2022 PR Trends

Winter 2022

2022 PR Trends

Every new year has to start with industry observations and predictions. PR is no different. So what do we think is in store for PR in 2022? Here are three trends to make note of.

Virtual meetings and media interviews will continue to be an important part of the PR landscape. For a while in 2021, it looked like things may be getting back to “normal.” That’s not the case anymore with yet another COVID variant underway. Year three of the pandemic means a continued emphasis on virtual meetings as well as continuing virtual media interviews for our clients. BTW, if you haven’t refreshed your virtual background in a while, be sure to take a long, critical look at it!

Now more than ever, media pitches need to be interesting and brief. With everyone glued to their keyboards and screens these days, journalists are bombarded with dozens if not hundreds of emails a day. That means your subject line has to stand out and your pitches have to be short and interesting to get noticed. If you wouldn’t open the email after reading the subject line, don’t send it.

The line differentiating traditional and online news continues to blur. Traditional media has become very good at leveraging online capabilities, stepping up the instant news competition with online sites. It also means stories have longer “legs” as they may hit online, then in print or broadcast and then again on social. PR people have to monitor all forms of media on a daily basis and think about how a story will play out not just when it hits, but also days later as it continues to make the rounds.

Welcome Hope Smith!

We’re pleased to introduce you to Hope Smith, the newest member of the L&F team. Hope is interning with L&F while completing her final year of communications and business management studies at UWGB. She will be assisting the L&F team with client activities and developing L&F’s social media content. She previously interned at Smith Pharmacy, assisting with their promotional activities and social media.

Hope serves as the Digital Media Strategist for the university’s PRSSA chapter where she actively promotes the organization via social media to raise awareness of the organization both on and off campus.

In her spare time, she enjoys skiing the slopes, spending time on the water at her family cabin, traveling and cooking. She’s looking forward to graduating in fall 2022 and jumping into a fulltime career in PR.

We're happy to welcome her to the L&F team.

Name Dropping

Here's a sampling of what's going on with our clients:

The Port of Green Bay remains on pace to reach its annual goal of 2 million tons of cargo for the shipping season. Through November, nearly 1.8 million tons of cargo has moved through the Port, with the December totals expected soon. With the aid of icebreaking activities, shipping is expected to continue through much of January.

Thank you to everyone who donated to Wisconsin CASA’s My Stuff, My Bag holiday collection drive. The Leonard & Finco team was proud to host a collection box and the numerous donations received! If you would still like to donate, visit Wisconsin CASA’s website.

Great news! Polystyrene foam, commonly referred to via the name brand Styrofoam, can now be recycled at Outagamie County Recycling & Solid Waste (OCRSW). The polystyrene products must be brought directly to the OCRSW facility at 1919 Holland Road in Appleton. Check out this short video on the new process and the types of polystyrene foam products that can be recycled.

Congratulations to the Jackie Nitschke Center on another successful #GivingTuesday. JNC reached its goal of $5,000 in community support. Spurred by the generous donations, the JNC Board doubled its original match, to reach a total of $15,000 in #GivingTuesday donations!

The Jackie Nitschke Center (JNC) has been in the news lately providing valuable information to the community on a number of topics including Holiday Stress & Addiction, New Year’s Eve & Addiction and Dry January. JNC counselors have also appeared on Newsmaker Sunday discussing addiction issues with WFRV’s Tom Zalaski.

Winter blues got you down? Want to head somewhere warm? Look no further than Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport. Sun Country Airlines is offering new nonstop flights to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Meyers, Florida as well as Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in Phoenix, Arizona. Frontier Airlines is flying nonstop to Tampa International Airport (TPA) in Tampa, Florida and, starting in February, will also offer a nonstop seasonal flight to Fort Lauderdale.

Congratulations! The $1.2 billion expansion of I-39/90, between Madison and Beloit, is now complete. Reconstruction began in 2015 and included expanding I-39/90 from four to six lanes along most of the 45-mile corridor, reconstructing 11 interchanges and expanding the Interstate to eight lanes in the Janesville area. Over the course of the project 104 bridges and culverts were constructed, three Diverging Diamond Interchanges (DDIs) were built and nearly 3.4 million square yards of concrete paved. L&F joined the project team in 2012 during the planning stages and assisted with stakeholder outreach and engagement throughout planning and construction.

Don't dismiss AR/VR as "Just for Gamers."

It's already part of our lives.

Whenever someone mentions VR (virtual reality) or AR (augmented reality) to me, the first thing I generally think of is video gaming. Maybe that’s because we are bombarded online and in other media with so many ads for the latest and greatest VR games. It would be easy to simply dismiss AR/VR as something that’s not a part of our everyday lives but, the reality is, both are already a part of our lives.