mBank’s press spokesman – on the future of public relations, errors in press releases and the social responsibility of brands.
the demand for communication specialists on the job market is not decreasing
. So what role does PR play in a world where radio kuwait telephone number data television and the press are no longer the most powerful channels of communication, and the opinions of ordinary Internet users can shape public opinion?
We are talking about this topic with Krzysztof Olszewski – PR expert, mBank spokesman and lecturer at the international business school Laba. In our interview, he talked about what the PR industry looks like now and how he thinks its future is shaping up.
Why did you choose to become a PR professional?
It was a coincidence. When I started my studies, I dreamed of working as a journalist, but I ended up in a company that had nothing to do with media. However, they noticed that I had a way with words and had a “light touch”. I’m not sure if that was really the case back then (I’m still convinced that the Polish language teaches humility).
Initially, I was responsible for developing expert commentaries that were also used by the media. Over time, other elements of public relations activities began to be added. This is where my cooperation with journalists began. I still work with some of them today.
What is the hardest thing about this job?
First of all, it is impossible to plan everything – especially in the area of media relations and crisis communication. But it is not so much difficult as exciting. In this job why discipline in marketing brings better results adrenaline spikes occur quite regularly. That is why composure and the ability to act quickly are valued.
As a PR person, you also have to be up to date – know what’s going on in the world and understand the context. In a sense, you don’t get out of this job.
Among all the campaigns implemented by mBank, do you have your favorites?
I particularly like the spots from the brand’s early days – they were bold and stood out a lot in that market (e.g. “You don’t have to believe the ad and the guy dressed as a priest. Check it out for yourself!”).
I also have a soft spot for the bank’s first social campaign on online security. We did it a few years ago, observing the growing number of online frauds – not only in banks. In short films, we showed dangerous behaviors from the Internet phone database transferred to real life (e.g. sharing sensitive data without thinking or not securing equipment against unauthorized access). This highlighted the absurdity of such behaviors. If you won’t do it in real life, don’t do it online. I am proud to have contributed to this campaign.
When you type “pr is dead” into Google, you get 244 million results – articles , blog posts , books . What’s your opinion on this? Is public relations really dying?
Where did the idea come from to check this on Google? Such statistics mean nothing, because when we type in the search engine: “the earth is flat”, the counter will show a billion pages. Some of them will probably try to justify this thesis in a clever way. And here I see a role for PR… PR people will not replace scientists or journalists in explaining the world, but they can help in organizing the information chaos.
We are surrounded by a huge amount of news, comments, recordings and finally fake news. PR activities carried out in accordance with the art help present the motivations of organizations, companies or people. They add an important element to the information landscape. They also protect reputation. That is why I believe that PR has never been needed as much as it is today.