Download A Global Perspective on the Trends and Challenges Facing PR

The Power of the
WORLDCOM PUBLIC RELATIONS GROUP
The Local Advantage. Worldwide.
A Global Perspective on the Trends and
Challenges Facing PR Professionals in 2015
and beyond
Background
 Worldcom PR Group
 Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world’s leading partnership of
independently owned public relations firms, with 140 offices employing some
2,400 staff in 111 markets across six continents.
 In total, Worldcom partners reported combined revenue of US$281 million last
year from 3,323 clients.
 Corinna Voss
 Managing Director and Partner at HBI Intl. PR & MarCom in Munich
 Over 20 years of experience in international communication
 Former Regional and Global Chair of the Worldcom Public Relations Group
 Marketing Chair, Board Member of the Regional Board EMEA and Global Board
Member of the Worldcom Public Relations Group
“Traditional media accelerates its
decline. Some media brands will
figure out that their new role in the
media landscape is not provider of
information, but curator and
qualifier. A few brands have
already figured this out, that what
they dispense is not information,
but credibility.”
Shift Comm. UK
„The fading significance of
traditional media and the rise of
social media and corporate
media at the same time is the
biggest challenge for PR….“
Thomas Mickeleit, Member of the
Management and Director Media
and PR at Microsoft Deutschland
GmbH
„The rise of social networks in
recent years has been one of the
greatest agents of change in the
media and PR industries. Not only
have sites like Facebook and Twitter
affected the content strategies of
journalists and PR professionals,
they've changed the way
effectiveness is measured as well.”
Business News Daily
The Survey
 Defined six key trends in PR based on what we experience and
learn about every day
 Partners were asked for a ranking
 Asked Worldcom agencies to describe their individual key
challenge for 2015
 Asked about 100 partners on six continents
 Got 60 qualified answers from all Worldcom regions
 Americas, APAC and EMEA
Six Key Trends
 PR Firms will expand services and resources as the borderline between
PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and Digital is blurred.
 Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater with more than just
"PR Firms" competing in the same space for the same or expanded work.
 The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to remain up-todate.
 Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the roles of agencies in many cases we do not have the interface media/blog anymore.
 The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures (registrations,
downloads, online purchasing).
 How content and content creation has become key etc.
Key Trends – Worldwide
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
How content and content creation has become key.
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same space
for the same or expanded work.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to
remain up-to-date.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
 The three top choices are linked with each other:
 Service offering will have to become broader and resources will have to be
differently planned
 Content and its creation – connected to the widened service range
 New competitors – expansion of services
4
4.5
5
Key Trends – By Region – Americas (Mostly North America)
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to
remain up-to-date.
How content and content creation has become key.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same space
for the same or expanded work.
0
1
2
3
4
 Direct Customer engagement top trend:
 Social Media is further developed
 Still - expanding the service offering and resources of PR companies is a key
trend
5
6
Key Trends – By Region – APAC
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
How content and content creation has become key.
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same
space for the same or expanded work.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard
to remain up-to-date.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
 Ranking of top trends is identical with worldwide results
 Expanding services/resources, content and its creation and competitive landscape
4
4.5
Key Trends – By Region – EMEA
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same
space for the same or expanded work.
How content and content creation has become key.
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard
to remain up-to-date.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
 Similar ranking to other regions
 Again service range and resources is a central aspect but also the pressure on
on agencies to tie their campaigns into actual sales results
Key Trends – Selected Countries – Hungary
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same space
for the same or expanded work.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to
remain up-to-date.
How content and content creation has become key.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Key Trends – Selected Countries – Germany
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same
space for the same or expanded work.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
How content and content creation has become key.
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard
to remain up-to-date.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Key Trends – Selected Countries – UK
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to
remain up-to-date.
How content and content creation has become key.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same space
for the same or expanded work.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Key Trends – Selected Countries – Japan
How content and content creation has become key.
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to
remain up-to-date.
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same space
for the same or expanded work.
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Key Trends – Selected Countries – USA
PR Firms will expand services and resources as the
borderline between PR/Advertising/Marketing/Social and
Digital is blurred.
How content and content creation has become key.
The trend to tie in communications programs in sales figures
(registrations, downloads, online purchasing).
Competition for clients and share of budget will be greater
with more than just "PR Firms" competing in the same space
for the same or expanded work.
The social media landscape changes so fast that it is hard to
remain up-to-date.
Importance of direct customer engagement is changing the
roles of agencies - in many cases we do not have the
interface media/blog anymore.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Key Findings on Trends
 The trend for PR agencies to expand their services and resources and move
into new areas (social media, digital etc.) for their business has been ranked
under the top 3 trends worldwide.
 Whereas in the Americas region direct customer engagement is the top trend
 Agencies in EMEA seem to feel the pressure from clients to tie in their programs and
budgets directly into sales that they generated
 Reason is the different stage of development of social media platforms and also that
the decline of the influence of classical media is more advanced
 Content creation is key
 The competitive landscape has changed tremendously in all regions
Challenges – What PR professionals say
“Digital will be more
important and the goal is
prepare the agency to
provide new services in this
arena.”
Angelica Consiglio, PLANIN,
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
“In our country we have to
face very fierce competition in
the agency market, while
clients want more services for
the same or sometimes even
smaller budgets.”
Andras R. Nagy, Probako,
Budapest
“The biggest challenge for us will
be competing with marketing/
advertising firms for clients. We will
address that challenge by
strengthening tie-ups with
marketing/ad agencies that lack
public relations expertise, making
our services complementary.”
Daniel Fath, Total Communications
System Inc. (TOCS), Tokyo
“In many cases, putting on
the "sales hat," not the
"marketing "hat." The PR hat
is already long gone. The
way to overcome is to invest
in education of yourself and
your staff.”
Elisabeth Sosnow, Bliss PR
NYC
“Measurement to make
PR more tangible and
demonstrate ROI.
Requires agencies/clients
to work closely together to
capture the impact of PR
by creating internal
measurement
processes… and linking
PR to online analytics…”
Chris Lawrence, JBP, Bristol
London
Let‘s get digital!
Transition to Digital Media
Australia
Brazil
Germany
Portugal
Romania
Thailand
UK
USA
 Biggest challenge in PR work




Need for adaptation to changes in communication and media use
Speed by which information is spread nowadays (i.e. crisis management)
Growing impact of social media, rapidly changing landscape
Breaking the boundary between offline and online media services
Compete with your new competitors!
Competition and the Need for Diversification
Canada
China
Germany
Hungary
Japan
Nigeria
Norway
South Africa
USA
 Marketing and advertising agencies are our new competitors
 Need for diversification and multitasking beyond PR work
 Integrated Communication
Find new ways to proof your success!
Need for Proof of Success
Czech Republic
Germany
Romania
USA
 Need for valuable statistical data to make PR work more tangible and
proof value and impact
 Requires tools for campaign and customer perception measurement
Brand Awareness is good, Sales are better!
Tie in PR, marketing and sales
Germany
Japan
Romania
USA
 Position public relations as a key player in marketing
 Integrated approach blurring traditional boundaries
What shall we do now?
 Ways to look at the findings
 Understand these trends and challenges as chances
 PR professionals can
communication strings
become
the
central
hub
of
various
 Who, if not a communication professional can lead the way
 Be open and invest!
 A new set of high quality services and the chance to educate your
team
 Open the possibility of additional revenue streams
 New ways of communicating and the chance to create valuable content is not
a threat but a creative process
 Think integrated and how you can measure and reflect the value of your work
 Yes, there are more competitors but if you are good, you are as much a
threat to them as they to you
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