The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is launching the inaugural global #PowerofEthics month throughout September.

This global campaign aims to raise awareness of ethical best practice principles, to encourage professionals to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to implementation and self-improvement, and to celebrate PR’s power to expand ethical causes across borders and industries.

Beginning on Monday, 3rd September the campaign will close at the ICCO Global Summit on Friday, 5th October.

ICCO has previously led the charge for promoting ethics within the industry, with 40 member associations having created the first internationally agreed set of ethical PR principles in the form of the Helsinki Declaration in November 2017. This month, ICCO has also supported the development of complimentary guidelines alongside the Global Alliance, to further contribute to the raising of global standards.

ICCO’s messages to the global PR industry are as follows:
1. High ethical standards are critical for PR agencies. Let’s educate other professionals on what those standards are and how best to apply them practically, live by them, and embed them into agency culture and our working lives.

2. PR is a powerful ethical tool. Ethics needs PR in the same way that PR needs ethics. Let’s celebrate and promote the great work PR has done to promote ethics and ethical issues across industries and cultures.

ICCO has also outlined several methods through which associations and agencies can participate in the #PowerofEthics campaign.

Knowledge Sharing:

• Contribute blogs and case studies about ethical practice and the power of PR in ethical causes

• Contribute insights on the latest ethical challenges or campaigns you are proud of in PR, using the #PowerofEthics hashtag

Education:

• Take one of ICCO’s, or your national association’s, training courses on ethics. For example, PRCA will be offering 15% off several ethics training courses throughout September

• Organise an ethics awareness event, bringing attention to the Helsinki Declaration

• Read and circulate some of ICCO’s Ethics Resources, and review your own practices and behaviours

Be an ethical advocate:

• Make your organisation an Helsinki Declaration Advocate and share best practice with employees and stakeholders

• Once added to the database of advocates, download and display this logo on corporate stationary, emails and your company CSR page

• Sign up to the Helsinki Declaration by completing and returning this form to tom.allen@iccopr.com

 

With the #POWERofETHICS campaign marking one year since the Bell Pottinger expulsion from the PRCA on 4th September 2017, Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA, and Chief Executive, ICCO, stressed the importance of a collaborative approach to raising standards:

“The importance of maintaining and promoting a high standard of ethics within the PR industry cannot be emphasised enough. Having recently stood with our global sister organisations to defend the free press, and having supported the Global Alliance’s Global Principles of Ethical Practice in PR and Communication in their work to complement the ground-breaking ICCO Helsinki Principles, there has never been a better time to launch the #ETHICSinPR campaign.

“With that in mind, we ask all PR organisations to participate in championing the #POWERofETHICS this September, by challenging both themselves and their fellow PR professionals to walk the talk when it comes to ethics in PR.”