Common Themes for PR in 2025

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations elections for the 2025 Council opened this week. If you’re a member you should have received your voting information in your email. The Council plays an important role as the CIPR’s advisory body for the Board of Directors. It’s great to see 28 public relations professionals are standing. They’re competing for 22 roles and all have written a candidate’s statement covering their proposed areas for focus.

The industry has never faced as many challenges and opportunities as it does today, so I thought it would be interesting to review the statements and identify the most common themes and see if there were any gaps. Here’s what I found:

Some common themes:

• Professionalism and Ethical Standards The candidates stress the need to uphold robust standards and ethical behaviour, viewing the CIPR’s Chartership and other initiatives as crucial for credibility. Calls to promote ethics, transparency and trust are frequent, with some referencing mis and disinformation risks and the imperative to represent PR as a profession distinct from “spin”.
• Continuing Professional Development Across the board, there is emphasis on lifelong learning - whether in formal CPD cycles, postgraduate qualifications, or broader training. Several note the importance of keeping pace with the changing #PR and #communications environment, ensuring PR practitioners have the agility and resilience to learn new skills.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion In this week above all, it’s great to see that DE&I are portrayed as a moral responsibility and a strategic necessity. There is common support for parents returning to work, bridging different socio-economic backgrounds, championing representation from minority practitioners, and ensuring CIPR’s membership truly reflects society at large.
• The Value of Chartership Multiple statements hope that Chartership should become the norm, not the exception—raising the bar for professional standards and recognition. There’s a general consensus that CIPR must continue pushing for more members to become Chartered and to champion its significance with employers and clients.
• Membership Engagement, Growth and Support There are concerns around member retention and recruitment, advocating for new ways to connect with lapsed or potential members. Ideas put forward include enhancing local and global networks, forging international links, and making CIPR more inclusive of in-house, agency and freelance practitioners throughout their career.

• AI and Technological Advancement Many highlight artificial intelligence, automation, digital transformation and data-driven communications as both a challenge (in terms of rapid change and ethical dilemmas) and an opportunity (to enhance efficiency and elevate PR’s strategic role).
• Strategic Positioning of PR There is a strong demand for PR professionals to have a direct voice at boardroom level, shaping organisational reputation and decision-making. Candidates want the industry to be recognised for its strategic capabilities, not just it’s tactical acumen.
• Global Outlook There is mention of the CIPR’s international dimension—extending membership overseas, forging partnerships with practitioners in other regions, and incorporating perspectives from around the world to benefit the Institute.
• Collaboration and Partnerships There is interest in forging stronger ties with other bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing, as well as building alliances across industries and geographies. This would help share knowledge, deliver broader professional development options, and represent communications more powerfully on the world stage.

Areas receiving less focus:

• Research, Measurement and Evaluation There is surprisingly little mention of PR measurement, proving effectiveness, or robust analytics beyond a handful of nods to demonstrating impact. I believe demonstrating our value is the single largest challenge the profession faces, so I was surprised to see so little consensus around it.
• Navigating the Changing Media Landscape Traditional vs. digital media challenges, shifts in journalism, and fragmentation of channels are not widely mentioned. I was expecting comments on how to build trust and cut through the noise in our ever more saturated media environment would also have appeared.
• Members’ Wellbeing For an industry with many professionals struggling with increased pressure and mental health challenges, there are limited mentions of these issues.
• Public Affairs and Lobbying A couple of candidates mention personal experience in lobbying and public affairs, but there is not much mention of a strategic focus on these important areas of our membership.

The candidates collectively recognise that PR is at an inflection point. They see opportunity in technological innovation, a significant appetite for high ethical standards and professionalism, and a cultural turning point for true inclusion. They also broadly agree that CIPR must continue to modernise membership offerings, champion continuous learning, and advocate for PR as a strategic discipline. Deeper focus on measuring PR’s business impact, engaging with a rapidly fragmenting media scene, and bolstering practitioner wellbeing are areas that I’d like to see more front of mind.

Having chaired AMEC for 6 years and been one of its board directors for many more, I know how much time and commitment it takes from individuals that volunteer for roles at professional bodies and trade associations. This is a deeply experienced list of candidates and we are lucky that they are all prepared to serve. We all owe all of them our gratitude for their willingness to serve. I wish them all well - the vote closes on Friday 7th February. If you’re a CIPR member, please read their statements carefully and use your vote!