Moderated by Sinclair Founder and CEO, Kiri Sinclair, the panel included HSBC’s Brian Hui, David Ko from RFI Asia, Lynne Mulholland from The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels and Edelman's Delicia Tan.
Key takeaways include:
- Content is everywhere. It is up to communicators to identify and unpack those opportunities and tell a good, genuine story that stands out from the crowd.
- Podcasts and other long-form content are becoming vital for earned media, in a move away from short, snackable content to more in-depth, authentic storytelling. Communicators must stay hungry for and curious about the diverse channels that could present opportunities to tell a good story.
- Rather than blasting a message to broad audiences, communicators can focus on identifying the right conduit to tell their brand story and have those authentic conversations with targeted, niche communities to drive meaningful change.
- AI is not yet perfect but is evolving at a much faster pace than most realise. Looking past generative AI, the advent of Agentic AI is reshaping roles within PR, notably the automation of tasks and subsequently, the redundancy of relevant roles. This necessitates upskilling for more creative and strategic soft skills that AI is less capable of replacing in the near future.
- In crisis prevention and reputation management, PR professionals must continue to educate internal stakeholders on the risks of AI and deepfakes. When that crisis does hit, it is important to first identify the truth behind the issue before responding in a way that is authentic to the organisation's values. Not responding is also an option.
- While AI applications, such as chatbots, can provide the agility and speed that human agents cannot, the authenticity of a human touch remains essential in corporate communications, especially in situations that have the potential to become crises.
