Published
15th July 2025
Read time
7 min read

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the world's only Royal Chartered body for public relations professionals, with nearly 11,000 members. In the Midlands, there are nearly 1,000 members — making it one of the largest groups in the UK.

At Leopard Co, we pride ourselves on keeping up with the industries we work in, so we’re immersed in the landscape, maintain best practice and ensure we’re delivering results for our clients.

The team recently attended on the biggest days of the PR calendar — the Midlands PR Conference, organised by the CIPR Midlands committee, and this year’s theme was Future Focused: The Evolution of PR.

Here’s our key takeaways…

AI is here to stay, but it’s not the be-all and end-all

If you have attended any events, webinars or conferences in the last few years, you’ll know that AI has dominated the conversation — and the PR-related events were no different.

Interestingly, despite the Midlands PR Conference being “future focused” this year, AI wasn’t the focal point of most of the sessions. It was mentioned in various discussions, but this year’s conference limited the conversation around AI to practical applications and developments.

This was a refreshing surprise which signalled that whilst AI continues to evolve and impact the industry, many PR professionals are well aware of its uses, the benefits and the dangers, but there are many other areas we should be focusing on to improve as PR practitioners.

The power of PR for AI summaries

However, one key takeaway from the conference to consider is the development of AI summaries from search engines like Google and AI platforms like Chat GPT, and how this is impacting Digital PR, SEO and brand visibility.

Around 1.5 billion people use AI Overviews to answer queries each month, making Google’s traditional rankings of links seem outdated. Large Language Models (LLMs), (aka the technology behind AI-related searches) are programmed to gather information from reputable sources, the likes of which PR professionals have been developing relationships with for years.

In fact, latest research reveals that editorial sources were responsible for 61% of all answers generated by LLMs. So, whilst AI has created challenges for the industry, this is one area where PR practitioners can leverage their relationships and use AI to their advantage, by landing quality coverage in reputable publications to boost brand visibility via AI summaries.

Priorities for pitching to the media

Now, let’s forget AI for a second. Journalists are inundated with emails, DMs and phone calls. Broadcast media teams are operating with limited camera crews, and some journalists are now adopting MOJO kits (mobile journalist kits) — complete with an iPhone, rig and microphone, so they can film interviews and b-roll footage themselves.

The media landscape continues to evolve, and the news agenda shows no sign of slowing down, so it’s important to consider what journalists are asking for and find a way to make this work for your brand or your client.

We picked up some tips from Rebecca Wood, presenter at BBC Midlands Today, Andrew Edwards, ex-BBC journalist and The Bearded Broadcaster, and Zoe Kleinman, BBC Technology Editor:

  • Digital comes first — No surprise here as print readership continues to decline but think about how your story can work across a variety of digital channels and exploit this in your pitch out to journalists.

  • First come, first served — Responding to journalist requests quickly and with exactly what they need is essential to landing coverage and earning a spot in their little black book of go-to contacts.

  • Be strategic with your outreach — Instead of outreaching to everyone and everyone, research your target publications and who is covering the sectors and industries you work in. From here, you can select key contacts and tailor your outreach to suit them. What are their passions and interests? What are they likely to cover? Will they be interested in what you plan to share with them?

  • Believe in the story — If you don’t think the story will work, then there’s a good chance that journalists won’t either. Don’t damage the relationships you’ve built by sending journalists a story that isn’t worth looking at. Focus on the stories that are going to cut through the noise.

  • Think about the impact — Whilst surveys and case studies can secure media coverage, journalists are under pressure to report on news which impacts people more broadly, particularly for national media outlets. So, it’s important to consider the scale of your story when pitching to journalists and who it is impacting.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

No matter the sector, there will always be a degree of crisis communications required to maintain, protect and repair a brand’s reputation.

In a session led by Rod Cartwright, Risk, crisis and issues management specialist, we delved into the importance of crisis communications, where an organisation’s level of preparedness for a crisis makes a huge difference in maintaining its reputation among colleagues, customers and stakeholders.

Only recently have we seen M&S handle a major cyber attack and the subsequent stream of media commentary on the situation, which has resulted in a whopping £300 million loss in profits due to pausing their online store until the matter was resolved.

As they navigated this complex issue, M&S prioritised speedy and open communication with their customers and even issued multiple statements from their CEO. Their transparency and regularity of communication has been praised by professionals across the industry, as they worked to salvage their reputation with a customer base that has been built over decades.

Had this issue been handled differently, it’s possible that both the immediate and long-term damage to M&S’ profits would have been much more severe — driving home the importance of human connection in crisis communications, as well as putting teams and procedures in place to execute those communications.

Final thoughts

Every day is a school day when you work in a fast-moving industry like PR!

With decades of expertise, we know a thing or two about delivering always-on press office activity and impactful PR campaigns… But it never hurts to get outside the office and tap into the latest insights from industry leaders.

Need some support bringing your next campaign to life? Find out how we’ve helped dozens of brands take their PR to the next level here.