The past twelve months have been a bit of a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs. We are increasingly navigating a digital world where the first creep of AI is starting to impact our industry. I’m sure many are wondering if PR can be replaced by an AI bot, probably named Hal, to write press releases.
The answer is, well maybe. If your company is considering an AI-led PR program, you clearly don’t understand the value of PR, or the reality of what people are calling AI today. Good luck to you. Hal is coming for you next.
The truth is what people are opportunistically calling AI is anything but intelligent. It’s simple machine learning that searches the web and gathers sources indiscriminately from available sources. This means it could be grabbing text and images that violate the copywrite of another company or person.
Given that it’s looking for specific language about what your company does, it is likely to scrape information from similar companies, like your competition. Nothing demonstrates differentiation better than launching a new AI campaign that substantially borrows from your biggest competitor’s online sources.
PR driven by human intelligence adds context, analysis, and originality, looking to connect what your company creates, likely by other humans, to market needs or gaps. That is not something AI can do as it doesn’t understand subtext, understand value, or have the ability to identify the triggers that can stimulate interest from prospects.
I read a post just before Christmas from a person claiming that most people didn’t know how to use ChatGPT to create marketing campaigns for their business. He offered to provide prompts for 10 different scenarios, guaranteed to deliver unmatched results. Sound like hype? You betcha. A bit like Crazy Eddy and his waving ballon man selling used cars at discount prices, no accidents, and new tires.
It’s important to note that the person offering this service isn’t a marketing or social media expert, so his prompts aren’t based on any lessons learned, best practices, or proven results. He just claims to be a ChatGPT expert. People will fall for this type of malarky simply because they are chasing the latest technology fad, something that is a quick fix, easier than surveying your customers, conducting A/B testing, evaluating competitive messages, and working to understand the value your customers realize from working with your company or using your products. If I’m making it sound like marketing and PR is hard, that’s because to do it well, it is. Really hard and the number of people that do it well is finite.
Good marketing, messaging, and PR needs to be focused on intent. There is nothing in AI today, or ChatGPT ever, that can help you with intent because it doesn’t have the ability to understand the nuances within it. Intent provides the canvas on which any communications program or plan is drawn. Intent centers everything and without it, you won’t get anywhere with anyone.
I’ve been in this business a long time and I’ve met hundreds, if not thousands of people in these fields. Just like any profession, some are fantastic, some competent, some simply coasting, and some are in the wrong job. Is AI better than the last two categories, maybe, but certainly not the first two.
Think for a minute about the greatest innovations or inspirations that have impacted your life. Were any created by a computer or were they all created by a human? I know your answer.
As we start 2025, here are my top picks for the marketing, communications, and PR folks that are at the top of their game and can elevate your company to the top of its game. This list isn’t in particular order, just some of my favorite people that I’ve had the pleasure of working with, learning from, and creating with, over my career (note: the companies listed is where they are now, but not where we first met, some were colleagues, bosses, and all friends):
· Charlie Guyer, The Guyer Group
· Ashley Schulte, Connect2 Communications
· Christie Blake, talkdesk
· Anita Brearton, CabinetM
· Scott Larson, Infinera
· Joyce Wady, Wady Marketing Group
· Clare Ayles, the Eleven Hundred Agency
· James Carter, Touchdown PR
· Martin Simcock, Just Global
· Melissa Morales, Connect2 Communications (as of January 2!)
· Carl Horosz, Studio C
· David McKennon, MMS
· Gary Bolton, FBA
· Kevin Morgan, Clearfield
· Kathryn De Wit, Pew Charitable Trusts
· Stuart Cohen, Cybersecurity Collaborative
· Nelson Pratt, WSC Consulting
· Jean Statler, Alliance for Lifetime Income
· Sheryl Schultz, CabinetM
I’m sure I’ve missed folks, so apologies to those that I did. My point with this post is that the intelligence in marketing, PR, and communications resides in humans. The minds of these people and their wisdom to create programs that pull.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this provoking technology. Feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to me directly (rmwilliams@connect2comm.com) with any questions or feedback. Let’s start a conversation!
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