What Agency Leaders Are Really Saying: Trends Shaping the Future

At this week’s PRCA Annual Conference, I captured some of the most candid, provocative, and consistent pressures and opportunities shaping our industry’s future…

• “Curiosity is key. AI is making people lazy.”
• “Creativity will help agencies stand out in the battle for AI. Research from BCG shows the bottom 20 percent move up to the middle, the top 20 percent move down to the middle. Just don’t become mediocre.”
• “AI will not replace human connections and the ability to make introductions.”
• “Your network of people is more important than any AI. So is the ability to have positive client relationships which AI cannot have. Never have smiling or nodding clients. Encourage debate and discussion.”
• “AI frees people up to spend more time getting to know clients, such as finding out when their birthdays are.”
• One agency has even created a “critical media bot” – an AI tool acting as a journalist to score media pitches and coverage.

• “To be creative, you need to invest in broader minds such as filmmakers, artists, musicians.”
• “Conviction matters. Stick to your guns and do not give up just because someone says no.”
• Creativity is also about courage, being bold enough to cut through the noise and resist becoming formulaic in an AI-dominated landscape.

• “The key to building tomorrow’s communications landscape is diversity and inclusion, training and development.”
• “People over 40 are key to giving proper client counsel. They bring real-world life experience, and we need more of them in the workforce.”
• “Diversity defines the creative process. Companies with ethnic diversity are 37% more likely to outperform their competitors.”

• “On growth, flat is the new up.”
• “RFP processes are taking too long, even for smaller clients. Too many wasted opportunities going after the wrong things that fizzle out.”
• “Lead generation is the biggest priority. You now need two or three times the number of leads you had before.”
• “Recurring revenue, converting projects to retainers, or plugging project gaps is critical.”
• “Managing client relationships is harder when they are trying to shave costs and ask for more. External consultants can provide the perspective you need.”
• “Pick clients that match the shape of your agency, not ones that drag you down rabbit holes.”
• “The PR industry needs to change the whole commercial model and stop charging for time.”

• “Trust is consistently being eroded, so it is important to focus on rebuilding it.”
• “There is a big shift in B2B influence. People are moving away from following companies and towards the individuals within them. Personal branding has never been more important.”

If there is a single thread running through all of this, it is that our industry sits at the intersection of creativity, technology and trust. Those who combine curiosity with conviction, invest in people and diversity, and adapt commercial models for a tougher growth market will be the ones shaping the conversations that count in the years ahead.