Consumer PR has a positioning problem

For an industry built on influencing conversations, shaping reputations and earning attention, consumer PR has done a remarkably poor job of communicating its own value.

I realise this might not be a popular opinion, but hear me out.

For years, the PR industry has talked about outputs instead of outcomes, coverage instead of commercial impact, and amplification instead of audience behaviour, as well as channels instead of challenges.

The result? As the marketing landscape continues to merge, collide and evolve, consumer PR is too often treated as the channel that amplifies a campaign, rather than helping to create it. As a result, CMOs and senior brand-side marketers (the ones leading marketing strategy and deciding where the budget is spent) still view consumer PR as a tactical discipline that sits downstream from “big idea” development. And rather than doing something about it, there’s genuine pride in the PR industry when we talk about how cost-effective our channel is.

Why consumer PR should be asking a different question

I want to tear my hair out when I judge PR awards and see a £10k budget attached to a truly brilliant creative PR campaign. We celebrate the ingenuity required to do more with less without stopping to ask why we're so comfortable accepting less in the first place.

Why can’t we see the damage this is doing? The best briefs rarely arrive as neatly packaged PR briefs. They arrive as commercial challenges.

• A brand has lost relevance with an audience.
• A category has become commoditised.
• Growth has stalled.
• Market share is under pressure.
• Consumer behaviour has changed.

The question isn’t: “How do we get coverage?” It’s: “How do we drive growth?”

The agencies best positioned to answer those briefs aren’t those defined by a single channel. They’re the agencies capable of understanding audiences, identifying cultural insights, and building communications strategies that influence behaviour.

Creative PR vs. Advertising

Consumer PR is brilliant at doing this. That's why we’re seeing advertising agencies hiring heavyweight PR expertise. And so, while many agencies continue to argue about who owns creativity, culture or fame, brand marketers are asking a different question: “How do we best invest our marketing budgets to deliver brand-building and commercial performance?”

The future doesn’t belong to agencies defined by channels. The opportunity belongs to agencies that can identify a business challenge, build a culturally relevant idea around it, and prove that fame performs.

The future isn’t creative PR versus advertising. The opportunity is strategy, creativity and communications working together to solve growth challenges. Consumer PR should be leading that conversation, not fuelling a race to be the cheapest, lowest-value marketing channel.

And it starts by recognising that our biggest challenge isn't creativity, talent or capability. It's positioning. Because the danger isn't that consumer PR lacks value – it's that we've spent years undervaluing it.