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96% of PR consultancy heads expect stable to increased revenue

Pricing and profitability present the biggest challenge

Just over half of PR consultancy heads internationally expect the business to grow in 2012 compared to 2011. Another 41% expect stable conditions, while only 4% believe their business will shrink. This according to the Q1 Trends Barometer survey from the International Communications Consultancy Organisation, in which 18 countries from Europe and Asia-Pacific participated.¹

PR Service Areas
Top projected disciplines for growth are: Digital (cited by 68%), Crisis & Issues Management (65%) and Corporate Communications/Strategy (59%). Reputation Management was also cited by more than 50% of respondents as a growth area for this year.

Least likely to grow overall are Event Management and Technology services, each cited by only 10% of respondents.

Client Industries
A majority of respondents (59%) expect clients from the Energy & Environment sector to increase their spending on public relations. 43% predict that IT/Technology clients will increase their PR budgets, and 39% believe new business will come from the Health & Wellness industry.

The least promising industries for 2012, amongst those included in the survey², include Manufacturing, Automotive and Retail – all of which were mentioned by fewer than 8% of respondents as likely to boost investment in public relations.

Challenges Ahead
When asked to choose the single most important challenge facing PR consultancy this year, survey respondents ranked “pricing & profitability” first (38%). Second came “client budgets/expectations” (28%), while “competition from outside PR” and “staffing” tied for third (at 13% each).

Additional challenges mentioned include “global recession” and “innovation in PR services”.

Tracking Global Trends
Also according to the Trends Barometer survey, consultancy heads rely upon a wide variety of sources when looking for data on growth and trends in public relations. Most often cited were national PR trade associations and well-known trade publications along with academic journals, social networks, major business media and individual blogs from PR professionals.

¹Participating countries (18 in total), from which heads of PR consultancies were surveyed during January 2012: Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK

²Automotive, Construction/Infrastructure, Energy & Environment, FMCG, Food & Nutrition, Health & Wellness, IT/Technology, Internet/Telecommunications (ICT), Luxury Goods, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Professional Services, Public Sector, Real Estate, Retail, Tourism

About ICCO
The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in twenty-eight countries across the globe: from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Collectively, these associations represent close to 1,500 PR firms.