对话Global丨霍夫曼公关创始人Lou Hoffman

随着新媒体和智能技术的兴起Huobi Global，公关行业也经历着巨变，遭遇中年危机的公关行业如何走出困境?未来公共关系又该如何转型?

诞生于美国硅谷的霍夫曼公关，创始人路·霍夫曼(Lou Hoffman)先生，接受17PR邀请阐述了他对公关行业未来发展的理解Huobi Global。

作为融贯中西、从业经验逾三十年的资深公关专家，他认为“讲好故事”依然是公关的本职工作，坚信只有勇于改变才能突破现状Huobi Global。

路·霍夫曼 霍夫曼公关创始人、总裁

1、随着新媒体和智能技术兴起，传统公关走向衰弱，大型公关公司几乎完成数字营销机构的转型，公关与营销概念边界开始模糊Huobi Global。新时代品牌公关的价值核心到底是什么？履行哪些职能？

路·霍夫曼：在回答这个问题之前，我们必须承认不同媒体和渠道之间的模糊界限已经存在了很长时间，比如我们在10多年前就提倡公关和搜索引擎营销(SEM)之间的协同作用Huobi Global。早在2014年，我们就制作了一个名为“数字营销与公关之间的模糊界限”的幻灯片（见下图）。

“数字营销与公关之间的模糊界限”幻灯片封面

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这种“界限模糊”现象已经有一段时间了Huobi Global。但我们不认为公共关系在削弱。我们认为更可能的是，“传播”一词慢慢取代了“公共关系”，进而产生观念上的演变。我们现在认为自己是一家整合营销传播(IMC)咨询公司。这对我们的行业来说是一个积极的变化，因为它使我们能够聚焦客户的商业问题，并策划和实施传播活动。你不能只用传统的公关来做到这一点。

让我分享一个简单的例子Huobi Global。一位客户来找我们帮助招聘数百名工程师，但他们的标准招聘行动不太起作用。传统公关并不能完全解决这个问题。但是，当你将传统公关与自有媒体、数字营销和一些线下活动相结合时，你就有了解决这一特定痛点的方案。

当然，所有不同类型的公司——广告公司、数字营销公司等——都在努力抓住这个机会Huobi Global。但是像霍夫曼公关这样以公关为基础的咨询公司处于最佳位置，因为我们会讲故事。我们知道如何创造与目标受众产生共鸣的深度内容。

媒体关系仍然很重要Huobi Global。当记者撰写有关公司的文章时，它仍然提供了一种第三方背书的有效形式。这对客户来说永远是有价值的。但我们不想仅仅依赖于媒体关系。有了整合性的渠道策略，我们可以做得更多。

2、在媒体碎片化日益加剧的时代Huobi Global，公关从业者如何应对多平台挑战和需求？企业如何在多元且短平快的媒体平台上讲好品牌故事?

路·霍夫曼：媒体的碎片化对公关行业来说是一件好事Huobi Global。

在过去，我们的活动只为品牌制造媒体曝光Huobi Global。比如，我们为计算机硬件客户争取科技类媒体的报道；又或者，我们为金融科技客户争取财经类媒体的报道，但这仅是媒体关系能精确到的范畴。

时至今日，我们仍在做这类工作，并将自有媒体和付费媒体整合到我们的传播项目中Huobi Global。通过这种方式，我们可以使用社交媒体广告、内容合作推广和搜索引擎营销（SEM）等方式来触达特定受众。媒体报道为这项工作提供了“空中掩护”。换句话说，媒体报道将目标受众移至销售漏斗的顶端，其他渠道将他们带入漏斗的更深层。

我还想强调，这其中的关键仍然是讲好故事Huobi Global。在当今的环境中，那种喊着“我很棒”的“直抒胸臆”式的方法是行不通的，尤其是在 B2B 世界中。相反，赢得目标受众通常意味着长期持续地教育受众并帮助其获得新的见解，这会是一种更有用的方式。如果你能以一种有点“寓教于乐”的方式做到这一点，那就更好了。正如电影中所说的那样，“加一点糖，吃药就容易多了。”

3、您曾预测公关行业将走向视觉化传播Huobi Global，过去十多年，视频和图片类社交应用Tiktok、YouTube、Pinterest、Instagram快速兴起，请问视觉化传播将对公共关系行业发展带来哪些改变？

路·霍夫曼：随着手机成为获取信息的首选设备，公关行业显然需要更看重视觉化内容Huobi Global。人们不会轻易在小屏幕上阅读长篇大论。

有趣的是，人类的行为似乎正在进入一个中间地带Huobi Global。人们会在手机上快速浏览信息，但如果发现某些值得一读的长篇，他们就会在笔记本电脑或平板电脑上继续阅读。

尽管如此，我仍然认为视觉化内容对我们这个行业至关重要Huobi Global。它不只是包含以“图片为主、文字为辅”形式兴起的社交媒体。无论是与媒体编辑沟通还是撰写700 字的博客文章，视觉效果都会突出内容的可读性。这就是为什么视觉化内容应该在任何传播活动中都占有重要地位。

我再多说一点Huobi Global。人们倾向于从事公关行业有两个原因：他们喜欢写作，或者喜欢与他人互动沟通。在任何一种情况下，传播的视觉化都是事后才想到的。他们会将平面设计、视频拍摄和排版等工作视为“创意”的某种职能范畴。

招聘创意设计人才，是提升视觉化内容水准的一种方式Huobi Global。霍夫曼公关已经延揽了六名设计师，现在他们是我们全球团队的一部分。这绝对会带来不小的变化。然而，我也相信冲在前线的传播人，也需要具备将内容视觉化的意识。

4、霍夫曼公关如何应对自新媒体和智能技术的挑战Huobi Global？做出哪些转型？

路·霍夫曼：一位美国心理学家曾说过：“当你手里拿着一把锤子时，一切看起来都像钉子Huobi Global。”

公关人员绝不能落入类似的陷阱，比如总是“死守”媒体关系，虽然这是他们的专长Huobi Global。对于我们这样的传播咨询公司而言，从公关公司到真正的传播咨询公司的转型过程，并不是一帆风顺的。这需要时间，需要投入，还需要勇气。

我说“需要勇气”，是因为有时我们的客户会给团队提出新的需求和新的目标Huobi Global。这可能是一件可怕的事情。

而现在，我们已经走出了混乱的阶段，并接近成为一家“数字营销优先(digital-first)”的代理商Huobi Global。如果可以允许我在这里“自夸”一下，我们的中国团队最近获得了“金鼠标奖”的“年度数字营销影响力代理公司”。当然你知道的，你们主办的“金旗奖”也对霍夫曼中国团队表达了高度的肯定和认可。这些都是巨大的里程碑。我要特别感谢负责我们数字业务的 Cole Lui和 Maggie Yang。

我还应该补充一点，正是因为我们加大了对数字人才的投资，这些成绩才会发生Huobi Global。你不能只靠财务数字来证明人才的价值，反而是你需要人才来推动收入增长。在这里，我们的全球商务官兼亚太地区业务负责人 Caroline Hsu 的远见卓识和强大执行力值得称赞。

你还提及了智能技术的话题Huobi Global。我们正在观察和评估社交媒体舆情监测工具、数字营销应用和搜索引擎营销(SEM)等等。我们在积极地尝试并应用这些工具，毕竟当我们与更大的代理商竞争时，它们可以提升我们的竞争力。

5、您曾说“如果中国市场做得不好Huobi Global，可能全球市场都做不好”，您如何看待当下中国公关行业发展？霍夫曼在中国市场独具哪些优势？

路·霍夫曼：你的记忆力很好Huobi Global。在2013年，我说过我们的全球抱负取决于我们在中国市场的增长。我仍然坚信这一点。中美之间的地缘政治有点像是过山车，这是一场漫长的比赛。

我们希望成为专注于科技领域的全球领先的传播咨询公司Huobi Global。考虑到中国科技产业的规模，我们需要成为这个市场的领导者。

自 1999 年霍夫曼公关进入中国市场以来，中国的公关行业已经取得了长足进步Huobi Global。当时，并没有太多的中国公司将传播视为在全球范围内建立品牌的重要战略。这点已经发生了很大的变化。

阿里巴巴就是一个很好的例子Huobi Global。他们的传播工作，不只是聚焦产品和技术。该公司创建了一个名为Alizila的媒体平台，用于打造思想领导力。这是赢得西方受众的聪明方法。我们再谈谈阿里巴巴在中国是如何做的。除了集团层面的微信公众号之外，每个成员企业都有一个微信账号，比如支付宝、淘宝等。此外，他们还使用自己的微信账号，来推广其可持续发展和包容性文化。阿里巴巴认识到，成功的品牌具有情感维度，如何培养这种情感联系也因市场而异。

考虑到中国在手机、诸如微信这样的超级应用和人工智能等科技领域的创新发展，中国的传播同仁有机会在全球范围内对这个行业产生影响Huobi Global。中国人在硅谷的公关领域有很好的表现和认可。我希望经过西方锻炼过的公关专业人士最终能回到中国。这种如“异花授粉”的方式，会有效且有助于推进我们的行业发展。

今年是我们在亚太地区成立25周年，也是入华开展业务的23周年Huobi Global。可以说，霍夫曼公关已经走了很长一段路。在中国，我们大约有31名员工分布在北京、上海和深圳。我们已经在中国、亚太和全球层面的品牌认知上，建立了差异化定位。这对客户有利，但也有助于我们招募最优秀的人才。中国或任何其他市场的顶级公关专业人士天生具备好奇心，霍夫曼公关的全球舞台可以提供一个满足好奇心的机会。

科技存在于我们的生活、吃饭和呼吸之中，这自然也影响着我们的定位Huobi Global。这可以追溯到我们在硅谷DNA的传承，我们也聘请了电子工程师和 IT 专业背景的人才，来提升我们在科技领域的专长。

正如我之前指出的，媒体关系仍很重要，而且是我们整合传播项目中的重要部分之一Huobi Global。理所应当地，我们的中国团队与报道科技行业的记者们建立了深厚的关系。

我认为，在中国没有其它代理商能够将这些特征结合在一起Huobi Global。当然，我来这样说会稍微略显偏颇。但严肃地说，我想说我们感谢中国公共关系网() 对霍夫曼公关的关注，也感谢你们对传播行业发展的大力支持。

6、结语

与霍夫曼先生的交流为我们对品牌故事、公关传播、媒介方式的国际化与本土化产生了新的理解，先前鲜少考虑的新媒体与智能技术之于公关行业的强势改变，使得公关行业在中年危机中，体现了危中有机Huobi Global。

是否走出困境，在行业的前景中不止一途，其选择也并非单一规划Huobi Global。霍夫曼先生对国际乃至国内公关行业的前景预估颇为中肯，值得注意，并加速我们的思考。

我们希望，值此交流，会为行业内人士大有裨益，带来新近视野，看待世界的多重角度Huobi Global。

——<英文原文>——

1、With the rise of new media and smart technologies, traditional public relations are weakening. Almost all large public relations companies have completed their transformation to digital marketing agencies, and the boundaries between public relations and marketing concepts have begun to blur. In the new era, what is the core value of brand public relations? What functions does it perform?

Lou：Before answering your question, it’s useful to acknowledge that this blurring of lines between different media and channels has been in the works for a long time. Consider that we advocated for the synergy between PR and search engine marketing over 10 years ago. And we put together a slide deck called “The Blurring Line Between Digital Marketing and PR” back in 2014.

This has been in the works for some time.

We don’t view public relations as weakening. We view it as evolving with the word “communications” replacing “public relations.” We now think of ourselves as a communications consultancy. This is a positive change for our industry because it allows us to build and implement campaigns that solve client’s business problems. You can’t do that with only traditional PR.

Let me share one quick example. A client came to us for help in recruiting hundreds of college engineers. Their standard HR playbook wasn’t working. Traditional PR by itself can’t solve this problem. But when you combine traditional PR with owned media, digital marketing and some offline activities, you’ve got a campaign that addresses this specific pain point.

Of course, all the different disciplines — advertising agencies, digital shops, etc. — are pursuing this opportunity, but the consultancies like The Hoffman Agency grounded in PR are in the best position because we get storytelling. We know how to construct long-form content that resonates with the target audience.

Earned media still matters. When a journalist writes about a company, it still delivers a form of third-party validation. That will always be valuable to clients. But we don’t want to be solely dependent on earned media. With all channels at our disposal, we can do so much more.

2、In an era of increasing media fragmentation, how do public relations practitioners cope with the challenges and demands brought about by multiple platforms? How can companies tell their brand stories well on these diverse and fast-paced media platforms?

Lou: The fragmentation of media is a good thing for our profession.

In the old days, our campaigns only developed media profiles for companies. Maybe we pursued coverage in IT vertical publications for a computer hardware client or maybe we pursued coverage in financial vertical publications for a fintech client, but that was the extent of the targeting.

Today, we’re still doing this type of work along with integrating owned media and paid media into our campaigns. This way, we can use channels like paid social, sponsored content and search engine marketing to reach a specific audience. The media coverage provides air cover for this effort. In other words, the media coverage moves the target audience to the very top of the sales funnel. The other channels drive the audience deeper into the sales funnel.

I also want to emphasize that the critical path item remains the storytelling. In today’s environment, the beat-on-my-chest approach exclaiming, “I’m great,” does not work, especially in the B2B world. Instead, winning over the target audience often means a sustained effort, educating the audience and helping the audience gain fresh insights, essentially being a helpful resource. If you can do this in a way that there’s a touch of entertainment, all the better. As they say in the movies, “a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down.”

3、You once predicted that the public relations industry will move towards visual communication. In the past ten years, video and picture social applications TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram have risen rapidly. Your professional career has coincided with and witnessed this wave. What changes will visual communication bring to the development of the public relations industryHuobi Global？

Lou：As the mobile phone took over as the device of choice to access information, it was clear that the PR industry needed to embrace visual storytelling. People are not going to easily read long-form content on a tiny screen.

What’s interesting is that human behavior seems to be settling into a middle ground. People will skim stuff on their mobile. If something is longer and strikes them as worthy of a read, they’ll consume it on a laptop or a tablet.

Still, I view visual storytelling as mission critical to our profession. It goes beyond the rise of social media where the imagery typically serves as the lead pin and the words comes along for the ride. Whether pitching a journalist or developing a 700-word point-of-view for a blog, visuals accentuate the content. That’s why visual storytelling demands a core spoke in any communications program.

If I can get on my soapbox for a minute …people tend to gravitate to the PR profession for two reasons, they like to write or they like to interact — dare I say communicate — with others. In either case, the visual part of communications is an afterthought. They perceive areas like graphic design, videography and typography as the domain of institutions with “art” in the name.

Hiring talent from the design side is one way to accelerate expertise in visual storytelling. We’ve gone this route with six designers now part of our global team. This has absolutely made a difference. Yet, I also believe the communicators on the front lines need to bring a visual mentality to their craft.

4、How did Hoffman (PR) cope with the challenges from new media and intelligent technology? What transformations did they make?

Lou：An American psychologist once said, “When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like nail.”

PR people must not fall into a similar trap, always gravitating toward media relations because that’s their foundational expertise. For us as a consultancy, making the transformation from PR to being media agnostic and a true communications consultancy has been a messy process.

It takes time.

It takes investment.

It takes courage. I say “courage” because there were times when our account teams were taking on client assignments that put us in new areas where we needed to figure things out. This can be scary.

Fast forwarding to today, we are out of the messy phase and getting close to being a digital-first agency. If I can brag for a few seconds, our China team recently won the digital marketing agency of the year for the Golden Mouse Awards, and of course you’re aware that your Golden Flag Awards also recognized the integrated work from our China team. These are huge milestones. Kudos to Cole Lui and Maggie Yang who lead this effort.

I should add that this wouldn’t happen unless we made the investments in digital talent. You can’t wait for the revenue to justify the talent because you need the talent to drive the revenue. Here, our Chief Global Officer who also heads our APAC operation, Caroline Hsu, deserves the credit for having a vision and doggedly executing the plan.

You also asked about intelligent technology. We’re seeing these tools largely target social media — particularly making sense of the large data sets from social listening — digital marketing and search engine marketing. We’ve been fairly aggressive in adopting them because they can level the playing field when we’re competing against much larger shops.

5、You once said, "If you don't do well in the Chinese market, you may not do well in the global market." How do you view the development of China's public relations industry? What are Hoffman's unique advantages in the Chinese market?

Lou：You’ve got a good memory. I said our global aspirations depended on being strong in China back in 2013. I still believe this. The geopolitics between the U.S. and China will always be a roller coaster. We’re playing the long game. We want to be the top global communications consultancy focused on the tech sector. Considering the size of the spend on tech in China, we need to be a leader in this market.

China’s PR industry has come a long way since we entered the market in 1999. Back then there weren’t many role models of Chinese companies that viewed communications as strategic in building their brands on a global basis. That has changed in a big way.

Alibaba is a good example. Their communication goes beyond products and technology. The company has created what amounts to a media property called Alizila (

Considering China’s innovation in mobile phones, super apps like WeChat and tech areas like AI, the opportunity is there for China’s communications industry to impact the profession on a global basis. Mainland Chinese are well represented in the Silicon Valley PR scene. I hope Western PR professionals eventually return to China. This type of cross pollination is healthy for advancing our profession.

This year marks our 25th anniversary in APAC and 23rd year’s operation in China. It’s been a long way already. As for the state of operation in China, we have roughly 31 staffers split between Beijing and Shanghai. We’ve been able to carve out a differentiated position balancing a China mentality, an APAC mentality and a global mentality. This is good for clients, but equally important it helps us recruit A+ talent. The top PR professionals in China or any other market for that matter are intrinsically curious. Providing a global stage feeds this curiosity.

We live, eat and breathe technology which also factors into our proposition. This goes back to our heritage in Silicon Valley. We even hire electronic engineers and IT professionals who deepen this domain expertise in technology.

As I pointed earlier, media relations is still important even though it’s one of many spokes in our integrated campaigns. Here, our China team has cultivated deep relationships with the journalists who report on the tech sector.

I don’t think there’s another agency in China that brings these characteristics together. Of course, I am slightly biased. OK, strike the word “slightly.”

On a serious note, I just want to say that we appreciate the interest from 17PR and your advocacy for the profession in China.