2021 Year in Review: Highlights from the Beyond PR Blog

2021 presented many opportunities for brands to embark on digital transformation and pivot to new growth areas as industries reeled from the impact of COVID-19. New opportunities include prioritizing Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) initiatives and the continual popularity of virtual events. PR Newswire APAC covered some of these emerging trends in the resource hub this year. Read on for a recap of some of the key highlights. 

1. APAC Media Landscape 2020 Series

The media industry in APAC underwent significant headwinds in 2020, facing a relentless COVID-19 news cycle, declining print revenue, and a shift in media consumption habits. Our Audience Development Team, which operates from 9 markets across APAC, highlighted the trends and developments that dominated headlines in each of their markets in the APAC Media Landscape 2020 series. They range from the push towards push notification news in Hong Kong, rise of podcasts in Singapore to more paid content subscriptions in Indonesia. Our team also gazed into the crystal ball to chart out what lies ahead for the media industry in 2021. Find out if they came true here. Read the entire series here, and look out for the 2022 APAC Media Outlook blog articles in January!

2. From The Editor’s Desk Series

In this new monthly series, our Editorial team tracked and shared trends on press releases distributed across APAC. Every month, they monitored the top press release topics based on the volume of releases distributed. Hot topics in 2021 included Carbon Neutrality, Artificial Intelligence, and Trade Show News. Our editors also gave tips and advice on writing different types of newsworthy press releases each month. We also tapped on the extensive experience of our Senior Editor, Nathan Brown, who provided timely tips on showing a company’s value through ESG press releases, writing corporate award-related releases, and crafting education-related releases. Read the entire series here.

3. Social Listening-related Articles

We launched Cision Social Listening in APAC in September, with technical and data support from Brandwatch, a global leader in deep social media listening and digital consumer insights. Brandwatch was acquired by PR Newswire’s parent company Cision in mid-2021. Tapping on the world’s largest database of online conversation, we tracked and analyzed social conversations surrounding trending topics, from the mentioned volume to sentiment, and what lessons PR professionals can glean from these episodes. These topics include Clowns Outside Schools: Tracking a Not so Comedic Crisis in Singapore in Real-Time. Not surprisingly, our best-performing blog article in 2021 was Brands Ride on the Squid Game Hype: The Rise of the Hit Show on Social Media, in which we tracked the online buzz surrounding one of the most talked-about shows in 2021.

4. Spotlight on ESG

With Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) emerging as a crucial part of corporate strategy, we covered ESG communications practices in our blog this year. We compiled an ESG communications checklist on the best practices and pitfalls of ESG communications efforts and how to avoid greenwashing and got insights from Tencent Charity Foundation on how such a technology company is approaching ESG. We also interviewed Dr Eva Chan, the Founding Chairman of the Hong Kong Investor Relations Association, who gave an insightful discussion on whether ESG should be part of a brand’s corporate strategy or just “homework”. She also shared tips for companies to design a customized net-zero carbon roadmap.

To cement our focus on ESG, we also launched our very first ESG Communications Handbook. The handbook covers the importance of ESG and information disclosure by listed companies, shares how companies can develop effective strategies, and offers best practices on communicating ESG activities to the media.

Other Content Highlights

1. Communications Calendar Series

We launched our nifty monthly calendar series to provide inspiration for PR professionals to help plan their upcoming PR campaigns. Each month, our communications strategy team crafted comms on the line-up of major events and festivals across APAC. From Lunar New Year to Christmas, we’ve got you covered with ideas to plan your comms campaigns for the year. View the entire series here.

• February 2021 Comms Calendar 
• March 2021 Comms Calendar
• April 2021 Comms Calendar
• May 2021 Comms Calendar
• June 2021 Comms Calendar
• July 2021 Comms Calendar
• August 2021 Comms Calendar
• September 2021 Comms Calendar
• October 2021 Comms Calendar
• November 2021 Comms Calendar
• December 2021 Comms Calendar

2. APAC Media Pitching Kits

Our popular media pitching kits have been a popular resource for PR professionals to get insights and tips on how best to pitch stories and collaborate more closely with the media. This year, we zeroed in on two industries: healthcare and business and finance.

3. Webinars

This year, we organized six webinars across APAC, touching on key topics such as How PR Pros can Evolve with Journalists in a Digital World? and discussing the key findings from Cision’s 2021 Global State of the Media Report (APAC Edition), in which journalists share their biggest challenges, pet peeves, and how PR professionals can help make their jobs easier. Watch some of our past webinars on our YouTube channel.

4. More Case Studies

We covered clients from a broader range of industries, which have used our press release distribution and communications strategy services. These industries include Automobile (Hyundai Motor Company), Finance (Bank Rakyat Indonesia), Food & Beverage (Vinamilk) and Biotechnology (Brain Navi). Read our case studies here. 

We hope you’ve found our blog articles, whitepapers, case studies and webinars useful and informative! Look out for more content from us in 2022! Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for the latest updates.

This article is written by Kenneth Goh, Senior Marketing Executive at PR Newswire APAC.