12 MONTHS ON...
MATTHEW WARING / UNSPLASH
12 months on: how has COVID-19 changed PR The past year has changed PR extensively. The question now is which changes will stick going forward? BY JONATHAN OWEN
months ago, the pandemic which has wreaked havoc across the globe was in its infancy. On 9 March last year, in a statement issued after a meeting of the government’s COBRA committee, Boris Johnson’s main advice was very much ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ in tone At that point, four people in the UK had died from COVID19 and the prime minister’s mantra was telling people to wash their hands. Just two weeks later, the mood had not so much shifted as somersaulted, as a
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grave-faced Johnson told the British public that daily life as they knew it would cease – with the nation plunged into lockdown. The rest, as they say, is history. By the middle of January this year, more than 100,000 people in the UK had died from COVID-19, and confirmed cases had exceeded 3 million. This human toll has been accompanied by a socioeconomic cost that has yet to be fully realised. The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated comms to unprecedented levels of importance – and scrutiny – with the recognition of the need for clear
communication during a time of crisis. When it comes to the key pillars of PR teams, there have been changes so profound that the way in which work is done has been changed beyond recognition – characterised by a digital remote workplace replacing the traditional office. Here we look at what has changed over the past year in terms of creativity, talent development, recruitment, diversity, home vs office working, and the new ways of working that are likely to remain long after lockdown is over.
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