One of the most interesting aspects of PR is its potential is pretty much limitless. What PR is continues to evolve, as does what it means for brands. And that’s been an interesting thing to witness, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s been encouraging to see over the years is how clients have continued to invest in – and prioritise – PR. 

We have limited word counts for each agency description, so we won’t have room for all of Allison’s 2022 account wins.  Now a global giant, the 21-year-old firm snagged work from AAA, Athleta, GE Power & Water, Hasbro, Grammarly, Mars Wrigley, Moderna, Poshmark, Sennheiser, and TikTok – and that’s just a partial list. Some of its campaigns became the year’s most talked-about, from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s #MoreForMentalHealth initiative to Corona’s global plastic fishing tournament, which removed over 20 tons of plastic from the ocean and garnered over two billion impressions. If that wasn’t enough, Allison launched its new Allison+Sports and BrandGeist divisions this year.

When I think of 2017, I reminisce a bit on a pandemic-free world we used to inhabit. So, I am grateful we are in a much better place now! That aside, 2017 was an exciting year for us, launching Allison+Partners in India and seeing the opportunity and the phenomenal prospect of the India market. As Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots forward but only backwards.” 2017 was only the precursor to PR’s increasing prominence on the centerstage. And as the pandemic showed later, companies placed even more importance on the need to over-communicate. I am glad that we had the opportunity to quickly build valuable relationships with our clients, demonstrating our value from the get-go to all the way through the worst of the pandemic to present day. 

Brands had a slow start when it came to the NCAA's name, image and likeness (NIL) policy that went into effect in July 2021. But 18 months in, brands, athletes and colleges seem to have found their footing, resulting in a slew of deals. While the usual suspects such as Nike and Gatorade are in the mix, plenty of smaller brands have used NIL to connect with local markets and highlight female athletes.

In the fifth year of the event and the first year many in the industry went back to in-person attendance at conferences, #HLTH22 drew nearly 10,000 healthcare entrepreneurs, thought leaders, journalists, experts and life-long learners.  

From innovative scans to seamless data platforms, automation is transforming the technology that’s the very backbone of our healthcare system. In fact, in a recent Allison+Partners health survey of 500 health tech leaders, 63% identified automation as key to unlocking Health 4.0, a future in which technology connects our fragmented system and improves the patient experience. As more companies look to implement automation solutions in healthcare, industry communicators must learn how to humanize the automation story so that the benefits to both patients and providers can be fully understood and appease fears. 

As we enter the endemic stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is certain – efforts to communicate complex health information have often failed and deeply eroded trust in science, healthcare providers and policymakers. In the absence of credible health information, people rely on social media and hearsay, often filled with misinformation, to make critical decisions about their health and well-being. At the same time, thousands of businesses across the healthcare spectrum offer new, innovative solutions to health and wellness.