If you want to get a sense of where the PR industry is headed from some of the biggest names in the business you should take a look at the video below. From Shel Holtz, “Ogilvy PR Worldwide produced this video for PRWeek’s “Next” conference, held in mid-November. Leaders of PR agencies talk about the skills of the PR counselor of the future.”

Bonus Link: Here’s a related post I wrote in January 2008 titled: PR Career 3.0 (2015 - ?)

So says a report by Professor Ralph Tench from Leeds Met University. The report, claimed to be the largest of its kind, looked at European Communication Managers’ perceptions of the practice in 2008 and found that Europe is lagging behind the States on three types of influence measures:

The research was conducted among 37 European countries and some of the summary findings found:

• Online video and social networks will be the hottest emerging channels in 2009
• Three out of four PR professionals working in Europe are involved in Corporate Social Responsibility
• Strategy and measurement are highlighted as major issues for each of the 37 country respondents

It would be interesting to see the breakdown of the European countries. I’ve heard both David Brain and Wolfgang Lunenburger mention on a number of occasions that Europe is not a country and chances are the results for the UK, with an established PR market, would be comparably better than those from an emerging European country where the practice is relatively new.

You can get the full report at http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/

Following on from the post I published in November on UK journalists using Twitter, I thought it would be interesting to do something similar for the US media. My instincts told me that if one American media outlet was embracing Twitter more than most it would be the New York Times, and although I have no hard evidence it seems I was right. I found 60 Twitter profiles but wouldn’t be surprised if there were more. Edit: There are more. In the comments Michael Donohoe points me to another two which I’ve added. Edit 2: David Seguin points me to another profile by the NYT Communications team. Edit 3: Additonal ones added. Now 68 Twitter profiles.

Editors

WM Ferguson - http://twitter.com/WmFerguson (Editor)
Katherine Schulten - http://twitter.com/KSchulten (Editor)
Aron Pilhofer - http://twitter.com/pilhofer (Editor)
Jim Schachter - http://twitter.com/jimschachter (Editor, Digital Initiatives)
Saul Hansell - http://twitter.com/shansell (Editor, NY Times Bits blog)
Tom Zeller Jr - http://twitter.com/tomzellerjr (Alternative Energy Editor)
Andrew DeVigal - http://twitter.com/drewvigal (Multimedia Editor)
Nick Bilton - http://twitter.com/nickbilton (Design Intergration Editor)
Vindu Goel - http://twitter.com/vindugoel (Deputy Technology Editor)
Julie Walton Shaver - http://twitter.com/jwsphoto (Graphics Editor)
Tom Jolly - http://twitter.com/TomJolly (Sports Editor)
Jonathan Landman - http://twitter.com/jonathanlandman (Deputy Managing Editor)
Patrick LaForge - http://twitter.com/palafo (Editor of nytimes.com/cityroom)

Reporters

Laura Norton - http://twitter.com/LauraNorton (Reporter with Press Democrat)
Micki Maynard - http://twitter.com/MickiMaynard (Reporter, Airline Industry)
Marci Alboher - http://twitter.com/heymarci (Reporter)
Andrew C. Revkin - http://twitter.com/revkin (Reporter, Global Change)
Vanessa Schneider - http://twitter.com/VSchn31d3r
Sewell Chan - http://twitter.com/sewell_chan (Reporter)
Clive Thompson - http://twitter.com/pomeranian99 (Reporter)
Brian Stelter - http://twitter.com/brianstelter (Reporter)
Brad Stone - http://twitter.com/BradStone (Technology Correspondent, San Francisco)
John Markoff - http://twitter.com/markoff (West Coast Correspondent)
Nicholas Kristof - http://twitter.com/NYTimesKristof
Jenifer 8. Lee - http://twitter.com/jenny8lee
Tina Kelley - http://twitter.com/tinakelley
The Moment (no name) - http://twitter.com/themoment

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An interesting new Online PR report has been published by training, events and publishing organisation, e-consultancy. The Online PR Industry Benchmarking Report by authors Michelle Goodall and Aliya Zaidi is based on a survey of 300 PR and marketing professionals and, according to the report, is the first of its kind in the UK to establish the importance of Online PR within the PR mix; benchmark the percentage of PR budgets being spent on online activity; define who is driving strategy and implementation; explore its growth and highlight the challenges that marketers currently face. Here are some of the key findings: (my comments in brackets)

* The results show a surprisingly large percentage of retained PR budgets are being spent on Online PR. Company respondents report 39% and agencies report 47% of total PR fees.

(Quite surprised at how these numbers are. After all, and as many people keep banging on, online isn’t the be all and end all of the profession)

* The results also show that when companies outsource Online PR to agencies or specialists, 51% of companies are using PR agencies but a significant percentage are using search marketing agencies (29%) and web development agencies (22%) to develop and deliver Online PR strategy.

(My goodness, relying on two unrelated industries to deliver your online PR strategy. You’re shooting yourself and the industry in the foot, guys)

* The most popular definition was “maximising favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or websites on third party sites”, indicating that current Online PR objectives are more outreach and engagement-based than identifying, listening to and understanding stakeholders.

(I’m sure the same results would occur if this was an offline PR survey. IMHO there are more in the industry that look to score hits as opposed to changing attitudes.)

* Online PR is still clearly viewed as a specialist and technical PR function by many respondents. Two thirds of agencies surveyed (64%) have a separate Online PR division. Delegates at our November 2008 Online PR Roundtable agreed that many PR agencies consider online activity as a specialism but predicted it will become immersed into the overall PR strategy over time. How many PR agencies have a separate “broadcast PR” division after all?

(I’m sitting on the fence on this one. There’s no doubting that everyone in the industry should have an understanding of online PR, but speaking as someone who focuses solely on this area I often find the more I learn the more I realise I don’t know. It’s ever-changing too. I don’t think a generalist PR could ever keep up to speed and the complexity it sometimes brings)

* Agencies and specialists should note that levels of client satisfaction are not encouraging and they may need to improve their Online PR knowledge and offering. A fifth of clients (20%) are very satisfied with their agency’s level of Online PR knowledge, 28% are moderately satisfied, 19% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 15% are mildly dissatisfied and 13% are very dissatisfied. Equally, clients recognise that their own knowledge could be improved with 49% saying that their Online PR knowledge is good and 12% poor.

(Can’t really comment on this as I have a vested interest but, yes, it often feels like one is banging one’s head against a brick wall)

A favour for a mate.

Job Description: Social networking site Friends Reunited requires a maternity-cover Press Officer for its in-house PR function.

Candidates should have around 3 years of experience working in the PR industry. Ideally this will include some in-house experience although this is not essential. The role will include working most closely with the marketing function and PR agency and will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the press office.

Overall Purpose of Role: how the role adds value to the business

• Strong contribution to key business objectives through consumer, corporate and business-to-business PR campaigns
• Responsible for efficiently run PR press office, fielding and responding to an increasing number of consumer, corporate and crisis media inquiries plus placement of pro-active publicity

Core Responsibilities: key regular activities of the job

Consumer PR
Use your understanding and experience in consumer PR to plan and implement impactful PR campaigns as part of an integrated marketing approach

Corporate PR
Working with ITV Press, use your corporate PR experience to help build the brand’s profile in corporate and business-to-business media

Strategic thinking
Lead Friends Reunited PR strategy from formulation through to execution aligning it with key business objectives

Press Office Experience
Utilise broad knowledge of the media and their requirements to ensure smooth day-to-day running of the press office, fielding consumer, corporate and crisis calls from the media

Creativity and Publicity Skills
Combine creativity with knowledge of the media and your media contacts to recognise media angles and generate positive news coverage, profile pieces and features across a broad media spectrum

Management Skills
Effectively manage people in the organisation to hit and exceed targets

Excellent writing skills
Assist in the reporting, analysis and evaluation of PR campaigns

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