Jo-ann Robertson: PR Is a Business-Critical Discipline
Jo-ann Robertson started her career as a political advisor and broadcast journalist, after which she made the switch to communications consultancy and hasn’t looked back in 20 years. A recognised leader in diversity, equity and inclusion, she believes that delivering culture-first work with lasting impact depends entirely on the diverse minds and characteristics of the teams creating the campaigns. Having grown up on a working-class council estate in the west of Scotland and being the first in her family to go to university, she understands the barriers that people with diverse characteristics face in adland and is consistently leading and championing change.
In 2022, she was named Women in Marketing’s ‘PR Communicator of the Year’, as well as Management Today’s DE&I champion of the year. Jo-ann is a deep client counsellor working with key clients including P&G, Mastercard, Samsung, and The LEGO Foundation. In her spare time, Jo-ann is chair of the Young Women’s Trust, a charity fighting for economic justice for women aged 18-30 in the UK, as well as a mum of two, who keep her on her toes on a daily basis.
In this year’s PR category at Cannes, entries will need to demonstrate how original thinking, transformative insight and a strategy rooted in earned media has influenced opinion and driven business, societal, and/or cultural change. Work with storytelling at its core is a must, while protecting and enhancing the reputations of businesses, organisations and brands through the campaigns stays at the forefront of the agenda. A number of criteria will be considered during judging and weighted as follows: 20% idea; 30% strategy; 20% execution; 30% impact and results.
LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke to Jo-ann to find out more about what she expects from the category’s entries and winners.
LBB> The industry works best when different specialist businesses collaborate to make the most of their talents and knowledge. How can the industry work better together to ensure brilliance in PR?
Jo-ann> Respecting each other’s skills and expertise, and ensuring you have the right talent around the table when ideating and making decisions is critical. Listening is a skill not always well practised in our industry so if you want to get to brilliance, in any category, it has to be through listening and responding to diverse perspectives.
LBB> Looking at last year's Grand Prix winner in PR, what collaborations do you think will have been most important to ensure that became a Grand Prix winner at Cannes Lions?
Jo-ann> Last year’s Grand Prix was a beautiful example of a simple idea, relevant and authentic to the brand, that has a positive impact on society and drove institutional change.
LBB> What issue or topic do you think the industry needs to find more alignment and unity on? And how do you hope we will get there together?
Jo-ann> The most critical element for the sustainability and relevance of our industry is evolving our culture to be much more inclusive, so that we attract and retain more diverse talents from all over the world. The way to get there is to open source successful strategies, be honest and open about challenges, listen and respond to critics, and hold each other accountable for the progress we desperately need to see.
LBB> What will you be looking for in the work when you're judging?
Jo-ann> I’ll be looking for four things. Is this earned at the core? Does it truly have relevance for the brand/organisation? Does it push creative boundaries? What impact has it had for the brand, the organisation, the audience and possible society?
LBB> What are the most exciting current developments in the PR category as of right now and how do you expect them to pan out in the future?
Jo-ann> Over the past five years, PR has increasingly been recognised as a business-critical discipline. From driving employee engagement, to handling significant issues, all the way through to driving relevancy and sales, a strong PR team can be the differentiator in business success. In order to maintain and enhance this reputation, we must continue to evolve our ability to put data and analytics at the heart of all that we do, as well as being creatively brave in the work we put in to the world at a time when there is too much content for people to consume.
LBB> And what are some current big debates in the category?
Jo-ann> The integration of strong data and analytics, technology, the acceleration of AI, ethics, purposeful creativity… and more. [There are] so many opportunities for the industry ahead and I’m thrilled to be right at the heart of it.
