1. Diversity
It is not uncommon that diversity is associated with race, gender, ethnicity and more recently sexual orientation difference. What’s more, when it comes to corporate diversity and inclusion, different views and voices should be included. Companies should put diversity and inclusion on its agenda, no matter it is to external audience like customers or internal one like employees.
According to Heat, a Deloitte-owned agency, brands with the most representative adssaw an average stock gain of 44% in a seven-quarter period last year. Heat also found that brands with the highest diversity scores showed an 83% higher consumer preference.
Heat’s study showed a correlation between diversity in advertising and gains in revenue and image. Brands should consider showing greater diversity and breaking stereotypes in their ads to meet the needs of younger generations that see increased diversity as good for society.
When the workforce is more diversified, different opinions and views are brought in, which means companies could reach broader audiences, and to be honest, more potential customers.
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2. Leadership
Apart from diversity, leadership is also a trendy topic within the PR professional circle. PRWeek and Boston University revealed their Bellwether Survey, a study on the PR industry, on Thursday this week showing that in-house PR pros think they are being held back by C-suite. The report title is interesting and accurate at the same time, calling those high-level management people “dinosaurs”. It is said that PR pros are ready to revolutionize their roles no matter its internal or external communications, however, decision-making process is not in their charge, which prevents changes. It is high time that companies should make everyone have a say at the table if companies want to operate in a healthy and sustainable way.
As Bill Heyman, CEO of Heyman Associates, is going to join us tonight for a day of leadership lessons, my views on leadership would be updated and I would come back to share sparkling new insights.
3. Data and privacy
The ‘Right to be Forgotten’ privacy rule is limited within the European Union. The EU’s counterpart, the States still falls behind when it comes to protecting personal privacy and data. However, it is possible that Facebook and other internet companies can be forced to remove certain content worldwide according to a rule from the top European court.
PR and marketing pros, to some extent, rely on data collected by social media platforms to create personas and better target customers. We have to pay close attention to how these rules and regulations will change the way that technology start-ups harvest personal data and how it is going to affect us.
Facebook’s case is a lesson for not only tech companies but also other companies like PR, and marketing agencies, that deal with private data. We have to be cautious when handling data and privacy and it would be too late if we broke laws because the impact could be huge, either for the person who is accountable or for the entire company.
It is helpful to recap these few week’s learning and I would more than glad to know my fellow’s thoughts so feel free to leave comments about these two questions:
1. When talking about leadership, what first come to your mind? C-suite leaders? Do you think communication professionals are also entitled to this level?
2. What do you think you could bring to a company as a “diversified” person?
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