SHANGHAI, Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2014 PR Newswire New Communication Annual Summit was successfully held on November 27 in Shanghai. The Summit invited 16 media, public relations and communications professionals, and featured four keynote speeches, two roundtable discussions and one dialogue. The main theme of the summit was the challenges and responses to those challenges facing the corporate communications sector. Over 400 PR and marketing specialists from both the client as well as the agency side attended the summit and benefited from the ideas shared by the speakers. The winners of the "2014 PR Newswire Communication Awards" were also announced at the summit.
Technological developments overturn traditional media
In 2014, new changes took place in the communications sector, as new media forms emerge and technologies evolve. When commenting on the development of the media sector, Zhou Jiangong, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes China, said "the biggest driver for the changes in the media sector is technology". In this technological process, media readers are no longer "readers", but users. As users tend to keep up with the latest technology upgrades, these evolutions in technology will serve to overturn the standing of traditional media as infomediary.
Zhou Jiangong said that the technology revolution is targeted at content rather than at the technology itself. Information is not equal to content and content is the more valuable form of information in the era of information overload. Media professionals will take the daring step of abandoning the traditional media value chain and focus more on the transmission of content. New media professionals will not be able to bring the media sector back to its previous era of glory, but will rather become content-oriented technology geeks.
Multinationals seek to transform their brand as they explore new channels
Commenting on the brand transformation of multinational companies, Geoff Li Guowei, Director of Communications & Brand, GE Greater China, proposed three venues as solutions, "thought leadership, content distribution and the employer brand". He also pointed out that it is important to reach a consensus on a multinational company's position in the marketplace, for example, whether it intends to present itself as a global or a local player, and to mobilize its employees, encouraging them to speak up for their companies.
Commenting on the attempts by multinational companies to explore social media, Marina Wu Liang, Director of Communications and Sustainability, Unilever North Asia, shared their practices. Unilever views WeChat as a good social tool for employee communication and care, while taking Weixin as a media channel for employees to announce and participate in major corporate events.
It has always been a challenge to measure the return on investment (ROI) of B2B corporate communications. Attendees from two multinational companies expressed their opinions: Wendy Wu Yiqin, Vice-President of Marketing, Ecolab China, said, "The measurement of ROI must be associated with a company's sales target, while customer awareness and sales engagement are also important factors". However, Misha Lu, Marketing Director at TUV SUD Greater China, said that it is hard tosay profit growth comes solely from sales as the sales cycle can be quite drawn out. It is even more difficult to persuade management at technology firms to even realise the difficulties and challenges encountered by their public relations, let alone articulate what those challenges are. Li Guowei expressed this opinion by citing what is involved in the act of courtship of a woman one is attracted to as an example.
To change or not to change? Transformation and regression of public relations communications
This roundtable discussion was hosted by Janet Carmosky, Senior Director at Burson-Marsteller. Yan Yuelong, Director of Communications at JD.COM, Henry Zhang Chengwei, Director of Corporate Communications Greater China at Hilton Worldwide, Ella Xu Kejie, Director of Communications at Johnson Controls BE China and Xi Qing, Senior Director of Communications at Pfizer China, participated in the discussion.
Yan Yuelong said that there are no fundamental changes and differentiations between new and traditional public relations. However he noted that while both represent the ways by which companies transfer information through designated channels, several of the links in the communications chain have changed completely. Henry Zhang Chengwei said, "Content, channels and methodology are the trinity of public relations communications". The standards that define these three terms vary depending on the audience and on the industry. Xi Qing, on the other hand, felt that public relations has not deviated from the norm, neither has it reached an alarming state of regression. However, it is important for public relations practitioners to learn to adapt to the changes. In Ella Xu Kejie's opinion, content is king will continue to prevail, be it in the past or in the present. B2B companies can learn from their counterparts in the B2C industry for content creation ideas.
The keywords for corporate communications in 2015
This roundtable discussion was hosted by Niu Zhijing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Business News. Four guests shared the keywords that express their respective outlooks on corporate communications for 2015.
The keywords for Chen Tejun, Director of Public Relations at BY-HEALTH are connections, community, cross-boundaries and alliances, while those for Lydia Lu Rong, Vice President of Communications for Asia high-growth region at Honeywell, are topics, shaping, growth and talent. Joe Yu Zhuping, Managing Director of H-Line Ogilvy in China selected everywhere, focus and aggregation as his keywords. As for Li Jing, Business Development Director at PR Newswire, his keywords are content is king, channels and credibility.
The forum also invited Tony Tao, Co-President at Edelman China, who shared his experience and case study in crisis management in the new media era.
The winners of the "PR Newswire 2014 Communication Awards" were also announced at the summit. Thirty-five companies, including several multinationals, privately-held firms and new technology companies, as well as 14 media outlets, won awards in the categories for Best Global Communications, Best New Media Communications, Best Communication ROI, Best Mobile Communications, Best Influential Media, Best Original Media Content, Outstanding Communications and the Grand Annual Award.
For more information about the summit, please visit: http://www.prnasia.com/prnewswire-summit-2014
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20141202/0861409096-a
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20141202/0861409096-b
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20141202/0861409096-c
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110527/CN10234LOGO-b
PR Newswire's official blog on Sina Weibo: http://weibo.com/prnewswireasia
PR Newswire's blog "Speaking about communications" on Sina Weibo: http://weibo.com/prnews
PR Newswire's Asia website: http://www.prnasia.com
PR Newswire's social media channels: http://facebook.com/prnewswireasia ; http://linkedin.com/company/pr-newswire-asia ; http://twitter.com/PRNAsia
PR Newswire's Global website: http://www.prnewswire.com
For more information, please contact:
PR Newswire Marketing Department
China
+86-21-8017-9527
marketing@prnasia.com
Asia Pacific
+852-2572-8228
asia.marketing@prnasia.com
About PR Newswire
PR Newswire is the global leader in innovative corporate communications services, enabling corporations and organizations to connect and engage with their target audiences worldwide. Through its multi-channel distribution network, audience intelligence, targeting, measurement and information disclosure and investor communications services, PR Newswire helps corporations and organisations conduct rich, timely and dynamic dialogues with the media, consumers, policymakers, investors and the general public, in support of building brands, generating awareness, impacting public policy, driving sales, and raising capital.
PR Newswire pioneered the commercial news distribution industry in 1954. The firm connects customers with audiences in more than 170 countries and in over 40 languages through an unparalleled network of offices in 16 countries and regions across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
