In pandemic times, ‘communicators came of age,’ Bellwether Survey finds

The challenges posed by the pandemic have thrust communicators to the fore in their companies and organizations, according to this year’s Bellwether Survey, a comprehensive survey of public relations practitioners conducted by Boston University’s College of Communication and PRWeek just released.

“In this period of extreme duress and disruption, communicators were called on to help navigate all of that – and more,” said Ray Kotcher, professor of the practice of public relations at COM and one of the study’s designers. “Our headline finding: communications have come of age.

“Think of the immediate pivot when we went into lockdown,” Kotcher adds. “Everybody’s behaviors had to change immediately. Comms played a key role in that.”

For example, 71% of respondents said they played a vital role during the pandemic, and almost two-thirds said their organization’s management had increased reliance on communications to succeed. 

Professional communicators also told the study’s researchers that their role inside organizations became as or more important than communicating externally. 

“Institutions needed to hang together, and the glue needed to be communicated and continuously reinforced,” Kotcher says. “Communicators became cultural cultivators.” In addition to employees, according to the research, other key audiences on which communicators are focused are customers and the communities in which organizations operate.   

The survey also found a generational gap among communicators on issues relating to representation and diversity. For example, younger respondents were not convinced their organizations represented America, scoring 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 given to organizations that closely mirrored the country. Older respondents scored their organization an average of 3.24.

Similarly, when asked whether their organization was committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, younger respondents scored their organization at 3.62, on a 1 to 5 scale, with a 5 given for most highly committed. Older respondents scored their organization an average of 4.15.

Communicators are playing a vital role, according to the study, in helping organizations define and articulate their purpose. “At 4.2, communicators believe purpose is important to their organizations,” Kotcher says. “It has become central to strategy and, as respondents tell us, an authentic driver of communications and marketing.”

The Bellwether Report is the most comprehensive, peer-reviewed survey of the field, with a record 2,605 PR practitioners responding this year.

The survey was designed and directed by Kotcher; Donald Wright, Harold Burson Professor and chair of the college’s Department of Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations; and Arunima Krishna, assistant professor, public relations, all of Boston University’s College of Communication, home to the country’s first public relations degree. The survey was distributed via email to subscribers of PRWeek, as well as members of the Public Relations Society of America, Arthur W. Page Center, Institute for Public Relations, and contacts of the Boston University research team.

Read more and purchase the full premium edition of the survey at PR Week.