Creativity in PR 2022.pdf

Creativity in PR
2022 Global Study

Contents
Introduction
Influences &
Barriers
War for Ideas
Talent
#CreativityInPR provokemedia.com/focus/creativity

Introduction
Welcome to the 2022 Creativity In PR survey –
which, unlike last year, wasn’t analysed on a laptop
during gaps between home-schooling duties.
While we’re still not out of the Covid woods just yet, many
of us have been able to draw something of a line under the
past two years and return to something more stable – but
what does that mean for the industry? Has a much-hyped
‘new normal’ emerged, or has everything settled back to
where it was pre-pandemic?
Last year’s poll painted a remarkable picture of a resilient
industry coping extremely well under the circumstances.
As Dan Margulis, Executive Creative Director, Global
Creative Leadership at FleishmanHillard, noted at the time:
“Creativity has always been the way out of a crisis.”
For the most part, PR professionals working from home
in 2021 told us that both their own and their agencies’
creativity had been operating at a higher level than it
was before the crisis. In fact, the industry seemed to be
firing on all cylinders, keen to rise to the challenge for
bigger and better ideas. A third of beleaguered creative
directors told us they actually led their teams better
during the pandemic.
This year we wanted to find out whether the creative
energy that emerged during lockdown was still alive,
or if we’d fallen back on old insecurities about PR’s
seat at the table.
Those old tropes are hard to shake off. The good news
is that our survey results contain... lots of good news.
Some respondents clearly see that creativity within
their agencies is better now than before the pandemic.
Client appetites for big ideas appear to have grown
too as you’ll see.
We couldn’t do these surveys – which began a decade ago
in 2012 – without you, the hard-working PR professionals
who took the time out to answer the questions, so once
again: thank you.
Claire Bridges Founder, Now Go Create
#CreativityInPR 3 | 30 provokemedia.com/focus/creativity

Introduction
It has been a decade since PRovoke Media and
Now Go Create first set out to examine the state
of creativity in the PR industry, and 12 months
since we explored how the unique pressures
of the pandemic are reshaping the industry’s
creative capabilities.
The eighth edition of the Creativity in PR Study is again
conducted in partnership with FleishmanHillard, and
provides compelling confirmation of the trends that first
emerged in last year’s report. Namely, that the PR industry
is emerging from the pandemic in credible shape, which is
testimony to both the resilience of its people, and to the
innovation and empathy they have demonstrated during
some difficult times.
Last year’s study, for example, found an increasing
appreciation for the creative qualities of sophisticated
public relations. This year’s report, accordingly, delves
further into these trends, exploring how PR firms can
secure lead creative duties, and the drivers and barriers
that impact this particular equation.
Overall, the study presents a critical snapshot of how the
PR industry has navigated the challenges of the last 12
months in order to maintain and even enhance its creative
standards. Unsurprisingly, the results will offer plenty of
food for thought, and perhaps even spark some creative
ideas of your own. As ever, your feedback is appreciated.
Arun Sudhaman Editor-in-chief, PRovoke Media

Influences Drivers
Like last year, our respondents are remarkably
bullish about the impact of Covid on creative
levels within their agency. More than three-
quarters (76%) see creative levels rising to
‘inspirational’ or ‘good’ post-pandemic, compared
to 67% prior. There is a significant increase in
those that see ‘inspirational’ levels of creativity:
up to 28% now versus just 16% before the Covid
era, perhaps reflecting the elevated importance of
empathetic PR work during the past two years.
In-house respondents, meanwhile, are similarly
enthused. 64% rate their PR agency creative
levels as ‘inspirational’ or ‘good’ now, versus 50%
prior to the pandemic.
UNSATISFACTORY
INSPIRATIONAL
ORDINARY
GOOD
5%
16%
28%
51%
7%
28%
17%
48%
How would you describe the level of
creativity at your agency prior to Covid?
How would you describe the level of
creativity at your agency post Covid?
#CreativityInPR

Influences Drivers: Drivers Trends
Authenticity remains the top driver of great PR
work in 2022, according to agency respondents,
ahead of engagement and courage. Those results,
largely mirror 2021, but there is a big jump for
purpose belonging which now narrowly outranks
ethics, storytelling/humour and behavioural
change. All of those drivers, furthermore, reflect
the heightened priorities of the past two years,
where brands have been expected to play a more
responsible, reassuring role in society, living up to
the values that they often profess.
In your opinion, what drives great PR work?
#CreativityInPR
out of 10
STICKINESS
PURPOSE BELONGING
BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE
ETHICS
STORYTELLING HUMOUR
DIVERSITY INCLUSION
SHAREABILITY
COURAGE
ENGAGEMENT
AUTHENTICITY
0

This year, we attempt to delve deeper into the
broader societal and business trends that are
influencing creative strategy and work over the
past 12 months. To little surprise, perhaps, social
purpose and ESG emerges as the most influential
of these, according to 79% of respondents. That
puts it well ahead of other factors that brands
are taking into account when developing creative
ideas, including authenticity (59%), employee
engagement worker safety (39%), reassurance
belonging (33%), and immersive experiences
(26%). Disappointingly, the UN Sustainable
Development Goals garner little support.
#CreativityInPR
Which trends have become more influential when it
comes to developing types of creative strategy work
during the past 12 months?
SOCIAL PURPOSE ESG
REASSURANCE BELONGING
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT WORKER SAFETY
IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES
HUMOUR
AUTHENTICITY
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES CLIMATE CHANGE
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
79%
33%
39%
26%
11%
59%
38%
14%

What’s Driving Great Creative Work and Trends
that are Influencing?
What’s interesting about PR is that it always needs
something to fix, it exists to solve problems. And it
thrives in complexity. We live in a frenzied fast changing
and increasingly complex world. Today, more than
ever, we have a responsibility to make people pause
and drive authentic brand connections. Great Creative
work will always be driven by searching for that
intersection between those cultural moments and the
role of a brand, so they are relevant, and they mean
something to someone.
Where the study reflects that purpose is a driver of great
creative, our industry is undergoing a counterpoint to
purpose washing. It’s become too obvious and consumers
see right through it. Brands are having to show legitimate
commitment behind their companies and behind their
communication. The creative needs to reflect that
commitment and help establish authentic relationships
and trust with consumers. If we connect that to the trend
of influencer marketing driving activations, brands are
committing to longer term influencer brand partnerships to
build that authentic and sustained relationship with their
audience. We’re going to be seeing more sustainable and
lasting commitments from brands and those who do it right
will inspire great work and drive true engagement.
Joel Rodriguez, Executive Creative Director, New York, Global
Creative and Planning, FleishmanHillard

When it comes to developing activations
meanwhile, digital reigns supreme — led by
influencer marketing (64%), social media (54%)
and experiential (50%) trends. The metaverse
garners only lukewarm support (21%), while
product placement appears to have had its day
for now at least.
#CreativityInPR
Which trends have become more influential when it comes to
developing types of activations during the past 12 months?
METAVERSE, 3.0 INNOVATION
EXPERIENTIAL
SOCIAL
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
INFLUENCER MARKETING
OTHER DIGITAL ACTIVATION
21%
50%
54%
7%
14%
64%
38%

War For Ideas
A continued feature of the Creativity in PR study
has been its efforts to examine whether PR firms
are actually leading creative on behalf of their
clients. This focus has expanded this year with
several additional questions that attempt to
better understand the factors in play here. Client
expectations of PR agency creativity continue to
rise since the onset of Covid-19, confirming the
results first reported in last year’s study.
Are client expectations of creativity different since Covid began?
YES,
MUCH
LOWER
YES,
MUCH
HIGHER
THE
SAME
0% 2% 5% 8% 32% 5% 17% 8% 9% 12%

War For Ideas: Leading creative
The good news is that more than two-thirds of
agencies (68%) report they are more likely to be
approached for big, creative ideas than they were
12 months ago, compared to 56% last year.
And clients are also more bullish, with 57% more
likely to approach their PR firms for big creative
ideas, compared to 46% one year ago.
#CreativityInPR
Compared with 12 months ago, are clients more or less likely
to approach your PR agency for big creative ideas?
MUCH MORE LIKELY
2022 2021
21%
15%
47%
41%
22%
26%
8%
14%
2%
3%
SLIGHTLY MORE LIKELY
THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE
SLIGHTLY LESS LIKELY
MUCH LESS LIKELY

War For Ideas: Leading Creative
Also encouraging is the proportion of agency
respondents who confirm that their firm has
been designated as lead creative agency, which
sees a remarkable jump to 86%, compared to
59% last year. Clients are less bullish in this
regard, but even here there is an increase, with
21% answering in the affirmative compared to
just 18% in 2021.
Has your PR agency ever been selected to lead big
campaigns/ideas over other agencies?
NO, WE HAVE NOT BEEN CONSIDERED FOR THIS ROLE
YES
NO, BUT IT HAS BEEN CONSIDERED
2021
59%
22%
19%
2022
86%
13%
1%

Another new question looks at how PR firms can
secure lead creative duties. Almost two-thirds
of agency respondents believe that their better
understanding of multiple stakeholders is pivotal,
ahead of other key factors such as understanding
corporate reputation (59%), better cultural
insights (53%), and being more cost effective
(47%). Media relations, speed and employee
engagement all garner less support.
Clients are broadly in agreement, also selecting
stakeholder understanding, corporate reputation
and cultural insights as the top three factors.
This consensus offers important strategic
guidance in terms of how public relations can
secure lead creative duties. Furthermore, CMOs
or marketing heads (62%) are widely seen as the
best type of client for this particular equation,
with almost half of respondents (45%) believing
they should be engaged directly, rather than via
the communications function (30%).
3%
What factors do you think help PR agencies secure
lead creative duties? Please select all that apply
MORE COST EFFECTIVE 47%
BETTER CULTURAL INSIGHTS 53%
FASTER IDEAS 30%
BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF CORPORATE REPUTATION 59%
MORE EFFECTIVE CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS 35%
MEDIA RELATIONS CAPABILITIES 38%
BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS 66%
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT CAPABILITIES 20%
PR INDUSTRY'S UNDERDOG STATUS 10%
When it comes to securing lead creative duties, who
is the best type of client for PR agencies?
31%
62%
CCO OR HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS
CMO OR HEAD OF MARKETING
What is the best way to secure buy-in from the right client
for your creative ideas?
ENGAGE CCO OR HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS 15%
30%
45%
4%
ENGAGE CCO/COMMS HEAD FIRST AS A MEANS TO REACHING THE
CMO/MARKETING HEAD
ENGAGE CMO OR HEAD OF MARKETING
ENGAGE OTHER TYPE OF CLIENT

Increasing Influence of PR Agencies in Leading
Creative and Big Ideas
For several years, the ground has been shifting under the
traditional understanding of agency roles. Happily, our
experiences of late have been that some clients don’t care
for adhering to the old agency roles. They simply want the
best people in the room that will deliver the best ideas. No
matter from which agency they hail.
Once in that room, the value, experience and creativity of
PR agencies becomes apparent. There is no doubt that
clients are starting to realize that our ability to tell stories
to multiple stakeholders in a way that connects can affect
real change to their business while building or enhancing
their reputation.
Their consumers or audiences are seeking authenticity,
transparency and truth. In a world where brands can be
cancelled for a tweet, it is clear that reputation and an
understanding of stakeholders have never been more
important. It is our heritage in building reputations by
employing an earned first approach that makes the value
of how we approach creativity more appealing. Our
thinking and ideas are grounded in our understanding of
what stories move, motivate and resonate.
Brian Melarkey, Creative Director, Dublin, Global Creative and
Planning , FleishmanHillard

War For Ideas: Competition
PRovoke Media’s Global Agency Rankings and
ongoing industry research suggest that the PR
industry had a ‘good’ pandemic compared to
other marcomms disciplines. And the Creativity in
PR results bear this out too. 48% of respondents
rate their agency’s creative opportunities as
better than other types of agencies over the
past 12 months. Around the same proportion
see the same level of opportunities as other
disciplines, and hardly anyone thinks they are in a
worse position.
#CreativityInPR
Over the past 12 months, how would you rate your PR agency's
creative opportunities vs other types of agencies?
48% 49%
3%
BETTER ABOUT THE SAME
WORSE

When it comes to the barriers that PR firms face
in their quest to become lead creative agency,
some newer factors emerge this year. Client
budgets remain the top source of concern (54%),
followed by the PR industry’s creative reputation
(48%), and the fact that PR firms are more likely to
engage the communications function rather than
marketing (41%).
Clients, by comparison, overwhelmingly point
to PR agency creative quality (64%) and lack of
strategic capabilities (50%), as the key barriers.
“I think that more planning, research,
and strategy roles need to become
the norm over the next few years
for PR agencies to move the
needle on this question about
being lead agency.
Insights are not just sitting there just waiting
to be found – an actionable and useful
insight takes time as the result of finding,
collating and reviewing information. The PR
industry needs people with the skill sets to
separate signal from noise. If creativity is
fuelled by imagination, then data analysis
can provide the robust foundation that
effective ideas need.”
Claire Bridges
What do you think are the barriers to PR agencies becoming
the lead creative agency? Please select all that apply.
NONE, THEY ALREADY ARE
ENGAGING WITH THE CCO INSTEAD OF THE CMO
CLIENT BUDGETS
PR AGENCY CREATIVE QUALITY
LACK OF STRATEGIC AGENCY CAPABILITIES
LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF CLIENT BUSINESS
LACK OF PAID MEDIA CAPABILITIES
PR INDUSTRY'S CREATIVE REPUTATION
OTHER
5%
41%
54%
36%
26%
14%
27%
48%
13%

A new question this year further investigates
competition for earned-first creative ideas. And
the biggest source of this conflict is digital/social
agencies (33%), who narrowly outrank creative
shops (31%). There is far less competition seen
from media and experiential agencies.
Where are you seeing growing competition for earned-first
creative and ideas?
OTHER PR AGENCIES
CREATIVE AGENCIES
EXPERIENTIAL AGENCIES
DIGITAL/SOCIAL AGENCIES
MEDIA AGENCIES
OTHER
18%
31%
10%
33%
3%
4%

Where CMOs are the Top Buyers, How Comms
Leaders Can Harness The Power of PR
Remember those old days when comms leaders were told
to ‘go PR the creative idea?’ That’s over. We’ve all seen
the studies on how skeptical audiences are to traditional
advertising. At a time where people are actively rejecting
paid, earned ideas can – and should – be the main
character in a brand’s marketing mix. While CMOs and
marketing teams have traditionally held keys to greenlight
Creative work, we see more and more CCOs and comms
leaders owning their power. They set the ambition for the
impact earned can have on the business and are defining a
new reality where PR isn’t just an idea – but the idea.
Lesley Backus, Creative Strategist and Planner, Global Creative
and Planning, FleishmanHillard

Advertising agencies continue to be seen as
the pinnacle of creative quality, but the gap
has narrowed considerably, with PR firms close
behind. Indeed there is very little to separate
these two types of agencies from the others
cited on this list — digital, media, experiential,
content — reflecting how convergence has
redrawn traditional notions in terms of channels
and creativity.
PR AGENCY
ADVERTISING AGENCY
DIGITAL AGENCY
MEDIA AGENCYV
EXPERIENTIAL AGENCY
CONTENT AGENCY
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY
OTHER AGENCY
Please rank the creative quality of the following agencies.
out of 8
0

War For Ideas: Expectations
There is a discernible shift in client expectations
of creativity since the onset of the pandemic,
with a weighted score of 7.57 reflecting the
higher premium being placed on creative ability,
compared to 6.59 one year ago.
UNIMPORTANT 0%
1%
2%
3%
11%
8%
21%
17%
15%
22%
AVERAGE
FUNDAMENTAL
How important is creativity when clients decide whether to hire
you or your agency?

Talent: Imagination + Information
This question illuminates skills gaps and where
HR teams and CDs may need to focus some
of their recruitment energies. According to
respondents PR agencies need more copywriters
– perhaps unsurprisingly 67% said that this
was an area in which they needed talent –with
great writing a fundamental PR craft. Just a few
points behind were planners/strategists at 60%.
Developers, videographers and technologists are
also in demand.
As we saw earlier, clients cited lack of strategic
capabilities (50%) as a barrier to hiring PR
agencies as the creative lead, so clearly an area
for development.
COPYWRITING 66%
60%
59%
53%
43%
39%
24%
23%
PLANNERS/STRATEGISTS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
DESIGN
ART DIRECTION
VIDEOGRAPHERS
TECHNOLOGISTS
DEVELOPERS
What types of creative talent does your business need?

Talent: Imagination + Information
Given that the ability to successfully manage and
retain creative talent is critical the answers to this
question are surprising. 37% of companies say
that they have no set ways to encourage creativity
and creative behaviour. 35% have internal awards
in place, and 34% rely on promotion opportunities
to motivate staff.
How do you encourage creativity and creative behaviour?
WE DON'T 37%
35%
34%
18%
INTERNAL AWARDS
PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

Talent: Recruitment + Retention
This is a question we’ve asked before and is a
good measure of how PRs see their business and
the sector as a whole. The Great Resignation is
real: 20% of PRs feel that’s what’s stopping new
talent from joining their company.
It’s disappointing to see that more than 50% of
respondents feel that creative talent would rather
work in a different type of agency – although the
perceived lure of higher salaries is worth noting
– 52% of respondents say salaries are better
elsewhere. For the record, the UK Talent website
puts the average PR salary at £32.5k, compared
to £37k for someone in a creative agency. And
with the likes of Deloitte and PwC keen to build
their creative capabilities the war for talent is not
going to get any easier.
What stops creative talent joining your agency?
SALARIES ARE HIGHER ELSEWHERE 52%
51%
20%
19%
14%
THEY PREFER TO WORK AT ANOTHER TYPE AGENCY
WE DON'T TRY HARD ENOUGH TO HIRE THEM
'THE GREAT RESIGNATION'
IE POSTCOVID WORKING PRIORITIES HAVE CHANGED
OUR CULTURE IS NOT RECEPTIVE TO THEM

A positive result: well over 60% think their firms
do a good job of holding onto their best creative
talent. We also asked how effective HR was at
nurturing PR creatives, and over 50% of those
who replied had no complaints. But 1 in 5 rated
HR’s efforts as poor or non-existent.
“We tend to hire people that are like
us, that like us - a good culture ‘fit’.
Yet, organisations that promote
cognitive diversity are more likely
to innovate allowing people to
approach things differently. So, if
you want to attract creative talent
try to find space for the ‘mis-fits’ too!”
Claire Bridges
EXCELLENT
GOOD
AVERAGE
POOR
15% 49%
26%
10%
How good a job does your company do when it comes to retaining
creative talent?
14% 45%
32%
4% 5%
CONSISTENTLY EXCELLENT
GOOD
AVERAGE
POOR
NON EXISTENT
How good are your company's HR practices -
remuneration, appraisals, rewards, training - when it
comes to supporting creativity?

Tomorrow’s creative talent, according to
respondents, won’t come from PR agencies: well
over 50% think that other types of agencies –
advertising especially (35%) – are where their next
big thinkers will come from. This may be because
we’ve adopted the CD role from the ad industry,
where a background in graphic design, fine art,
copywriting or branding is the norm.
Yet there is no single or obvious career path in
PR to developing into this role. Something for HR
teams to consider when thinking about where the
next gen of creative talent is going to come from.
As an industry we could think more creatively
about it too – we could be looking to design
thinkers, psychologists, behavioural economists
and insight analysts amongst others.
What is the best source of creative talent for your business?
35%
18%
16%
9%
9%
7%
5%
ADVERTISING AGENCY
ANOTHER PR AGENCY
ANY OTHER TYPE OF AGENCY
INHOUSE
GRADUATE RECRUITMENT
DIGITAL MEDIA EG FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, BUZZFEED...
OUTSIDE THE MEDIA AND MARKETING WORLD

Talent: Creative Leadership + Talent
When we asked this question last year, 53% of
respondents said that they had a creative director.
We can only guess as to why this figure has
shrunk to 39% this time around: has there been
a post-Covid hiring freeze, or a redistribution
of creative responsibilities? Equal numbers of
people – 28% – say they are considering this
hire, with the same amount saying it should be
part of everyone’s job reflecting the contrasting
views about how best to generate and deliver
creative ideas.
Do you have an Executive Creative Director or Chief Creative Officer?
YES
NO, BUT WE ARE CONSIDERING IT
NO, NOT NECESSARY, IT'S PART OF EVERYONE'S JOB
WE'D LIKE TO BUT WE CANNOT AFFORD IT
5% 28% 28% 39%

Investing in and Retaining Creative Talent
and the Need for Diversity and Diverse
Perspectives in Creative
After spending two decades in the ad industry, I came to
experience that the work that was winning awards for the
agency, was better defined as earned. That’s where the
interesting thinking is being done – it doesn’t have to fit
a media buy or shill an RTB, there’s a purity and freedom
to it. As we’ve looked at developing creative talent, we
are focused on developing the discipline of conceptual
thinking, but with a free-range mindset. An idea can
manifest itself in endless ways. This freedom in thinking is
something we stress in retaining and attracting talent.
I and many of my peers have migrated to PR agencies from
the ad world, and I think we will continue to see that trend
grow as creatives are looking to be more fulfilled by the
work they create.
When it comes to individual talent, our ideas will only ever
be as diverse as the minds behind them. I am relentless
in seeking representation in our talent, both for how their
experience inspires the work, and how those individuals
inspire others. For if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.
Colleen McTaggart, Executive Creative Director, Chicago, Global
Creative and Planning, FleishmanHillard

Ask five CDs what their role entails and you’ll get
five different answers but there are some areas
of agreement: according to respondents, most
(almost 80%) see it as to lead creative conceptual
development but almost as many feel the role
is to drive creative ambition and culture. 58%
say that the role is to inspire clients to embrace
earned media ideas.
“It’s not surprising that agreeing
on what the creative leadership
role entails is tricky. You need to
be a manager and a mentor, have
marketing and business nous, as
well as problem-solving skills and it
can be hard to make the transition
‘from being (a) creative’ and generating
ideas, to leading creative teams, something
I understand first hand. The fundamentals -
build trust in your team – without it you can’t
have risk-taking, experimentation, debate,
dissent or any of the other good stuff that
leads to ideas getting off the ground.”
Claire Bridges
LEAD CREATIVE CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
INCLUDING CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT
DRIVE CREATIVE AMBITION AND CULTURE
INCLUDING TALENT TRAINING
INSPIRE CLIENTS TO EMBRACE EARNED CREATIVE IDEAS
INCLUDING NEW BUSINESS
79%
64%
58%
How would you characterize the creative leadership role and key duties?

Talent: Demographics
Interestingly, there was a notable uptick in female
creative directors this time, rising from 23% to
31%. The last time female creative directors
topped 30% was back in 2017.
The white CD is still most commonly the one
calling the shots, just as they were last year:
the figure is 76% for two years running. Of even
greater concern, just one respondent works with
a Black creative director, despite the industry’s
glaring struggles with diversity and inclusion.
What gender is your executive creative director or chief creative officer?
FEMALE
MALE
PREFER
NOT
TO
SAY
OTHER
30% 70% 0% 0%
What race/ethnicity is your executive creative director or chief creative officer?
WHITE OR CAUCASIAN 76%
15%
6%
3%
ASIAN
HISPANIC OR LATINO
BLACK, AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN
0%
OTHER

Talent: Demographics
The good news is that most respondents report
that creative teams are majority female. The bad
news is that these teams remain overwhelmingly
white. It stands to reason, if creativity continues
to be viewed as a bastion of homogeneity, this will
have significant repercussions for the quality of
work being produced.
What percentage of your creative team is male?
31% 26% 27% 13% 3%
LESS THAN 30% 3049% 5069% 7089% MORE THAN 90%
What percentage of your creative team is White or Caucasian?
28% 2% 17% 13% 40%
LESS THAN 30% 3049% 5069% 7089% MORE THAN 90%

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