Written by Matthew Celestial
Too often, public relations is framed as a panic button: something brands reach for during launch week or in the middle of a crisis. It’s treated as reactive. A way to get attention when things are exciting or to put out fires when they’re not. But this narrow understanding does a disservice to the true power of communications. It misses what public relations actually is: a long-term, strategic engine that defines how a brand is perceived, trusted and remembered.
Think about a very popularly used quote by PR professionals who suggest that Bill Gates once argued that “if I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.”
That quote, often dismissed as hyperbole, is worth reconsidering. Because in today’s marketplace, one where trust is currency and attention is splintered, PR isn’t a luxury or a last resort. It is the infrastructure of modern brand-building.
THE SHRINKING NEWSROOM AND THE EXPANDING NOISE.
The media landscape is undergoing a quiet implosion. According to Pew Research, newsroom employment in the United States dropped 26% between 2008 and 2021. In Canada, the Public Policy Forum’s Shattered Mirror report revealed that nearly 250 local newspapers closed between 2008 and 2020, a number that continues to climb. Fewer journalists are covering more beats, meaning that stories need to be not just timely, but truly valuable to break through.
At the same time, brands are producing more content than ever before. The result? An oversaturated ecosystem where storytelling must be more than surface-level. PR must do more than secure a name-drop in a glossy publication. It must become a mechanism for shaping narrative, earning trust and maintaining credibility in a media environment that is both crowded and collapsing.
WHAT PUBLIC RELATIONS ACTUALLY IS.
Let’s strip it back.
Public relations isn’t a press release. It’s not a bullet-pointed pitch or a LinkedIn brag that "something exciting is coming soon." It is the way a brand introduces itself to the world, builds connection and sustains it. It is how an organization defines its value, narrates its origin and explains its purpose, not once, but over time.
When done right, PR is not episodic. It is embedded. It becomes the connective tissue between product and perception, between mission and market. From internal communications to investor briefings to TikTok captions, PR shapes the voice, tone and trustworthiness of every outward-facing action.
And increasingly, it informs strategy. Smart public relations is now data-driven, audience-aware and platform-diverse. Tools like Meltwater, Cision and Muck Rack provide real-time media monitoring, sentiment analysis and engagement mapping, turning communications into insight. PR has evolved into one of the most dynamic intelligence tools an organization can wield.
WHY WAITING IS A MISTAKE.
One of the biggest missteps brands make is waiting until there’s “something to announce.” But PR isn’t about announcements. It’s about relevance. Brands that wait until they launch, scale or struggle to invest in communications are missing the point. By then, the narrative has already been written—by competitors, customers or worse, the media themselves.
Jennifer Risi, Founder of the Sway Effect once said that “if you’re not telling your story, someone else will.”
And, consider this: according to Edelman’s 2024 Trust Barometer, 63% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on their perception of a brand’s reputation, not just the quality of its product. In a world where perception shapes revenue, communications isn't cosmetic. It's commercial. And ultimately, should be one of the driving forces of your day-to-day operations with your brand.
PR AS A CORE FUNCTION, NOT A CAMPAIGN.
What would it look like if PR sat at the strategy table from day one?
Imagine developing your product roadmap with communications in mind, engineering narrative hooks into each release. Or preparing for investor meetings by shaping a leadership profile in the media six months ahead. Or using public-facing storytelling to attract top talent, build community buy-in or navigate a competitive acquisition.
This is how brands like Patagonia, Fenty and Glossier have moved beyond product to platform. They use PR not only to get press but to shape the category itself.
Good PR is proactive, not reactive. It tells stories that educate, inspire and differentiate, while gathering audience feedback that guides product and marketing decisions. It does not wait for headlines. It builds them.
WHERE WE’RE HEADED IN 2025 AND BEYOND.
As artificial intelligence accelerates content production, and algorithms tighten the funnel of visibility, human-driven storytelling becomes more essential, not less. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2026, 45% of brand content will be generated by machines. This only amplifies the need for original, credible and emotionally resonant PR work that doesn’t feel synthetic.
Public relations, when practiced with intention, will become the moral centre and narrative compass of organizations. It will move from stunt-based storytelling to strategic infrastructure: integrating marketing, sales, brand and culture under a shared identity.
WHAT BRANDS NEED TO DO NOW.
If your brand is just starting out, build PR into your go-to-market strategy. Start by articulating your "why" clearly, and consistently. Use storytelling to attract your first audience, and then your first customer. Track how your story resonates and adapt quickly. Create systems that allow your communications to scale without diluting your voice.
If you’re already in the market, audit how you’ve been showing up. Is there alignment between what you say and what your audience hears? Are you telling a story that lasts longer than a news cycle?
And if you’ve experienced a dip in engagement, don’t panic. Refocus. PR isn’t always about visibility. Sometimes, it’s about credibility. About going deeper, not just louder.
SO, PR MUST BE LEGACY-BUILDING.
I’ve spent so much time and effort building Statement Worldwide to be an organization that views public relations as a worldview rather than another department to worry about. It is the lens through which your business speaks, acts and earns trust. In a climate of constant flux, brands that thrive are those who communicate with clarity, consistency and care.
So the next time you’re asking whether it’s “too early” or “too late” for PR, stop yourself.
The answer is always the same: the time is now.