PR AOY | GOLD
This story was originally published in the 2023 fall issue of strategy magazine.
Citizen Relations has a very clear mission: to make every conversation count. The ethos makes sense for a PR and comms agency – and it’s also a robust work ethic.
“Internally, we make sure that none of the conversations we have with colleagues or clients are taken for granted. Everything we say, everything we do, any level of support, is really critical,” explains Nick Cowling, who assumed the role of CEO in 2019, and has been with the firm for last 16 years. “We want to make sure that every piece of work we put out there is generating exactly what the client is looking for.”
It wasn’t until mid-2022, with the full support of CCO Josh Budd, that a real push was made into the digital sphere. A new chief digital officer, U.S.-based Crystalyn Stuart-Loayza, was brought on and the agency invested in a more comprehensive digital team, including hiring tech and analytics leaders such as Cara Peckens, EVP of technology and analytics, Suran Ravi, VP of intelligence and insights and Yenfu Chen, creative technology lead. “We’ve probably produced some of the most exciting work out of the digital group. We’ve had the best year ever from an awards or recognition perspective; client satisfaction is through the roof and only getting better,” Cowling shares.
Cowling says the digital team and unit was created to help Citizen Relations expand its offerings beyond traditional PR. “It’s not like we’re going to come up with this brand new way to pitch media or put on an event or otherwise. This is about amplifying the great conversations or narratives that we’re developing, and taking them to new audiences in different ways. And that’s what our digital group is doing spectacularly.”
In fact, Citizen Relations just rolled out a new analytics tool that it calls “conversational intelligence,” which the shop has been beta testing with a few clients in Canada, including Coast Capital. At a very base level, the conversational tool works to automate the agency’s social media monitoring and reporting.
“[The tool] brings together what people consume – general news, what people are saying, listening to, searching… combined with some elements of the client’s data, which could be downloads for web traffic, something trackable. And the results are amazing,” Cowling explains. But not every client has the same needs, of course, which is why the agency has different versions based on budget capabilities and targets. A new API-backed suite (equipped with a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other) will most likely be offered to every client by January. “It also has some AI that pulls trends and looks at correlations a little quicker.”
The agency is shortly coming out with another AI-based platform for clients who want to play an active role in the conversations that are happening on important topics. Clients will use it to find a selection of brand relevant content that’s informed by real-time search intelligence. The content would be tone appropriate, channel-formatted and publish-ready, says Cowling, and it will largely use social data to identify when and what conversations are growing and provide content that taps into those trends. The incubator will be fully automated with the use of AI, giving Citizen Relations’ employees the opportunity to focus their energy on curating campaigns rather than drafting content from scratch. “We’re only just starting with this, there’s going to be some pretty wicked stuff over the next 12 or 18 months,” the CEO says.
While most of the industry is tracking data in one way or another, the proprietary tech that Citizen Relations is investing in has a more curatorial lens. “I’m sure there are competitors out there that have figured out some monitoring or reporting solutions. But I think where we differentiate is by bringing it all together and then looking at it more critically to make sure that the output is actually about value as opposed to just volume.”
Cowling says Citizen Relations’ clients depend on the agency to stay ahead of the curve and help introduce them to new ways of thinking and working. “Like all Citizens, I would say I’ve got this hunger to continue to grow. And our clients want to continue to evolve with us.”
New Business
Carrier Canadian Women’s Foundation, Visit Huntington Beach, Groupe Touchette, Lighthouse Labs, SpinX Games, Icelandair, Highland Park Whisky
Offices
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Orange County, London
Staff
142
CASES
1. So much more than snack sized. Cheetos Canada aimed to attract adults and boost sales by celebrating “Cheetle,” the snack’s signature orange residue. Citizen’s “Cheetle in Cheadle” campaign featured a 17-foot statue of Cheetle-coated fingers in Cheadle, Alberta, capitalizing on the town’s name and Alberta’s love for oversized food landmarks. The unexpected stunt went viral on social media, reaching global audiences and catching the eye of actor Don Cheadle.
2. Citizen and Coast Capital’s “We’re for real” platform positioned it as an alternative to big banks. To demystify financial discussions, they launched the “Talk Money To Me” card game for a Valentine’s Day campaign aimed at fostering open money conversations.
3. Elimin8Hate combated anti-Asian racism with “ReclaimYourName.dic,” the first custom dictionary of 8,000+ Asian names to challenge bias in systems like Microsoft Word.
