IO, Jakarta – Public Relations (PR) in Indonesia in 2020 is projected to have intensified use of data management and analysis technology as the basis for better strategy formulation, establishing better focused campaigned, targeting public groups more accurately, and finding better and more creative ways to do these. The current trend is to create work scenarios that include trans-digital methods. USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations stated in its 2019 Global Communications Report that PR professionals will more technology for social listening, analyzing website performance, and manage social media.
“Involving Artificial Intelligence (AI) in communication and marketing work has become more prevalent around the world in the past year. Indonesia is also predicted to get better at utilizing the AI potential to run business and market intelligence, disseminate information, and plan PR marketing,” said Jojo S. Nugroho, General Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Public Relation Businesses (Asosiasi Perusahaan Public Relations Indonesia – “APPRI”).
Consequently, PR work will be even more integrated with marketing and selling in order to response to challenges in two levels at once: corporate level and consumer market level. Jojo believes that a more mature business intelligence will help companies and organizations position themselves better amid the dynamics of social issues. “PR practitioners must develop the ability to translate data into strategies and actions. Using AI, PR can provide better input towards policies, be more helpful to the company in making important decisions, and encourage more precise changes in behavior. This transcends the generation of awareness and preference that is the general scope of PR work so far,” he said.
Even though digital data technology becomes more and more necessary, basic PR skills and human relations expertise remain necessary. “Work tools continue to develop and make PR work more effective and efficient. However, the intelligence and wisdom of a good PR practitioner cannot be replaced by technology. PR is one of the most dynamic professions around, and the art of maintaining public relations must be preserved,” he said.
Jojo further stated that 2020 will be a year of closer collaborations. “Each agency offers something different, but it is practically impossible for any one agency to become the best in everything. PR agencies can complement and support each other according to their specific expertises in order to achieve the client’s purposes,” he said. “APPRI also predicts that boutique-scale agencies will gain more interest as time goes by, because they are flexible, adaptive, creative, communicative, and competitive – all of which adds to their ability to respond to their clients’ needs in a better way.”