Everything has changed due to COVID-19. This includes Bospar’s livelihood – PR. In fact, we’ve quickly reached a place where PR 1.0 and PR 2.0 can be cleanly delineated.
| PR 1.0 | PR 2.0 |
| Fully staffed, open floor plan offices | 100% remote work (i.e, the Bospar model) |
| Pitching bylines with a variety of topics | Pitching bylines with a COVID-19 angle |
| Can I get you the press release in a week? | How does tomorrow sound? |
| Competence is good | Award-winning expertise is required |
| Lots of companies clamoring for PR | Select forward-thinking companies inquiring |
| “I’m going out to dinner after work” | “Dinner? Like, an activity that’s not work?” |
| Piling around a conference table | Clearing a laundry pile before a Zoom call |
| Business travel | Walking around your block |
| Job titles that mapped to specific roles | Titles be damned — what needs to get done? |
| Working hard and going 100 mph | Maxing out capacity, and speedometer broke |
| Media relationships are important | Media relationships are GOLD |
| Media are challenging to get ahold of | Media are next to impossible to get ahold of |
| Complacency with happy clients | What stone have we not turned over today? |
| Dry cleaned clothes for in-person pitches | Ironing a shirt two minutes before Zooming |
| High employee turnover | What’s employee turnover? |
| Exacting clients | Only-the-impossible-will-do clients |
| Lots of small, annoying problems | COVID-19 |
| Responding to clients quickly | Responding to clients immediately |
| Talent converged in major cities only | Talent is talent, wherever they are |
| Experienced and priceless client counsel | Experienced and priceless client counsel |
In the emerging new world of business and communications, public relations has never been more critical. But best practices are evolving rapidly. The good news for our clients is that, in the PR 2.0 era, they are getting high-quality support and counsel faster than ever, at a time when they most need it.