How to Solve the Problem of Lack of Creativity in Events? Read These Eight Rules!
Published: 2022-12-13
A survey report shows that 65% of PR professionals criticize the PR industry for lacking creativity. But why do PR practitioners, who claim to be creative workers, say that PR lacks creativity? Perhaps the question we should ask is, What causes the lack of creativity in PR? And what can make PR full of creativity?
The research report lists 10 reasons for the "lack of creativity in PR," with the top three factors being:
• Lack of time: PR consultants are notoriously busy, often working long hours at their desks, and creativity requires time. However, the PR model limits consultants from spending excessive time on clients. So, creativity is part of every PR professional's daily work, but compared to advertising, PR often lacks big ideas in terms of creativity.
• Lack of budget: Many netizens joke, "If you have money, you do advertising; if you don't, you torture PR." Advertising budgets are always much higher than PR budgets, but fortunately, clients' budgets for PR are increasing year by year, allowing PR to do more creative work (it is said that Ogilvy's most profitable department is not advertising but PR).
• Lack of understanding from clients: Clients often expect PR to be more productive rather than more creative.
In general, PR event creativity = strategic creativity + format creativity + execution creativity
The core of PR is to enable mutual understanding between brands and consumers and enhance brand awareness. For a brand, there are multiple ways to achieve PR goals through events. Creativity naturally plays a role here. Therefore, it can be said that the highlights of an event and the formation of news topics are inseparable from good creativity.
Overall, the creativity of a PR event is first and foremost an idea centered around the annual PR strategy (brand philosophy, core selling points, products), aiming for psychological resonance with the target audience; then it is tactical format creativity, which fully embodies the strategic creativity, pursuing resonance between the strategic idea and the target audience, and vertical communication between brand culture and audience emotions.
As for specific format creativity, whether to choose press conferences, roadshows, talent shows, sports, music, entertainment, sponsorships, event marketing, new media, or other forms depends on the situation.
Finally, execution creativity aims to attract the target audience, such as article titles, slogans, event execution, event highlights, and media hotspots. The two most critical points of execution creativity are the "fidelity" of the event site and the extent of subsequent media promotion. The comprehensive and reasonable use of these means is the key to the success of a PR event.
Eight common rules for successful PR creativity:
1. Strategy determines everything
PR strategy is the brand's annual strategic plan, hence the saying "PR goes first." Events are just one form of PR expression. So when we receive a PR event brief, we first need to understand: What is the brand's PR strategy for this year or the past two years?
Any PR event is a partial operation of a brand strategy. The key to a successful PR event lies in its pre- and post-event operations, as well as the scope and duration of its influence.
2. Insight into brand needs
The PR industry is highly competitive, and international brands often use major PR events for high-profile promotions. Today's PR agencies are segmenting and specializing, which requires us to have more professional insight into brand needs:
1. What is the purpose of the PR event? What effect does the brand want to achieve through the event?
2. Create PR events that highly match the brand's tone and surpass competitors.
3. Visual creativity, no detail overlooked
Creativity can make PR events play an unlimited role in a limited space. Looking at the PR activities of well-known brands at home and abroad, it is not difficult to find that whether behind the scenes or on stage, their control of the entire event, attention to detail, and structural transitions are always clever and creative. Under the guidance of a "Big Idea," products and brands shine, enhancing audience awareness and recognition, thereby increasing consumption. Turning familiar brands into consumer favorites is the core benefit and ultimate goal of PR events.
Visual creativity in PR events is divided into three sections:
1) On-site layout creativity: graphic design, spatial display, stage design, etc.;
2) Event execution creativity: highlight segments, interactive videos, high-tech presentations, etc.;
3) Sensory installation creativity: scent, sound, atmosphere, etc. Every detail must be flawless, providing guests with a full sensory experience.
After attending the event, guests should know what kind of brand it is, be deeply impressed by the highlights, and spread word-of-mouth.
4. Creativity vs. fidelity
How to create perfect creativity with limited budget and time—this is extremely challenging for PR agencies. Actually, don't complain about the budget; with a budget, anyone can create an event like Chanel. There are many forms of creative expression in PR events; the key is the final fidelity. Fidelity here is not just about material production, but all creative forms in the event segments, such as atmosphere, highlights, videos, interaction, media effects, etc.
Of course, in the end, fidelity is reflected in execution and details. Clients are most afraid of encountering PR agencies with "rich creativity but poor execution." Black creativity or white creativity, only deliverable creativity is good creativity. Only when the visual presentation exceeds expectations on-site will it win high recognition from clients.
5. Distinct theme, create a creative atmosphere
Event creativity often encompasses a brand story, brand philosophy, core advantages, products, marketing, and other brand content.
In a large space, without an engaging theme, the rhythm of the entire event becomes loose and dull. Conversely, if more effort is put into theme positioning and planning, such a PR event is already half successful. Creativity is definitely the wise stroke that lights up the space.
Therefore, closely following the theme and creating an atmosphere is the most effective way to reasonably shape the space, and when applied properly, it will yield unexpected results.
6. Highlight moments, lock in memorable brilliance
Every event has a specific purpose, whether it is to maintain the target audience, promote sales growth, or increase attention and influence. So it is not one-way communication; it exists for a certain relationship.
We cannot expect the target audience to remember all the content of the entire event, nor do we need them to. What we want is for them to remember the shining moments in the process. Therefore, creativity must effectively convey certain information and be memorable. Cleverly integrating the cultural connotations, design philosophy, and life philosophy of each brand into the design of the entire event is perfect creativity.
Excellent creativity, like "inspiration," can stimulate people's self-imagination. In this regard, the presentation details of creative arrangements are essential, and the choice of event venue is also crucial.
A good beginning is half the battle. Such an innovative opening will undoubtedly whet the audience's appetite, and the effect is predictable.
This is exactly the style that Lingyi excels at. With a unique interpretation of the brand, precise positioning and design like a scalpel, we continuously elevate the brand connotation, not only making the audience an extension of the brand appeal, actively sharing and spreading after the event, but also amplifying the success effect of PR. Lingyi understands what the highlights of the entire event are, when they appear, where they appear, and in what way. We have considerable experience in all these aspects, but we break through every time.
We are more adept at cross-border integration, making traditional things fashionable and familiar things fresher. We love to carefully craft various unexpected ignition points because we know how to lock the most brilliant moments into memorable instants.
7. Creativity should be done to the extreme
What exactly is Victoria's Secret?
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is hailed as a scenery at the top of the sexy pyramid in the world, and is regarded by many audiences as the world's top fashion show.
The Victoria's Secret lingerie show pioneered a diversified show structure and superb camera work. The world's top models are proud to be selected for the Victoria's Secret show, and the global search for new "Angels" begins half a year in advance, which can be said to lay a solid foundation for the event.
Therefore, every selected model is truly a top international supermodel, all of which set an ultra-high standard and tone for the event.
The official motto of the Victoria's Secret show is so domineering: Every year's show makes the brand worry about how to surpass itself the next year.
If you watch the entire show, the answer will naturally unfold. What exactly is Victoria's Secret? It will tell you the reason why women all over the world love it deeply.
The Victoria's Secret show is done to the extreme, capturing all beauty lovers. Whether it is the pre-heating, on-site layout, stage lighting, costume selection, or performance interaction, everything is flawless.
8. Cross-border, diversified integration to enhance creativity
Event creativity is not limited to the event site; cross-border marketing and interactive marketing are now widely used in PR activities. But to achieve unexpected results, the integration capability naturally needs to be refined to an astonishing level.
So-called cross-border is not a rigid combination, not a forced pull, nor a random match. Otherwise, it will not only fail to spark creativity but may also backfire and damage the brand image.
Having shared so much, what exactly makes PR full of creativity? What elements should a creative PR plan include? "Creativity in PR" provides the following points for consideration:
• Great storytelling: Storytelling is a basic skill in PR copywriting and writing, requiring proficient narrative techniques. In addition, a creative PR plan always creates an emotional connection or resonance between consumers and the brand through a story.
• Audience insights: PR creativity is inseparable from in-depth analysis of the target audience, accurate grasp of consumption habits and preferences.
• Content creation: PR constantly tracks trends and hot topics. When a timely hot topic appears, can your plan seize the opportunity and respond quickly?
• Purpose: In issue management, a common expression in PR planning is "change people's perception/behavior towards..." Digging out unique issues can also make a PR plan creative.
In fact, there are many creative ideas for PR events. In today's era of advanced technology, coupled with the rapid development of the internet and self-media, the experience and interaction methods of PR events are constantly changing. New forms of expression and different combinations can spark stunning creative ideas. To stay at the forefront of creativity, it is essential to pay attention to trends, predict trends, and have forward-looking insight. All changes are within the same framework; the above eight rules basically lay the foundation for success.
(Content reposted from China Planning Academy)
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