Revisiting the 2022 Red Sky Predictions: Ep. 27 of Red Sky Fuel for Thought podcast

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How some of our 2022 predictions are playing out 
• What brand communicators and marketers should monitor heading into 2023

Each February, we publish an annual Red Sky Predictions 2022 report that forecasts 10 fundamental trends shaping the integrated communications and PR landscape. It features the collective insight of Redsters from around the agency’s global network and is intended to serve as a playbook for brand communicators and marketers to help make sense of the lessons the pandemic has taught us.

In this month's episode, Red Havas’ Linda Descano, CFA^® is joined by fellow Redsters and agency leaders James Wright, Lisa Davidson, Lesley Sillaman and Matthew Thomas to discuss the current state of our 2022 predictions, including what has played out as anticipated and what in on our radar for the rest of the year heading into 2023.

To start things off, James Wright, who is global CEO of Red Havas Group and global chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective, sets the scene for the current state of our 2022 predictions.

“A lot of these predictions are coming to the fore in a big way,” says James. “With the unpredictable environment that we've been working and living in over the last couple of years, it can be challenging to come up with these types of predictions. But some of them have manifested themselves quite clearly in the last six months.”

First up for discussion is our “Corporate Purpose or Bust” prediction, which focuses on the continued shifts in substance, style and tonality of brand communications to allow for deeper connections with consumers. 

“One of the biggest challenges for many of our clients is how to navigate around purpose and demonstrate it in a meaningful way,” says Matthew Thomas, executive director of corporate affairs for Red Havas Australia. “The social media conversation around major events is moving faster than some corporations can keep up with, which makes their communications feel a step behind or reactive. Fundamentally, it’s about raising the profile of communications within organizations to demonstrate purpose in a period of significant change.”

“Employees have been a big driver for the shift in corporate purpose," says James, referencing our “From Pledges to Progress” white paper. "Businesses have had to shift from communicating and demonstrating the 'why' of corporate purpose to demonstrating the 'how' of corporate purpose. The pressure and expectation for organizations to take a stand on key social issues has increased dramatically in recent years. Employees now expect that the companies that they work for and buy from have a purpose beyond their own profit.”

“Companies also need to show an aptitude to act on their purpose very quickly,” says Lesley Sillaman, EVP. “You need to be purposeful with your purpose by determining which set of issues to stand for, where you have the right to engage, where you've earned a place in the conversation, and what is material to your business so you can speak up in a credible way with your audiences.”

“It's about purpose built from the inside out, starting with employees and going outward,” says Lisa Davidson, managing director at Red Havas Health. “The companies that are genuinely invested in the issues they stand for, rather than only supporting issues as a means to an end for business purposes, will be the ones that succeed.”

Next, our “Personnel Gets Personal” prediction is revisited. This prediction sees employees leveraging their voices to reshape the world of work as we know it — driving greater relevancy, meaning and value for workers personally. This trend was also explored in a recent PR Week Roundtable co-hosted by Red Havas, and is underscored by a recent ManpowerGroup survey which clearly indicated that workers want more choice, autonomy and consideration for their well-being, particularly around their mental health.

“Through the pandemic, we’ve had to reimagine what the workplace is, how we interact with our teams and how you build culture and continue to be successful in that environment,” says James, who recently touched on this topic on the PRovoke Media podcast. “There's a rebalancing occurring between organizations and their employees as we go back into the office, because too much flexibility has created certain problems for the delivery and the outcomes that businesses are trying to deliver. The ability to be as flexible as you can is going to be vital as we move from this great resignation of the last few years, into the great reimagination of the workplace.”

In many ways, moderator, Linda Descano, CFA, added, “On-site has become the new off-site, with employees using office time to drive connectivity, collaboration, and inspiration, while getting the bulk of their work completed at home.”

“This has become a large conversation between employees and their employers, and some excellent ideas have come out of it,” says Lesley. “Even in our own agency, we've heard ideas from every level of employee to help us become a better place to work and establish a more productive environment while in the office.”

“Patient Choice, Patient Voice” was another of our 2022 predictions, which focused on Big Pharma taking a human-first approach to addressing issues of health equity and inclusion. Red Havas recently touched on this topic at the PR Week Healthcare & Pharma Comms Summit + Awards.

Lisa provides insight from her personal experience in the health sector: “Everyone is now a guru for their own health, so healthcare marketing is shifting from being purely creative to focusing more on the patient. We’re seeing more programs that use inclusive messaging, a resurgence of experiential activations and collaborating with communities to help co-create solutions. Issues of inclusion and equity transcend everything — from the C-suite of pharma companies where decisions get made to clinical trial recruitment, and even building hospitals.”

Linda points to various companies who have taken steps toward these initiatives, such as Johnson & Johnson’s health, equity, and innovation challenge which enlists local communities to help create healthcare solutions for minority groups; GSK’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ community members in its digital films and product messaging; AstraZeneca’s commitment to increasing representation of BIPOC in its leadership ranks; and the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Association of Community Cancer Centers, which issued a call to boost participation rates among racial and ethnic minority groups who have been historically underrepresented in cancer studies.

Finally, our guests discuss the “Experiential Retail Renaissance” prediction, which outlined the opportunity for brands to reimagine their brick-and-mortar shopping experience to complement e-commerce efforts to bring a brand more fully to life.

“Whether it’s in person or online, shared experiences are key to building lasting relationships between brands and audiences,” says James. “The online shopping experiences has changed and is on the rise with brands embracing a new form of brand experience for customers, and it feels like nothing is off limits now.”

“We've seen many outstanding examples of brands bringing immersive, exciting, and loyal new experiences to consumers,” says Lesley. “Everybody wants an experience that is tailored to them, and they’re all looking for different things out of their shopping experience. So, it gives brands an opportunity to create experiences that bring a different level of loyalty from consumers who aren’t coming into a store to just make a transaction, but for an experience that makes them feel like part of the brand.”

To close the discussion, James provides his takeaways for brand communicators and marketers heading into 2023.

“It’s more important than ever to understand your business' place in the world in terms of what you want to be known for and what you stand for,” says James. “The evolution of the 'S' in ESG has changed for organizations as they embrace social issues, labor standards, human rights, social dialogue, pay equity, diversity, and access to health care. All these areas have become much more important than ever before to employees, shareholders, and stakeholders, and it’s here that businesses can find their own unfair advantage by positioning themselves in a way that makes them an attractive place to work and a brand that you want to be loyal to in the future.”

The episode wraps with Red Havas VP of Content Ellen Mallernee Barnes and our Red Questionnaire guest Linda Descano, CFA^®, (playing double duty this episode!) for a conversation spanning various topics, including her go-to travel destination (Machu Pichu, Peru), her favorite book (“The New Megatrends” by former Havas PR CEO, Marian Salzman), and how she would describe her job to a child (“I help tell stories about people, places and things using words pictures and music”).

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Also mentioned on this episode:

·      “Red Sky Predictions” 2022 report

·      “From Pledges to Progress” white paper

·      PRovoke Media Podcast featuring James Wright

·      PR Week Healthcare & Pharma Comms Summit + Awards

·      PR Week: Employee Engagement Roundtable

·      ManpowerGroup Employee Sentiment Survey

·      “The New Megatrends” by Marian Salzman

·      “The Agent” podcast

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