By Omoniyi Ibietan
On the first day of business session at the ongoing 2025 Nigeria Public Relations Week (NPRW) in Uyo, in my presentation, the first paper of the day, I discoursed 20 items I had listed that will change the future of PR and I dimensioned them into four thematic areas all of which I have outlined below.
In my introductions, I did an exposition on the philosophical, definitional, and normative perspectives to communication, PR being one of its expressions. So, I looked at the philosophy of communication to underpin communication as a basic, irreducible relational skill for survival. I defended my thesis about man’s capabilities with facts from the sciences of anthropology and social philosophy and I stated that man’s search for fulfilment are realised from the values he constructed to give meaning to his existence. I expanded the definitions of PR beyond IPRA and APRA conceptions adding the notion of leadership and stated that with the establishment of the first PR and Leadership University (PRLU) in the world, NIPR gave the best expression to the imperative of leadership as a constitutive component of PR.
Importantly, I spoke to normative realities of our space – technology, big data, research, fact checking, and the insights these extant realities give to shape the future of PR practices. I was unequivocal and advocative about assumptions that underpin our attitude, insisting that we must rethink our thinking patterns because they feed our attitudes and attitude is everything. Relying on the works of psychologist-philosopher William James, as reinterpreted by Keith Harrell (1999), I echoed that “Without question, attitudes are developed.”
Therefore, to succeed in PR of the future, we must challenge our assumptions and certitudes because most of our assumptions are not correct and certainly misleading. Using the experiment of Harvard economist, Thomas Schelling on race and segregation, Buchanan (2007) who used the principles of physics in his book, THE SOCIAL ATOM to explain human psychology, the very disruptive works of Daniel Kahneman (Nobel prize winner in economics) who, along with his colleagues, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein in their classic NOISE: A FLAW IN HUMAN JUDGEMENT (2021). Finally, on assumptions and attitudes that shape decisions, I shared Mark Hollingworth’s ideas. Mark taught me strategies afresh in Montreal in 2019, and his brilliance shone well in his book, STRATEGIC ASSUMPTIONS: THE HIDDEN, YET POWERFUL BELIEFS THAT CONTROL EVERY DECISION YOU MAKE.
Indeed, man has been moving from one tragic experience to another because of falsehoods underpinning the assumptions upon which decisions are based. Some people have been killed because their fellow man took decisions based on wrong assumptions, others’ careers have been truncated based on false stories, many people have been stymied on their journey because they or other people relied on assumptions that drove attitudes.
In my presentation, I outlined and explained the following factors among things that will shape the future of PR.
MACRO ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES
Political Dynamics: Impact of policies and political shifts; navigating changes.
Economic Trends: Economic impacts on consumer behaviour and PR strategies.
Media Evolution: Transition to digital platforms and messaging in fragmented media.
Cultural Shifts: Digital integration and addressing cultural and global nuances.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
Technological Integration: AI and automation reshaping engagement.
Data and Insights: Using analytics for impactful campaigns.
AI and Automation: Efficiency in sentiment analysis, targeting, and creativity.
Multimedia Engagement: Video and interactive content for dynamic storytelling. Visuals, particularly videos, will play more central roles in successful communication in the future.
SOCIAL AND GLOBAL INFLUENCES
Public Perception: Building trust amidst scepticism and misinformation.
Globalization: Adapting to cross-cultural PR challenges and opportunities.
Sustainability and Ethics: Aligning campaigns with transparency and values.
Employee Advocacy: Empowering staff as authentic brand ambassadors. ORGANISATIONS THAT MALTREAT THEIR STAFF ESPECIALLY THROUGH DIVISIVENESS AND UNETHICAL INTELLIGENCES WILL NOT SURVIVE THE FUTURE.
INDUSTRY DISRUPTIONS AND FUTURE OUTLOOK
Digital Disruption: Social media, influencers, and real-time engagement.
Emerging Trends: Tools and platforms reshaping PR practices.
Micro-Influencer Marketing: Targeted engagement through authentic partnerships.
Humanized Interactions: Empathy and transparency in communication.
Proactive Crisis Communication: Tools for swift crisis responses.
Hyper-Personalization: Tailored content using AI and analytics.
Omni channel Strategies: Unified messaging across platforms.
Privacy and Compliance: Adapting to stricter privacy regulations.
Conclusively, I warned hundreds of delegates at the conference, that, how the foregoing factors influence PR practice in the future will depend largely on our attitudes. Before the bibliography, in my last slide, titled, ‘THE TOOL IS NOT THE SKILL’, I stated that we need to stay ahead of what AI can do because anthropological science and social philosophy have both demonstrated the awesome capacity of Homo Sapiens. Quoting Agustin Sanchez (2025), I emphasised that we need to validate our roles with our clients as more AI-powered tools emerge. AI is not the end of creative work. Rather, “it is another surface to shape. The people who will shape it are not the ones with most tools. They are the ones who never lost their voices. “
Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan is the Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association (APRA)
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