72% Experience Increase in PR Business in Last Six Months
Posted by Ann-Marie O'Sullivan on June 25, 2010 in Industry comments, Media, Public Relations with 0 CommentsThe 17th annual Awards for Excellence in PR took place on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at the Conrad Hotel, Dublin. The awards were jointly presented by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD and myself, in my capacity as Chairman of PRCA (Ireland). My address at the awards ceremony follows:
INTRODUCTION
Minister Martin, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen – It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2010 Awards for Excellence in PR here at the Conrad Hotel.
I’d like to begin by welcoming our guest of honour, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD, and thank him for his participation in this year’s awards. The Minister was due to attend last year’s ceremony but was called away at the last minute, so I’m very pleased that he is able to join us today.
This is the 17th year of the Awards for Excellence in PR which are a joint initiative of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) Ireland, the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). In that regard, I’m delighted to welcome Paddy Hughes, President of the PRII and Joanne Sweeney, Chair of CIPR Northern Ireland.
The last 12 months have been difficult ones in every business sector and the PR community is no different in that regard. However, as is so often the case, difficult times call for – and frequently deliver – an exceptional response. Some excellent innovative and strategic work has taken place over the last year and this is reflected in the standard of the award entries.
This year we broadened the scope of some categories, while adding some new categories. In that regard, the ‘Outstanding Small Consultancy’ category attracted a lot of interest and so, good luck to the shortlisted companies – Carmody Smith PR, Pivotal Communications and Simpson Financial & Technology PR.
Undervaluing What We Do
Ireland has weathered the economic tsunami of the last two years and there are some signs that fledgling green shoots are appearing. Bloxham Stockbrokers’ latest Irish Quarterly Economic Outlook issued this week says a number of indicators, including retail sales and purchasing managers’ data, indicate the economy is recovering at a quicker pace than expected by most economists at the start of 2010.
In that context, PRCA conducted a short survey ourselves last week to take the pulse of the PR industry and I’ll share the top line results of that with you in a moment.
However, before I get to those results, I want to talk about something which we as an industry are very good at – namely, undervaluing what we do.
In many ways, the more challenging the environment, the more valuable public relations becomes. In a recent - and rare! - interview with Matthew Freud, founder and Chairman of Freud Communications and recently named by PR Week as Britain’s most powerful PR man for the second year running, Freud said, and I quote, “PR – in terms of reputation management, 3rd party endorsement and crisis management – is about as core a function as any company currently has.” He continued – “reputation management is a firewall around your business. If you don’t have it, you are likely to fall over.” And he concluded – ‘I believe our job is critical. If we do it well, we deserve to be rewarded for it.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is part of our challenge. In the economic realities that we are all operating in, there has been downward pressure on fees over the last two years. This is to be expected. However, many of us are coming across unrealistic fee expectations within the industry. As PR practitioners we must be confident about the quality and the value of the strategic advice we provide to clients and we must not be afraid to stand over the quality of what we do.
Part of our hesitancy as an industry stems, I believe, from the eternal question of how to measure and evaluate PR. This is not just an Irish issue. Last week, the 2nd European Summit on Measurement took place in Barcelona. Organised by AMEC (the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications) and the Institute for Public Relations, 200 delegates from over a dozen countries adopted The ‘Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles'. The Barcelona Declaration is designed to achieve a global standard for the measurement of communications programmes and includes such elements as:
- Organisational results and outcomes should be measured whenever possible, and
- Measuring outcomes is preferred to measuring media results
The bottom line is that we as an industry, need to be able to demonstrate effectively the impact that good PR campaigns have on behaviour and reputation. In this regard, our focus must be on evaluating outcomes, rather than simply measuring outputs. That is why the annual awards provide an important benchmark for the PR industry in recognising the excellence of what we do.
State of the Industry
I mentioned that the PRCA conducted a short survey in the last few days. The purpose of the survey was to gauge the current state of the PR business in Ireland. Overall, I’m happy to report that the results indicate that confidence levels are growing.
The key survey results include –
a. 72% of respondents have experienced an increase in business in the last 6 months
b. Approximately 39% of respondents are considering hiring additional staff over the next 6 months
c. More than 55% of respondents reported an improvement in the demand for PR services compared to 1 year ago
d. In the last 6 months, respondents have attended 6 pitches, on average
e. And finally, 72% of respondents are more confident / positive about the general business outlook for the rest of the year and into 2011 compared to this time last year
As a report card on the state of the industry over the last twelve months and looking to the future, it’s encouraging to note that respondents are looking to the future with some hope. There is a definite improvement in the levels of demand for PR services and some companies are even considering hiring on the back of this perceived upturn. To bring the survey highlights to life, I can tell you that at H+A, my business, we’ve seen real growth over the last few months, with a return of client appetite to invest in PR and integrated communications.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. There are a number of people and organisations that I would like to thank, before I conclude.
To the judging panel of Deborah Martin, Catherine O’Mahony, Sean O’Riordáin, Anne Matthews, Nick Mulcahy, Niamh Ward, Gary McDonald, Cyril Ferris and Tara Buckley for their unstinting efforts. Almost all the panel members are “returnees” and I want you to know how much the commitment you give to these awards is valued.
To Gerry Davis, Chief Executive of the PRCA and the PRII who has chaired the judging panel for the last 6 years and who oversees this event every year with his very hard-working team of Ann-Marie Jordan, Cyrilla Costelloe and Áine Sheehan.
I’d like to again thank our partner organisations in these awards, the PRII and the CIPR, for their support.
To the Conrad Hotel for their support.
To our Sponsors – SuperValu, Fennell Photography and RR Donnelly.
And, finally, to the members of my Board at PRCA (Ireland) for their support and enthusiasm.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for your attention and good luck to all the shortlisted finalists this afternoon.
Ann-Marie O'Sullivan is a communications professional with over twenty years of experience in providing strategic communications counsel to large and small organisations across a broad spectrum of industry sectors.Find out more at Ann-Marie O'Sullivan's Profile. Don't forget to subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Trackback URL
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Comments
About H+A Blog
Our blog was created to educate, inspire, provoke thoughts and generate ideas.
It is a voice of our passionate team who shares its knowledge and views on marketing, PR, branding and new media, while also discussing the latest trends, innovation and technology in the communications industry.
Categories
Recent Entries
- The importance of the follow-up
- 72% Experience Increase in PR Business in Last Six Months
- FIFA ready for Ambush
- Sport in the Media - More Facts, Less Hysteria Please
- PR STUDENTS DIGG SOCIAL MEDIA