Health tech companies continue to weather strong economic headwinds, layoffs across the industry and aging populations, making an effective public relations strategy more important than ever. These brands must be visible to succeed. But some teams focus so strongly on garnering media attention for their products and services that they forget a critical component of PR altogether: speaking engagements. 

This year’s CES was a whirlwind – from the months of planning and execution around client activities to being surrounded by 100,000 fellow conference-goers – and I was blown away by the exciting technologies that have so much potential to change the world. I spent most of my time on the show floor of the Digital Health track, as this year represented the event’s most robust health programming to date with both a large industry presence and extensive expert speakers.  

One of the most interesting aspects of PR is its potential is pretty much limitless. What PR is continues to evolve, as does what it means for brands. And that’s been an interesting thing to witness, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s been encouraging to see over the years is how clients have continued to invest in – and prioritise – PR. 

We have limited word counts for each agency description, so we won’t have room for all of Allison’s 2022 account wins.  Now a global giant, the 21-year-old firm snagged work from AAA, Athleta, GE Power & Water, Hasbro, Grammarly, Mars Wrigley, Moderna, Poshmark, Sennheiser, and TikTok – and that’s just a partial list. Some of its campaigns became the year’s most talked-about, from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s #MoreForMentalHealth initiative to Corona’s global plastic fishing tournament, which removed over 20 tons of plastic from the ocean and garnered over two billion impressions. If that wasn’t enough, Allison launched its new Allison+Sports and BrandGeist divisions this year.

When I think of 2017, I reminisce a bit on a pandemic-free world we used to inhabit. So, I am grateful we are in a much better place now! That aside, 2017 was an exciting year for us, launching Allison+Partners in India and seeing the opportunity and the phenomenal prospect of the India market. As Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots forward but only backwards.” 2017 was only the precursor to PR’s increasing prominence on the centerstage. And as the pandemic showed later, companies placed even more importance on the need to over-communicate. I am glad that we had the opportunity to quickly build valuable relationships with our clients, demonstrating our value from the get-go to all the way through the worst of the pandemic to present day. 

Brands had a slow start when it came to the NCAA's name, image and likeness (NIL) policy that went into effect in July 2021. But 18 months in, brands, athletes and colleges seem to have found their footing, resulting in a slew of deals. While the usual suspects such as Nike and Gatorade are in the mix, plenty of smaller brands have used NIL to connect with local markets and highlight female athletes.

In the fifth year of the event and the first year many in the industry went back to in-person attendance at conferences, #HLTH22 drew nearly 10,000 healthcare entrepreneurs, thought leaders, journalists, experts and life-long learners.