Forbes

By Marian Salzman
CEO, Havas PR North America

If there were such a thing as “letter of the year,” then my nominee for 2017 would most certainly be the letter D. Scanning the year for patterns in preparation for Havas PR’s annual trends report, I was struck by how frequently D-words surfaced, often in disquieting ways. This is probably not a coincidence, bearing in mind that adding “de-” or “dis-” to a word often suggests an undoing—think “disunite,” “discord,” “distortion,” “destruction,” “dysfunction” and “dystopia.” It was a year of disruption and disrespect. Long-established norms were disregarded. Distractions and desperation gave rise to defiance and distraught victims who denounced sexual misconduct.

I’m looking forward to 2018 being a P-year in which despair will give way to positivity as people become more patiently purposeful, pragmatically figuring out practical ways to make progress. I see “pro-” as a likely red thread that will run through the year, particularly in the form of “pro-social” and “pro-active.” Look for less negative energy to go into what people are against and more positive energy to flow into what they’re for.

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