Date: 21 October 2026 By: Ben Smith, Founder, PRmoment.com In the rapidly shifting landscape of modern communications, the definition of a "successful" campaign has undergone a radical transformation. Where public relations was once defined by the sheer volume of clippings or the visual impact of a photocall, it is now defined by the quality of engagement and the organic virality of a narrative. In a recent episode of the PRmoment podcast, Ben Smith sat down with Pete Mountstevens, a titan of the creative PR industry and a lead voice at Taylor Herring, to dissect how the discipline has evolved from the press-office centricity of the 1990s to the strategic, content-led powerhouse it is today. Mountstevens offers a masterclass in how agencies can navigate the tension between brand messaging and authentic audience connection. The Paradigm Shift: Grabbing vs. Earning Attention At the heart of the conversation is a fundamental distinction: the difference between "grabbing" attention and "earning" it. Mountstevens suggests that the modern PR practitioner must act more like a storyteller and less like an advertiser. "I’d probably reframe it as earning attention: telling great stories and entertaining people, as opposed to necessarily grabbing attention," Mountstevens notes. This philosophy challenges the legacy approach of interrupting a consumer’s day with a brand message. Instead, the focus has shifted toward creating assets—stories, videos, or experiences—that people naturally want to share with friends and family. This shift represents the democratization of influence; if an idea is not inherently interesting enough for a peer-to-peer recommendation, it is unlikely to succeed in a saturated digital marketplace. A Chronology of Creative Evolution To understand where PR is headed, one must look at where it has been. Mountstevens provides a fascinating retrospective of the industry’s evolution over the last three decades. The 1990s: The Era of the "Kernel of Truth" During his early career as a music publicist, the mandate was relentless: keep the client in the news cycle every single day. The creative license in this era was expansive. Publicists were often tasked with taking a minor "kernel of truth" and blowing it up into a national headline. Mountstevens recalls the infamous story of Peter Andre running out of petrol on a jet ski—a scenario that, while minor in reality, became a front-page sensation in the Daily Star. In this era, the "creative" part of the job was the ability to manufacture relevance where there was very little to begin with. The 2000s: The Rise of the Stunt As the new millennium dawned, Taylor Herring established itself as an entertainment-focused agency. Faced with limited client assets, the agency pivoted toward high-impact stunts and elaborate photocalls. This was the era of large-scale public installations and "unexpected encounters"—staged events designed specifically to be captured by photographers. While many of these tactics eventually became industry clichés, they were revolutionary at the time, providing a visual hook for the tabloid press that was hungry for spectacle. The 2010s: Digital and the "Trojan Horse" Strategy The digital revolution fundamentally changed the distribution of PR assets. The focus shifted from still photography to high-production digital content. Mountstevens points to the Thorpe Park "dad-dancing" campaign as a seminal moment. By creating a staged video that felt authentic, the agency secured millions of views and international media coverage. Crucially, the video served as a "Trojan horse," smuggling brand messaging into the user’s feed under the guise of pure entertainment. The 2020s and Beyond: Strategic Integration Today, PR has become a core component of the broader marketing mix. Agencies are no longer just pitching stories; they are acting as production houses, design studios, and experiential agencies. Brands now demand ideas that are scalable across multiple platforms, with "earned and owned" media serving as the foundation for broader paid and social activity. The Three Pillars of Modern Creative PR Mountstevens outlines a framework that governs Taylor Herring’s current approach, serving as a blueprint for any agency aiming to survive in the attention economy: "Entertain or Die": This is not merely a motto; it is a survival strategy. Because brands are competing against everything from high-budget Netflix series to viral TikTok trends, if a campaign is not inherently entertaining, it will be ignored. Focus on Audience Interest: The most successful campaigns prioritize what the public actually cares about, rather than what the brand wants to say. By aligning brand values with cultural conversations, agencies can bridge the gap between corporate intent and consumer interest. Ideas Over Channels: While the platform (TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, or traditional TV) is important, it should never dictate the idea. A strong idea should be platform-agnostic, capable of living anywhere and spreading organically. The CMO’s Perspective: What Brands Want Now The expectations of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) have matured alongside the industry. The request is no longer just for "coverage." Instead, clients are looking for "earned ideas" that can scale. "More often than not now, marketing directors want an earned idea at the centre of that. They want something that can scale organically," Mountstevens explains. This demand for scalability suggests that CMOs are becoming more sophisticated in their understanding of PR. They recognize that a single viral moment is less valuable than a campaign that builds a narrative capable of being picked up by multiple media outlets and shared across social channels. However, this shift requires a significant amount of trust. The Necessity of Bravery Perhaps the most significant barrier to success identified in the podcast is the "fear factor." Creative work, by definition, involves risk. Mountstevens is candid about the reality that many campaigns fail not because of poor execution, but because of a lack of client bravery. "You need to have a client who has that appetite for being brave, and you need to have an agency that will allow themselves to be brave," he asserts. When brands play it too safe, the resulting work often fades into the background noise of the internet. The most successful campaigns—those that stick in the cultural consciousness—are almost always the result of a partnership where both sides are willing to challenge the status quo. Implications for the Future of Agencies The implications for the PR industry are clear: the generalist approach is becoming obsolete. Agencies that do not invest in high-quality production, deep strategic insights, and creative risk-taking will find themselves marginalized. As the lines between PR, advertising, and content creation continue to blur, the agencies that win will be those that master the art of the "earned idea." This requires a shift in recruitment, hiring people who are as comfortable with data analytics as they are with scriptwriting or event production. Furthermore, the rise of AI and automation in content generation will likely raise the bar for human creativity. If a machine can generate a mediocre press release or a generic social post, the value of the human creative will lie in the ability to conceive of something truly original, emotionally resonant, and culturally relevant. Conclusion The conversation between Ben Smith and Pete Mountstevens serves as both a history lesson and a roadmap. From the front pages of the Daily Star to the complex, integrated digital campaigns of 2026, the underlying goal remains the same: to tell a story that people want to hear. While the tactics, channels, and technological tools have evolved at a breakneck pace, the fundamental human need for connection and entertainment remains constant. For PR professionals, the challenge of the next decade will be to maintain that human touch in an increasingly automated world, ensuring that even as we use more sophisticated data to target our messages, the ideas themselves remain bold, brave, and, above all, entertaining. As Mountstevens reminds us: "If we’re not entertaining, we’re not engaging, and if we’re not engaging, we might as well go home." 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