About the Author

PR INDUSTRY REMAINS RESILIENT IN RECESSION

By admin on Friday, December 4, 2009
Filed Under: Advertising & PR

Guernsey News, 4 December 2009 – LOCAL communications professionals will be heartened by the results of national research which shows that the PR industry is remaining resilient in the face of the recession.

A report, undertaken in partnership with ComRes, surveyed some 2,000 Chartered Institute of Public Relations members and examines their views of the recession and how PR has fared in these challenging times.

The results of the survey highlighted that many areas of the industry have continued to expand throughout the recession, with the greatest growth experienced in digital PR, followed by reputation management, crisis management and strategic planning.

Jason MacKenzie, Chairman of the Channel Islands’ Group of the CIPR, said: “This is definitely the time when PR practitioners will be concentrating on the value they can add to the businesses they represent. Like many other professionals we have to work harder, proactively and more flexibly during a wholesale squeeze on budgets.”

In the survey CIPR members were also asked to comment on the areas which they believe will experience the greatest decline over time. Participants identified sponsorship, event management and branding and marketing as being under greatest threat.

The survey did bring some good news for consultancies both in terms of business stability and client new growth. In the past year, some 33 per cent of consultants have retained more than 10 regular clients and some 60 per cent have added between two and five new clients.

Communications budgets have also held up remarkably well across the board particularly within in-house departments where there is consistent, strong growth over a five year period in budgets in the £100k-£500k banding. Not all of that growth trickles down to consultancies however, with more than 60 per cent of consultants still working with budgets of under £50,000 – a constant figure in the five year period.

CIPR President Kevin Taylor said: “This survey is good news for the PR industry. Of course PR has been affected by the economic crisis but our members are largely reporting positive results, despite the recession, and that is testament to the underlying strength of the profession and the need for good communication.

“The survey also confirms that digital PR remains the industry’s hot growth area, as communities increasingly gather online and organisations seek to determine the policies and engage in the debate. However, with every new growth area comes a need for new skills and developments in best practice,” added Taylor, “and the CIPR is determined to provide both leadership and training to help practitioners’ young and old develop and hone the skills required.”

ComRes Chief Executive Andrew Hawkins said: “We undertook this survey with some trepidation, expecting the recession to have left the PR sector in tatters. But, while it is certainly true that the recession is a theme which preoccupies many PR practitioners, there are plenty of reasons to be, if not cheerful, then reasonably optimistic.

“To sum up the overall theme, the recession has brought fears for most, redundancy for some and the prospect of more business for the lucky few. Overall, though, the industry looks to be in pretty good shape as it emerges from economic ravages of the past 18 months. The worst recession in living memory has had a severe impact on some PR activities but others look to be emerging through the other side in quite good shape. The key to survival appears to be flexibility.”

The full results of the research can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.cipr.co.uk/News/research/index.htm on Wednesday 2 December 2009.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Share and Enjoy: