7 Media Trends for 2021 Chains, CommPRO

7 Media Trends for 2021
include    Supply    Chains,
Healthcare, Telepresence and
Customer Experiences

Norman Birnbach, President, Birnbach Communications

It’s great that 2020 is over. Finally.

Although many of the trends and issues from last year sadly
will continue into 2021, PR and marketing teams should look at
new trends to find ways to stay relevant and engaged with
other stories the media will be covering.

Our approach to identifying trends is based on conversations

with reporters and a review of a wide-range of sources, with
the goal of helping clients understand the media landscape.
For example, we’ve been telling clients for the last few weeks
that reporters have been very distracted during the post-
election – so it was gratifying to read that Ina Fried at
Axios Login, the company’s tech newsletter, validated our
perspective this week. Writing about the Consumer Electronics
Show (CES), a major tech showcase that generates tons of media
coverage because it’s where consumer product companies
typically launch exciting cutting-edge products, Fried noted:
“The 2021 edition of CES was mostly an afterthought as media’s
attention focused elsewhere.”

We’ve recognized the media’s distraction and have advised
clients appropriately to set expectations. In so doing, we may
have helped clients better time and position their
announcements.

Here are seven of our top media
predictions for 2021:
   1. We will all become more aware of supply chains. While
      supply chain and logistics are vital, they rarely get
      mentioned in the mainstream media because they’re
      typically invisible to consumers. Because the rollout of
      COVID-19 vaccines encountered significant challenges and
      there were shortages of key consumer goods and
     appliances, we will all become more aware of supply
     chains issues this year. We expect more coverage if key
     shortages arise. What this means: Executives with supply
     chain expertise have an opportunity to position
      themselves as thought leaders if they can provide big-
      picture perspectives and insights to help reporters
      explain the challenges we’re seeing.
   2. The workplace of the future will be your home. Experts
      predict that a significant percentage of employees will

choose to continue to work from home – which has
  propelled some to move to cheaper, less dense
  neighborhoods. Companies will have to rethink HR,
  recruiting and team building as well as reconfigure
  workflow, collaboration, and customer support to address
  the realities of the new workplace. For grocery stores,
  restaurants and retail locations, expect short-term
  changes like plexiglass dividers, asking people to
  socially distance, etc. to likely remain into 2022. What
  this means: HR executives can offer insights into the
  long-term implications for job-hunters and current
  employees or companies can talk about how their new
  products solve new challenges. (For example: selfie
  lights. Last year you might not have heard of them but
  if you have a dark corner of your home from which you
   now conduct video calls, you should get some.)
3. Cities will need to reimagine downtown business
  districts. Office buildings will be emptier in 2021 as
  many businesses re-evaluate office needs and try to get
  out of leases.     Local hospitality businesses and
  retailers need     to focus on delivering customer
  experience, not just commodity service. To overcome
  stories about closures and stagnation, stimulate the
  local economy and give people a reason to visit, cities
  will need to revitalize downtown areas by expanding
   cultural activities. What this means: Even if you’re
   pitching a totally different story, if your organization
   has big downtown presence, you should be prepared to
   address reporters’ questions about the future of your
   office space and your commitment to support the
   community.
4. Telepresence, industrial robotics and artificial
   intelligence (AI) will get more attention. Companies
   will experiment with deploying telepresence and robotic
   solutions and integrating AI to be better able to
   weather the next pandemic. This is an opportunity for
   industries like manufacturing that require onsite

employees but haven’t updated processes. There will also
   be articles noting concerns about the impact of robots
   in the workplace on jobs as well as advances in AI. What
   this means: Companies may have an opportunity to
   showcase themselves as case studies for deploying new
   technology (though it shouldn’t just be about new
   technology as about a new way of getting work done).
5. T e l e h e a l t h b e c o m e s a p r e f e r r e d o p t i o n , n o t a n
   alternative. Telehealth will become the preferred
   option, particularly for therapy or appointments that
   don’t require hands-on treatment. We expect to see
   stories on the delivery of healthcare to those who don’t
   have access to telehealth and whether patients will get
   the same level of care and attention via virtual
   sessions as they do with in-person visits. What this
   means: There are a number implications that HR staffs
   will need to address. Instead of taking an hour from
   work to go to a doctor’s office, an employee will need a
   quiet, private location from which to conduct a
   telehealth call. That’s not a problem for mployees
   working from home; but it could be an issue if they work
   from a bullpen area in an office. HR execs will need to
   reconfigure policies and expectations to deal with
   telehealth visits, for example.
6. Big Tech’s role will be scrutinized. With antitrust
   suits against Facebook and concerns about Section 230 –
   the FCC rule that protects social media companies from
   being sued for the content posted onto their sites –
   2021 will be a tough year for Big Tech. Forcing Facebook
   to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp won’t solve the real
   problem: the polarizing nature of social media and the
   impact of disinformation in the public square. But
   everyone has an opinion, and we expect to see numerous
   stories exploring the topic this year. What this
   means: Organizations need to look at how people are
   using various platforms and to be prepared to adjust
   their social media activities based on shifting laws and

regulations as well as algorithms that may impact those
      campaigns.
   7. T h e s t r e a m i n g w a r s w i l l c o n t i n u e w i t h n o r e a l
      losers. With the exception of Qubi, a standalone service
      that closed in six months, most of the new streaming
      services were launched by networks trying to optimize
      their content. The currently expanding number of
      streaming services have benefited from people staying
      home, but there are too many different providers to be
      sustainable. Contraction of non-network-based services
      (Crackle and Tubi, for example) won’t happen this year
      but could happen within 24 months. What this means: This
      trend could be significant for marketers because people
      who primarily stream content are harder to reach via
      advertising than those who watch on-air advertising-
      supported networks. So marketers will need to find
      other, more creative ways to reach those consumers.

Of course, these aren’t the only trends we expect to hit this
year. We are optimistic, and do expect 2021 to be a better
year. It’s important to pay attention to the factors driving
media coverage to be able to generate positive coverage and to
position executives as thought leaders.

                               About the Author: Norman Birnbach is
                               the    president    of    Birnbach
                               Communications, www.birnbach.com, a
                               Boston-based PR and social media
                               agency that helps clients navigate
                               trends and raise awareness through
                               earned media and thought leadership.
                               His blog, PR BackTalk, provides
insights and attitude about PR, journalism and traditional and
social media.