Irish Examiner Money & Jobs : Friday, April 2, 2004
Friday, April 02, 2004
"Good PR: renewed growth in the public relations industry"
Publication: Irish Examiner Money & Jobs
Geoff Percival says increase in the number of contracts being tendered and entry of new players into market have generated business
The public relations industry in Ireland is enjoying a new period of growth and vibrancy - something seen in the rising number of tenders across the private and public sectors and a more aggressive tendering process in the case of most contracts. The upturn has also been underlined by the increase in merger and acquisition activity and the entry of numerous global firms into the market (at the same time decreasing the number of independent indigenous firms).
One of the reasons, according to Ita Gibney - one of the best known figures in the Irish PR market and head of Gibney Communications - has been the number of high profile corporate scandals in recent times. "There's been a back to basics approach with companies asking themselves is it about reputation management or really corporate integrity. A certain amount of truth and honesty has returned to the marketplace, which had seemingly gone out of fashion both in the rollercoaster world of corporate America and the rollercoaster world of Celtic Tiger-era Ireland," she says.
Gibney formed her company in 1995 after almost 25 year's grounding in the industry (in which time she served as director of group corporate affairs at Greencore and executive director at Murray Consultants). Since then, she's built Gibneys up from a small start-up to one of the top six PR businesses in the country, counting the likes of An Post, First Active, Sherry FitzGerald, Aldi, telecommunications company Hutchison and Bupa Ireland as clients.
Gibney claims that companies are now more clear about what they want from PR advisers. They basically want less spin and more good solid sound advice backed up by a strong relationship with "people with good judgement. The core communication element of good PR is back. The industry has calmed down, it's become less frothy. There's been a steadying up of the flow of new business, but tendering processes have become more competitive. Clients have become more value conscious and are shopping around more. It's no longer a case of PR for the sake of it. We're finding that we're sitting down with clients and instead of purely structuring a deal around how much time we're going to put into a job, we're agreeing a partnership and performance related structure. There's a greater emphasis on quality evaluation now," according to Gibney.
A fundamental shift in maturity both on behalf of the client and its view of a good PR job and the PR companies themselves - has ushered in what could become a new golden era for the industry in Ireland, says Gibney. "There's a tighter focus on the client side. That's always been there on the adviser side but now it's being tapped into more than was previously the case. The days of a quick fix reaction statement are over. The quality of the industry here and the services that Irish clients get are as good as anywhere else in the world." Recruitment in the Irish PR market has been very active of late, hitting levels not seen for a couple of years. There's also a more professional approach to tenders evolving. In addition, clients are looking to extract more value for money but not necessarily for smaller fees.
Another change has been the growing number of international firms moving in. This has undoubtedly been a change, but not necessarily a positive one, according to Gibney.
A fundamental shift in maturity - both on behalf of the client and its view of a good PR job and the PR companies themselves - has ushered in what could become a new golden era for the industry in Ireland, says Gibney.
"There's a tighter focus on the client side. That's always been there on the adviser side but now it's being tapped into more than was previously the case. The days of a quick fix reaction statement are over. The quality of the industry here and the services that Irish clients get are as good as anywhere else in the world."
Recruitment in the Irish PR market has been very active of late, hitting levels not seen for a couple of years. There's also a more professional approach to tenders evolving. In addition, clients are looking to extract more value for money but not necessarily for smaller fees.
Another change has been the growing number of international firms moving in. This has undoubtedly been a change, but not necessarily a positive one, according to Gibney. "It's been good for owners of PR companies who have been able to realise the value of their equity and wealth creation, enabling them to sell out. So, it's positive from an entrepreneurial perspective.
"In terms of value for clients I don't actually see it. There are very few companies in Ireland who want to put a stamp on the world stage and really need an international global networked PR agency in their corner. Sometimes a global agency is appointed and the client's subsidiary in Ireland has to change its local adviser on foot of that. That's not necessarily a positive thing for the local subsidiary in Ireland".