dark social. Never heard of it? You are not alone! However, research shows that most of the content generated by the PR industry is being shared and talked about within dark social channels. We just can’t see it.

So let’s find out what dark social is and why it’s so important to modern day public relations.

What is dark social? 

Some platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit share data relating to how people are engaging with content. These are called ‘open’ social platforms.

In contrast, dark social media channels do not share this information. Activity takes place behind closed doors, often amongst carefully curated groups of friends, family and colleagues.

If you’ve ever shared or received content via WhatsApp, Slack, WeChat, Linkedin Messages or Meta (Facebook) Messenger for example, you have used a dark social platform. And don’t forget email and text messaging too. In fact, you’ve probably used a dark social platform in the last 30 minutes.

According to eMarketer, there will be 3.09 billion monthly messaging app users worldwide in 2021, up by 6.1% year over year. They also predict that more than three-quarters of internet users worldwide will use a messaging app monthly by 2024. Meanwhile, research from GWI shows that Whatsapp is now the world’s favorite social media platform. Other dark social channels feature heavily in the top ten.

Traditionally, dark social channels have offered greater personal privacy and control. Messages are encrypted. Advertisers are not given access to data. Here, trust is vital and mistakes are punished. The Guardian noted that ‘A poorly explained update to its terms of service has pushed WhatsApp users to adopt alternative services such as Signal and Telegram in their millions.’

PR content is devoured by dark social

The scale of activity that is taking place behind closed doors is staggering.  According to RadiumOne, a whopping 84% of content shares take place on dark social platforms. The implications for the PR and social media industry become clear when examining the types of content being shared: links to news stories, websites, blogs and products all feature heavily. Much of this content represents the bread and butter of the PR industry. In many cases, users are discovering news stories on open social platforms, then pulling them into private networks where true feelings can be discussed.

The opportunity for the PR industry

Professional communicators have long accepted that the appearance of media coverage is merely the beginning of a story, not the end. PRs have become adept at tracking its reaction across social media, under the impression that they’re seeing the full picture.

As we have shown, this is far from the case.

It may be the case that a majority of the action is happening out of view. In fact, some of the stories that have seemingly failed to get traction may have gone viral amongst niche groups of highly engaged peers. We’ve also seen that there’s likely to be a significant discrepancy between the sentiment of public vs private conversations.

But the opportunity this presents is potentially huge.

The PR industry is built on the concept that editorial is more influential and consequential than advertising. We can assume that, when friends share curated stories with one another in a safe environment, the impact is greater still. The understanding anxieties of younger audiences in particular should increase the usage of dark social for years to come.

The Barcelona Principles 3.0 encourage communicators to focus on the business outcomes and impacts of their work. Given its unparalleled potential to spark engagement and drive action, the role of dark social clearly cannot be underestimated.

At Releasd, we have attempted to measure the unmeasurable. Our PR reporting tool now includes metrics that estimate how much activity is taking place for a given story within dark social channels. To learn more about dark social and how we measure it, download the free Primer: What Every PR Needs to Know About Dark Social

Knowledge is Power: Rewards and Awards

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One of the many definitions for Public Relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information for an organisation to the public to affect their public perception. So far so good. Many of you reading this will probably be thinking ‘why am I being told what I already know?’.

Well, there is a reason and that is the word ‘information’. It’s the cornerstone to knowledge in all its many manifestations and can have a powerful effect on campaigns. So, we want to take this opportunity to highlight how information acquired through market research cannot only help you reap rewards, but perhaps even win you an award.

When examining some of the most successful campaigns of recent years, unsurprisingly they were all informed by insight. That is to say, the messaging behind a campaign is developed with the help of research that helps them strike the right tone.

This is not hearsay. There’s a veritable bounty of award-winning campaigns whose creative direction was sparked by insight.

Take for example Don’t Cry Wolf’s activism campaign for Tangle Teezer. To create a campaign that could address a sensitive issue and more importantly prompt real change, Don’t Cry Wolf leant on research. The result was 3 awards, 2 finalists and 1 nomination.

That return is nothing to sneer at. And this is just one example. A former judge at Cannes Lions revealed that the one of the best campaigns he’s seen was driven by insight. He cited the example of a campaign by REI that one 9 (yes 9!) Lions.

Using insight gained via market research, REI developed a Twitter campaign that pushed back against the Black Friday buying rampage as the research found that its audience actually preferred not to shop on Black Friday. Insight sparked the idea that led to a wildly successful Twitter campaign that sparked a movement and challenged long-held assumptions about consumers.

Knowing this is one thing, but how can it help you? Well, these case studies can help you formulate your own campaigns. This advice comes not from us, but from Susie Walker, VP, Awards & Insights at LIONS. She recommends that those aspiring to win a Lion should learn from Lion-winning work.

If you look at some of the most creative campaigns of recent years, what connects them all is how they embraced insight and used it in their campaigns. Rather than seeing insight as an obstacle to creative, they used their new-found knowledge to get the creative juices flowing.

Let’s end with a word from Heather Kernahan, the CEO of Hotwire Global Communications. Heather is an ICCO partner and has won many awards for her work. Now, she has some advice for those who are looking to catapult into the pantheon of award winners:

“Knowledge is a powerful tool so embrace knowledge in all its forms. It won’t stop the creatives among you from coming up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas. Rather, it will give them a sense of structure and direction and help them to channel their efforts into the most productive avenues.”

Author:

Jane Hales who will be at Cannes Lions this year is the co-founder of the award-winning Sapio Research. Sapio Research is a full-service market research company supporting Agencies and Brands to make confident decisions or achieve extraordinary headlines. The team does this through their ABC process: Audience, Brand and Content Research.

PR’S Relationship with Freedom of Speech

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Freedom of speech and a free public relations business are interdependent in a democracy. In countries where freedom of speech is restricted, the pressure faced by journalists is also felt by public relations professionals. Only through a free press can PR function as an ethical business. To represent clients properly through both traditional and new media, freedom to speak the unfettered truth is a necessity. The loss of a free press and increasing state control, particularly of TV, radio, newspapers, and in some cases, of online media and communication channels, create an impossible landscape for PR agencies, particularly international ones, to operate. This is the current landscape in many European countries and around the world.

PR agencies and communications consultants often control or advise on the use of their clients’ social media accounts. These are key communication tools in every country and through them clients can reach the public with important, truthful messages. They can also be used by the public to more closely engage with clients (brands, politicians, influential individuals). Most governments wield little control over these platforms and therefore the regulations and standards are controlled by technology firms. Perhaps, there is no specific regulation (although that is changing and there is increasingly more content regulation applicable to social media, a recent example being Covid-19 laws targeting health misinformation), but there is censorship in many states across the globe. Also, platforms are often being accused of complicity with non-democratic regimes in removing politically undesirable content.

PR professionals are natural allies to trusted and independent journalists, news organisations, broadcasters, educational institutions, NGOs, and other think tanks in communicating and promoting freedom of media and freedom of speech. The logical conclusion is that PR professionals must not be silent on this issue.


This text is an excerpt from ICCO’s first White Paper: Modern Communications Challenges for Society (Click here: Global Communication Challenges 2022 to download)

HOW TO USE THIS PAPER:

This paper has been created to inform influential institutions on the important views of PR and communications experts regarding modern
challenges in communication.

It is to be used by institutions to inform their own decisions with regard to policy as well as to begin a dialogue with PR and communication experts.

Consider this paper as the start of a productive conversation in which we can openly exchange views and information relating to these critically important challenges and opportunities.

The challenges addressed may vary in extent internationally, but share overarching characteristics. The paper has been written to advise the
Council of Europe in the first instance, but with global contributions, it’s designed to be useful in any country or region in the world.

All three major challenges addressed in this paper overlap with one another and collectively form the three biggest communication challenges for society at the present time. Let’s tackle them together.

PROI Worldwide joins ICCO

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PROI Worldwide is committed to pushing communications boundaries and leverages the influence of its team of business owners to solve client problems worldwide.

PROI Worldwide is a network of some of the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurial firms, bringing together like-minded PR business owners. Now part of the ICCO membership of associations, direct members and partners, PROI Worldwide’s members will have access to ICCO resources, events, services and networks. Members can also benefit from increased visibility in and outside the global PR industry.

Ciro Dias Reis, Global Chair, PROI Worldwide and CEO, Imagem Corporativa, Brazil said:

“Many of the 85 PROI Worldwide agencies around the world are involved with the national associations that are the core of ICCO, and we are pleased to now better integrate at the global level as well. We are looking forward to being part of the ICCO community and fostering collaboration for our members among the global PR industry.”

Rob Morbin, Deputy Chief Executive, ICCO said:

“We are delighted to welcome PROI Worldwide into the ICCO family of members and partners. PROI members are shining examples of professional, progressive agencies that share the values of ICCO, striving for continuous improvement and high standards.”

Diverse viewpoints, or misunderstanding? The importance of double checking the perspective.

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I’m not a lover of Scrabble. Or word games. I find them quite tedious.

Wordle is a great lockdown phenomenon and it’s become quite a thing for my family and their friends.

During our recent San Francisco holiday I assiduously avoided playing, leaving them to it, as I had plenty of other distractions.

The second week of my trip (which had turned into work) and finding myself on my own with long nights in hotel rooms, uninclined to sit in restaurants on my own I gave it a go. It was a good distraction. I even worked out how to do the previous, daily versions of it, I was that bored. So, I was chuffed at achieving 26 solutions in a few days and soon reached a reasonable average guess number.

On the last morning of my trip, 8 hours behind the daily UK release, I saw in the family chat that my husband had solved a particularly difficult word. Having failed that day, the kids wanted hints, so he shared the answer.

My chance to score a ‘solved it in 1’ I thought. So, I got straight to it, dropping in the word of the day, Vivid. Boom!

But no. Even using his other words, I didn’t manage to solve it, so I again resorted to my own devices.

I later shared my screen shot complaining, thinking it must have been down to US spelling. But no. It turned out I’d downloaded an app that did the same thing, with a similar name (Wordly), but I was playing with a completely different set of words.

It turns out our regular family conversations, deliberately avoiding the details, the specifics, the spoilers meant that we were on completely different platforms. We felt we were on the same wavelength, doing things together, but we were miles away (and not just literately).

I am not up to speed on everything that was covered in the five South by Southwest conference themes, but I did see there was ‘The Power of Inclusivity’ track setup to deal with tackling the difficulty in incorporating diverse viewpoints. It made me wonder how often such issues are caused by not clarifying each party’s understanding of their start point or double checking the tools they’re using before running off in different directions, just like I did with Wordle.

The importance of sharing the same alignments and definition of industry terms with clients (or colleagues) shouldn’t be underestimated when trying to comprehend diverse viewpoints.

Understanding diverse perspectives, experiences and audiences are a constant fascination for us. I’ll be interested to hear what methods attendees of the SXSW track learn too.

Author

Jane Hales is the co-founder of the award-winning Sapio Research. Sapio Research is a full-service, quantitative and qualitative market research company supporting Agencies and Brands to make confident decisions or achieve extraordinary headlines. They do this through their ABC process: Audience, Brand and Content Research.