PR's shift from messaging to managing trust

Marilize Jacobs from VocalCord PR and Reputation Management says if you still think PR stands for ‘press release’, this update is your wake-up call (Image supplied)

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) – the world’s largest and most influential PR professional body) has officially put the ‘management’ back into ‘reputation management’.

And honestly? It’s about time.

#BizTrends2026 | ByDesign Communications’ Kevin Welman: 4 shifts redefining PR

Kevin Welman  26 Jan 2026

3 reasons I love it

Here’s what landed on my desk the day before yesterday, and why I’m genuinely here for it:

New definition, same alphabet soup

PR is now officially: “The strategic management discipline that builds trust, enhances reputation and helps leaders interpret complexity and manage volatility – delivering measurable outcomes including stakeholder confidence, long-term value creation and commercial growth.”

Translation for the C-suite

No, it’s not just media monitoring and event invites. It’s board-level counsel. It’s navigating uncertainty. It’s the difference between being seen and being believed.

• The principles hit different

  What I really love? The ethos underpinning it:

  • Relationships, not just rollouts.
    
  • Earned credibility through behaviour and third-party scrutiny (radical, right?)
    
  • Platform-agnostic storytelling – because TikTok isn’t the strategy, connection is.
    
  • Two-way engagement, not broadcast blasts.
    
  • Long-term value over ‘flooding the internet with content’

  

  A new agency open from Thursday to Monday, with a twist

  9 hours

  Whether you’re hiring, briefing, or just trying to explain what you actually do at a braai – this is the new benchmark.