Igniting Creativity Within Your Communications Team
Posted on May. 2, 2024 / Professional Development / Subscribe 0
By: Justin Liggin
Creativity is a must on any public relations team, but getting the creative juices flowing and fostering environments where your team can unleash their ideas can be easier said than done. If you find yourself or your team eager for creative ideas, don’t give up hope—take advice from the best.
PRSA Phoenix recently welcomed local communications leaders for a virtual panel focused on harnessing creativity within teams. The panel featured John Nicoletti, executive director and professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Brian O’Malley, vice president of public relations for digital marketing agency Agital; and Ashley Patton, deputy communications director for the City of Phoenix.
Each panelist provided their industry perspectives on how public relations professionals can spark creativity through storytelling and media relations efforts, create effective idea-sharing environments for their internal teams, and address common creative obstacles.
Why is creativity important in public relations?
Whether you are pitching a broadcast television segment, drafting a press release, or creating buzzworthy social media content, your ability to weave creative elements into your public relations and communications efforts is the secret sauce in your public relations strategy—a key point made by all panelists. A spark of creativity makes the difference in securing meaningful storytelling opportunities, amplifying your message to the world, exceeding campaign KPIs, and achieving other campaign goals.
Panelist O’Malley of Agital provided an agency perspective on today's media relations landscape, emphasizing the importance of thinking outside the box for your next pitch. O’Malley touched on the benefits of involving outside partners, such as nonprofits or businesses, to make connections that can extend the reach of your story while also allowing a community partner to shine alongside your client.
Panelist Patton brought a government focus to the panel as an employee of the City of Phoenix. In her role, Patton noted that she employs creativity in pitching efforts to cut through the noise and provide poignant storytelling opportunities that resonate with audiences—a must for achieving success in the current media landscape.
For some, like panelist Nicoletti, their passion for public relations stems from creativity. He explained that creativity doesn't necessarily require a large budget but instead a thoughtful and respectful approach to storytelling. And while sharing positive stories is significant, Nicoletti pointed out that addressing challenging themes or topics can often inspire new, more creative ideas.
How do you foster creative ideas within your team?
When laying the groundwork for any public relations campaign or initiative, it all starts with a brainstorming session. Brainstorming sessions are an effective measure for aligning your team and bringing great ideas to life, but how you host your team matters.
With the average agency public relations professional likely juggling several different tasks within the workplace, brainstorming can often be pushed to the side or not prioritized. As a regular meeting leader within her team, Patton emphasized that her meetings not only serve as brainstorming sessions but also as overall strategic sessions that bring proactive ideas and value to the whole team while helping them cross tasks off the to-do list.
During these strategic sessions, Patton noted that she often looks ahead to upcoming holidays, cultural events, or awareness days so the team stays ahead of the curve. She is also exploring the latest trending topics for social media content ideas that translate to the city of Phoenix.
To inspire creativity in your team, it’s also important to challenge them. Nicoletti uses the question “Where’s the Wow?” to encourage ideas and identify how to bring them to life in the best way.
Another tip for brainstorming, Nicoletti mentions that he starts with the biggest and boldest ideas first, which can always be scaled down or shifted to match your story or budget. Thoughtfulness and purposefulness matter in your sessions.
A crucial aspect of effective brainstorming is maintaining consistency. As noted by Panelist O’Malley, designating regular time for creativity helps to facilitate a continual open dialogue that keeps teams unafraid to share even their wildest ideas.
And don’t overlook the significance of having fun! Patton emphasized that brainstorming can be full of joy and laughter while also being a productive time for your team.
What are some challenges to creativity, and how can they be overcome?
The journey of bringing your creative ideas to reality is not always simple and can pose potential challenges either internally or within client relationships.
Working in an agency environment, O’Malley of Agital explained the potential challenge of knowing your clients' creativity threshold and gauging how comfortable they are with your ideas.
Today’s public relations professionals must be flexible and knowledgeable about clients to know how to get ideas approved fast, loop in key connections, and retrieve the necessary resources for telling stories. As O’Malley puts it, “swing for the fences, but have the resources to make it happen.”
As noted by Nicoletti from the Cronkite Agency, understanding your clients and the demographics you serve as well as the potential risk factors behind them is another pivotal part of navigating potential creative challenges. By staying up to date with your client and their target audiences, generating meaningful ideas and securing media opportunities for these ideas can be more straightforward.
One person is not in charge of creativity, said Nicoletti of the Cronkite Agency. Whether a director of communications or a CFO, anyone can come up with ideas and bring something to the table, so don’t let your creativity be put in a box with your team, loop everyone in.
If you are engaging creativity internally, Patton of the City of Phoenix notes that teams may be thrown off by capacity, low morale, and low support. Patton advises leaders to find ways to reduce barriers to creativity by fitting creative sessions into their teams’ schedules or holding meetings in creative settings outside of work to spur new ideas and provide different experiences.
Are you ready to unleash your creativity with your team? Employ these insights from leading professionals!
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