Creativity - key to successful PR

Last week I was at a business seminar hosted by Businesslink in which the famous management science guru Edward de Bono talked about creative thinking. It is easy to say the word but often hellishly difficult to act out. One of his opening points was that adaptation is poorer than reinvention. The ‘line of least resistance’ is the often adopted course based on adaptation rather than the more testing line of invention.

Creativity is key to PR. I recently heard a talk on Online PR at the CIPR in which the apparent threats were outlined, particularly from consumer generated content, or members of the public talking online about your brand. The discussion ranged from deep mistrust and concern for the loss of control of the brand message, through to the embracing of the medium as a god-sent opportunity to engage with those willing to ask.

While this content often ‘competes’ with PR content there was the view that PR had two essential star cards, being creativity and relationships.

Relationships are made and the reassuring thing from Edward de Bono is that creativity is not something one is born or not born with, but can be learnt.