Stunt, as a noun, means “something unusual done to attract attention”. Stunt, as a verb, means to “prevent from growing or developing properly”.

For us, in PR, these two definitions are inextricably entwined. If we deal in the nouns, we get the verb.

Words matter, they shape how we understand our reality. PR professionals should understand this better than most.

This is why it’s hugely frustrating when people both inside and outside our industry so quickly put “PR” and “stunt” together.

When so many think that “stunt” is what we do, what we can actually do is diminished.

“We’d love to hear how you could amplify the ad when it launches. Or, um, you could bring it to life with a stunt?”

You’ve probably heard something similar. It means other people do the big thinking, the bold ideas, the strategic positioning, the comms planning – the high value work.

PR is here to execute or activate or amplify. Take the ad, roll it in glitter, float it down the Thames, press gang people into the frame, jazz hands, smile for the camera, pretend it was great. Here today, gone … later today.

And we wonder why we’re not taken seriously.

Yet two of the big winners at Cannes this year were seriously smart, PR-led campaigns.

Edelman and DP World are campaigning for the entire global frozen food supply chain to adjust their freezers from -18C to -15C to save 25 terawatt-hours and 17.7M tons of carbon annually.

Golin and Spec Savers got 66% more people to book a hearing test with a “Misheard Version” of a classic song. Golin also won big at The PRmoment Awards.

These are insightful, creative campaigns that attract attention, change minds, and affect real change in the real world better than any ad ever could on its own. The work was designed to capture attention and affect real change. Coverage was only ever a means to the end – carbon reduction and bookings were the real objective.

PR should be thought of as less of an output (coverage) and more of an input – a set of skills that we use to create concepts worth sharing and talking about. We know how to make things interesting, and this is highly valuable.

Every brand owner wants their brand to be noticed, remembered, valued, and talked about. Every agency in the all agency group wants the work to resonate and connect with people. We all want to make an impact on the world. When you bring the earned media thinking up front you can do that. When you try to generate a frantic burst of attention at the end, you sell yourself short.

As long as we are thought of as the stunt people, our potential will remain stunted.