“Things are changing rapidly in our business,” said Fred Cook, CEO of GolinHarris, to a full room of future public relations specialists.
As part of a two-day workshop, “Future Speak: Public Relations Today and Tomorrow,” presented by the SMU Communications Department, the school brought in industry leaders to speak about the future of public relations. This workshop was one of the many preparations the school is making as the department prepares to roll out a brand new Public Relations major.
GolinHarris has recently received lots of attention for the innovative redesign of their company and leadership in an industry that is constantly adapting to the world around it.
Much has been made of the increasing importance of social media and Cook was clear to mention its importance
“Social and traditional media are connected,” said Cook. He was careful to mention the importance of balancing this new form of media as well as incorporating the old, saying, “If you look at them separately, you are missing half the picture,”
The radical redesign of the company was an intentional means of preparing the company to thrive in the future. The previous design of GolinHarris was be seniority based, “Didn’t matter if you were good at it or liked it,” mentioned Cook.
They drastically changed their company moving 13 titles on any given account to 5. These new roles are labeled: strategists, creators, connectors, and developers. The importance of these groups is in the community groups that the company developed to create further innovation in the company. They created a snapshot of each community, created new job descriptions, and then redesigned their account teams.
During this redesign, the mantra of the company has been “prevolve.” Cook defined it as, “premeditated evolution or intentional change.”
Essentially, Cook said, the company wanted to, “fix it before it breaks.”
The internal support of this vision can be seen with the introduction of crowdsourcing. Essentially, employees have social networks for each of their communities and can post ideas and get real-time feedback and brainstorm.
GolinHarris has also been a pioneer in real time marketing. Their bridge concept involves centers in different cities where marketing endeavors are monitored in real time, giving their clients and optimal integrated marketing experience.
As Cook fielded questions from the audience, inquiries ranged from the reaction of the older generation of employees of GolinHarris to if the company had outside help to execute this change.
When asked by a student the best way to hone skills, Cook encouraged student to “tap into [their] own passion” and noted that it’s “important to specialize.”
In an industry where the standard boils down to adapt, move, or die, GolinHarris seems to be leading the charge.
To learn more about GolinHarris or the new Public Relations major at SMU:
Future Speak: Public Relations Today and Tomorrow
SMU’s New Public Relations Major
Written by: Antonea Bastian
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