PRCA - Repuation of PR report

PRCA Reputation of PR Report 2012

Contents

Introduction from Francis Ingham, PRCA Chief Executive 4

Executive Summary 7

Performance of PR 8

Responsibility of PR 12

Social Media 14

Perceptions of PR 19

Evaluating PR 29

Spending on PR 30

PR in the boardroom 33

PRCA Reputation of PR Report 2012

3PRCA REPUTATION OF PR REPORT 2012

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PRCA REPUTATION OF PR REPORT 20124 5PRCA REPUTATION OF PR REPORT 2012

Introduction from Francis Ingham, PRCA Chief Executive

It is our profession’s greatest irony that the reputation industry itself has an external perception problem. For the first time, the PRCA’s Reputation of PR Report has uncovered the real state of the Public Relations and Communications industry’s reputation. And it provides us not only with essential information – but also with a clear view of the work we have in front of us.

By seeking and contrasting the opinions of heads of agencies, in-house communications teams (both public and private), and non-PR board directors of some of the country’s largest organisations, this report allows us to compare how good we think our reputation is, with the views of our senior colleagues and clients.

There is much to welcome and celebrate: the value of reputation management has clearly risen in the last five years, and it is predicted to improve further over the next few years. Importantly, this is reflected in increased spend on PR – and this trend is likely to continue over the next few years too.

It is also pleasing that as a discipline PR has effectively taken ownership of social media functions and responsibilities. Social Media has been successfully wrestled away from advertising and marketing, and there is room for further growth in this area.

However, we should be under no illusion that there is a long way to go before good PR and good reputation management are seen in all boardrooms as vital to the bottom line. In fact, some communications directors still do not get into the boardroom at all, and others have limited face time with their CEOs.

This has to change – and it is up to us to make this happen by providing a more accountable, professional service. And – crucially – by providing robust evidence of the value of the professional advice we bring.

We need to continue the trend of moving away from reactive media relations and press releases to offering a more structured, strategic service for our clients and our bosses. Then we will find that non-PR professionals increasingly appreciate PR as critical to their organisation’s future.

The PR and communications industry has proven to be a real UK business success story as it continues to grow in these tough economic times. Our next challenge is to make sure we make the business case for reputation management to sustain this resilience.

Francis InghamChief Executive, PRCA


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Headline statistics

The results will at times distinguish between in-house senior communications professionals, and board-level directors that have no PR/communications remit, as well as managing directors of public relations agencies.

68% OF PR ANd COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS BELIEVE THAT PR IS VALUEd MORE THAN FIVE yEARS AgO, COMPAREd TO 48% OF NON-PR BOARd MEMBERS

17% OF ORgANISATIONS STILL dO NOT UNdERSTANd SOCIAL MEdIA

70% OF NON-PR BOARd MEMBERS BELIEVE PR ANd COMMUNICATIONS NEEdS TO BETTER ALIgN ITSELF WITH WIdER BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

47% OF ORgANISATIONS ExPECT TO INCREASE THEIR PR ANd COMMUNICATIONS BUdgET IN THE NExT FIVE yEARS, COMPAREd TO JUST 14% WHO ExPECT A dECREASE

13% OF ORgANISATIONS NEVER dISCUSS THEIR REPUTATION AT BOARd MEETINgS

68%

70%

47%

17%

13%


Performance of PR:

On a scale of 1 to 5 how well do you think the PR and communications function delivers in relation to its potential? (Answered by all respondents)

Starting with how PR and Communications currently functions, the results were favourable. Interestingly 67% of board directors in public organisations gave 5 out of 5 for delivery in relation to potential.

Performance of PR:

How does PR and communications add value to your organisation? (Answered by all respondents)

Both non-PR board directors and agency directors agreed that corporate reputation management and customer marketing are the most valuable service provided by PR and communications.

4%

46%

9%

19%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

1

2

3

4

5

dON’T KNOW

27%

1%

71%

66%

35%

11%

71%

58%

34%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

68%

57%

27%

1%

CORPORATE REPUTATION MANAgEMENT

CUSTOMER MARKETINg

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS/STRATEgIC COUNCIL

STAKEHOLdER RELATIONS

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

CRISIS & ISSUES MANAgEMENT

gOVERNMENT RELATIONS/LOBByINg

CSR

INVESTOR RELATIONS

OTHER

PR & COMMUNICATIONS dO NOT Add VALUE TO My CLIENTS


Performance of PR:

On a scale of 1 to 5, rate how the PR and communications function takes ownership of your organisation’s brand(s) and reputation communication strategy (Answered by all respondents except agency directors)

In-house communications professionals rated their ability to take ownership of their organisation’s brand higher (almost exclusively 4 and 5 out of 5) than their directors (mostly 3 and 4 out of 5).

Performance of PR:

How does PR and communications perform against your expectations? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

When just non-PR board directors were asked how PR performs against their expectations, the answers were favourable. The lack of “extremely well” responses means there is still room for improvement for industry performance compared to what organisations expect.

2% 6%

41% 10%

9% 39%

19% 2%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

1

2

3

4

5

dON’T KNOW

ExTREMELy WELL

QUITE WELL

ON PAR WITH ExPECTATIONS

QUITE BAdLy

ExTREMELy BAdLy

dON’T KNOW

29% 40%

2% 4%


Responsibility of PR:

In which areas of PR and communications do you have responsibility for your organisation/client? (Answered by PR professionals only)

Interestingly corporate communications clearly is the key responsibility even though it ranked behind corporate reputation management and customer marketing in terms of adding value to organisations (page 9).

Responsibility of PR:

What should the PR and communications team be delivering to your organisation? (Answered by all respondents)

Directors in private organisations were the only respondents to believe that creating awareness (83%) was more important than building brand reputation (80%). Otherwise there was broad agreement that brand reputation should be the key delivery function, although only marginally.

81% 88%

69% 77%

42% 67%

15% 21%

69% 84%

69% 70%

35% 61%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS/STRATEgIC COUNCIL

CUSTOMER MARKETINg

CORPORATE REPUTATION MANAgEMENT

STAKEHOLdER RELATIONS

CRISIS & ISSUES MANAgEMENT

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

CSR

gOVERNMENT RELATIONS/LOBByINg

INVESTOR RELATIONS

OTHER

PR & COMMUNICATIONS dO NOT Add VALUE TO My CLIENTS

BUILdINg BRANd REPUTATION

CREATINg AWARENESS

CREATINg & MANAgINg MEdIA RELATIONS

PROTECTINg BRANd REPUTATION

FORMINg PART OF THE STRATEgIC PARTNERSHIP IN THE ORgANISATION

POSITIONINg THE ORgANISATION AS ExPERTS/SOLUTION PROVIdER TO RELEVANT AUdIENCE

STIMULATINg SALES

PROVIdINg CRISIS MANAgEMENT

PROFILINg KEy INdIVIdUALS

CARRyINg OUT INSTRUCTIONS OF OTHER INdIVIdUALS/dEPARTMENTS

OTHER

69% 82%

66% 69%

18% 53%

1% 7%


Social media:

How has the advent of social media impacted upon your organisation’s communications strategy? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

Social media:

How has the advent of social media impacted upon your clients’ communications strategies? (Answered by agency directors only)

The good news for the industry is that directors recognise that social media is the responsibility of the communications team. However, there is a contrast between agencies that see most clients outsourcing, and directors who see social media responsibility as primarily for their in-house communications teams.

54% 42%

14% 20%

6% 2%

35% 34%

10% 15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

THE PR & COMMUNICATIONS FUNCTION HAS TAKEN RESPONSIBILITy FOR SOCIAL MEdIA ACTIVITIES

WE HAVE ENgAgEd AgENCy SUPPORT FOR OUR SOCIAL MEdIA ACTIVITIES

WE HAVE RECRUITEd INdIVIdUALS SPECIFICALLy TO MANAgE THE SOCIAL MEdIA ACTIVITIES

IT HAS NOT IMPACTEd ON OUR BUSINESS’S COMMUNICATIONS STRATEgy

OTHER

WE WILL RECRUIT SPECIALIST INdIVIdUALS TO MANAgE SOCIAL MEdIA & INTERNET RELATEd ACTIVITy

dON’T KNOW

MAJORITy OF CLIENTS ARE OUTSOURCINg SPECIFIC SOCIAL MEdIA RESPONSIBILITIES TO AgENCIES

IN THE MAJORITy OF CLIENTS, THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM HAVE TAKEN RESPONSIBILITy FOR SOCIAL MEdIA ACTIVITIES

MAJORITy OF CLIENTS ARE MANAgINg SOCIAL MEdIA USINg ExISTINg INTERNAL ExPERTISE

MAJORITy OF CLIENTS HAVE A SOCIAL MEdIA STRATEgy

MAJORITy OF CLIENTS HAVE RECRUITEd SPECIALISTS TO MANAgE SOCIAL MEdIA & INTERNET ACTIVITIES

OTHER

dON’T KNOW

17% 27%

8% 15%


66%

5%

17%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

IT IS AN OPPORTUNITy

WE dON’T UNdERSTANd IT

IT dOESN’T RATE AS AN ISSUE

I dON’T KNOW

IT’S NOT RELEVANT TO US

IT IS A THREAT

8%

2%

Social media:

At a senior level, what is your organisation’s attitude to social media? (Answered by all respondents except agency directors)

The importance of PR taking ownership of PR is highlighted by a majority of directors’ view of social media as an opportunity. However, it is worrying that almost one in five still claim to not understand social media.

Social media:

What user generated content or social media activities does your PR and communications function carry out for your organisation? (Answered by senior in-house communications professionals only)

As expected, senior in-house professionals now view Twitter as the most important social media channel for generating content, with Facebook and blogs still in common use.

71%

35%

1%

59%

35%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

BLOgS

SEO

dISCUSSION BOARdS

OTHER

NONE OF THE ABOVE

51%

23%


Perceptions of PR:

How do you believe PR and communications is perceived within your organisation? (Answered by all respondents)

There was consensus across the majority of respondents that PR and communications was primarily a media relations function. There was also agreement that PR was more commonly seen as a proactive, as opposed to reactive, function.

68%

43%

34%

1%

55%

43%

18%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

AS A MEdIA RELATIONS FUNCTION

AS A PROACTIVE FUNCTION

AS A TACTICAL IMPLEMENTOR

AS A KEy AdVISOR

AS A REACTIVE FUNCTION

AS A KEy FUNCTION IN dRIVINg THE ORgANISATION FORWARd

AS A VOICE WITH STAKEHOLdERS

AS MAKINg A CLEAR CONTRIBUTION TO THE BOTTOM LINE

OTHER

dON’T KNOW

47%

36%

7%

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Perceptions of PR:

Which one of the following do you agree with the most? (Answered by PR professionals only)

53%

32%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

8%

8%

THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS IS MORE VALUEd NOW THAN IT WAS 5 yEARS AgO

THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS IS VALUEd NOW ABOUT THE SAME AS IT WAS 5 yEARS AgO

THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS IS LESS VALUEd NOW THAN IT WAS 5 yEARS AgO

I dON’T KNOW HOW PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS AS A WHOLE HAVE CHANgEd

46%

36%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

6%

13%

IT VALUES IT MORE NOW THAN 5 yEARS AgO

IT VALUES IT THE SAME AS IT dId 5 yEARS AgO

IT VALUES IT LESS THAN IT dId 5 yEARS AgO

I dON’T KNOW ENOUgH TO COMMENT

Perceptions of PR:

How do you think your organisation values PR and communications now compared to 5 years ago? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

PR and communications professionals’ firm belief that PR is valued more than it was 5 years ago is well reflected by board directors, if not quite as strongly.


61%

29%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

I BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE VALUEd MORE IN THE FUTURE THAN IT IS CURRENTLy

I BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE VALUEd ABOUT THE SAME IN THE FUTURE AS IT IS CURRENTLy

I BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE VALUEd LESS IN THE FUTURE THAN IT IS CURRENTLy

10%

Perceptions of PR:

Which one of the following do you agree with the most? (Answered by PR professionals only)

Again there is agreement that the value of PR will continue to increase, with non-PR board directors not quite as optimistic.

51%

42%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

I BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE VALUEd MORE IN THE FUTURE THAN IT IS CURRENTLy

I BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE VALUEd ABOUT THE SAME IN THE FUTURE AS IT IS CURRENTLy

I BELIEVE THAT THE ROLE OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE VALUEd LESS IN THE FUTURE THAN IT IS CURRENTLy

7%

Perceptions of PR:

Which one of the following do you agree with the most? (Answered by non-PR board members only)


Perceptions of PR:

In 5 years time how supportive do you think your organisation/client will be towards PR and communications compared to how it is now? (Answered by all respondents)

Broken down by type of respondent, this question reveals optimism that organisations will value PR more in the future is justified. Although agency director’s enthusiasm that clients will be more supportive in the future isn’t quite matched by the clients themselves!

33%

35%

28%

38%

51%

17%

2%

20%

1%

5%

50%

63%

60%

44%

52%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

dIRECTORS IN PUBLIC ORgANISATIONS

dIRECTORS IN PRIVATE BUSINESSES

SENIOR PR & COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS – IN-HOUSE – PUBLIC ORgANISATIONS

SENIOR PR & COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS – IN-HOUSE – PRIVATE BUSINESSES

AgENCy

THEY WILL BE MORE SUPPORTIVE THAN THEY CURRENTLY ARETHEY WILL BE AS SUPPORTIVE AS THEY CURRENTLY ARETHEY WILL BE LESS SUPPORTIVE THAN THEY CURRENTLY ARE

70%

5%

16%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

PR & COMMUNICATIONS NEEdS TO BETTER ALIgN ITS dELIVERy WITH WIdER BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

PR & COMMUNICATIONS NEEdS TO IMPROVE HOW IT COMMUNICATES WITH THE CLIENT’S BOARd

OTHER

dON’T KNOW

THE CONTRIBUTION OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS CANNOT BE ENHANCEd

39%

5%

Perceptions of PR:

How can your communications team enhance its contribution to your organisation? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

Board directors evidently feel that PR and communications has yet to fully understand the organisation’s wider objectives. Crucially it shows that the industry has yet to demonstrate that it’s objectives are in line with the bottom line.


Perceptions of PR:

On a scale of 1 to 5, how important is reputation? (Answered by all respondents)

1%

13%

3%

78%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

1

2

3

4

5

dON’T KNOW

5%

1%

46%

7%

14%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

SHOULd dO MORE TO IMPROVE IT

IT HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT

IT TRIES TO IMPROVE IT WITHOUT ANy NOTICEABLE EFFECT

IT HAS A NEgATIVE EFFECT

IT dOES NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE ORgANISATION’S REgULATIONS

32%

2%

Perceptions of PR:

How does PR and communications contribute to your reputation? (Answered by non-PR board members only)

Although all the respondents were unanimous in regards to the importance of reputation, board directors feel that more can be done to improve reputation by PR and communications teams. At the same time one in three recognised that PR and Communications teams do make a positive impact on reputation. There is clearly work still to be done!


Perceptions of PR:

How could PR and communications be seen as a source of value to your organisation in the future? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

Non-PR directors see the future of PR overwhelmingly as a reputation management tool. Promisingly almost two in three see PR as a future strategic tool.

81%

51%

9%

63%

51%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

ENABLE REPUTATION TO BE BUILT & SUSTAINEd

PROVIdE STRATEgIC CONSULTANCy

HELP LEAdERSHIP STRATEgy

dEMONSTRATE AN UNdERSTANdINg OF THE BUSINESSES/ORgANISATIONS

AId BUSINESS PLANNINg

ENHANCE RISK MANAgEMENT

OTHER

52%

42%

59%

40%

22%

51%

30%

22%

14%

5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

43%

30%

21%

21%

13%

11%

9%

QUALITy OF MESSAgE dELIVERy

BRANd AWARENESS

ANECdOTAL FEEdBACK

VOLUME OF ITEMS OF COVERAgE

WEIgHTEd VOLUME OF COVERAgE

MARKET POSITION

ROI

AUdIENCE TRACKINg RESEARCH

STAKEHOLdER TRACKINg RESEARCH

SALES SPIKES

IMPACT OF REPUTATION ON SHARE VALUE

AVE

OTHER

WE dO NOT MEASURE REPUTATION

dON’T KNOW

Evaluating PR:

How do you measure your brand image and reputation? (Answered by all respondents)

There are positive signs that quality outcomes are more important than output, and AVE was the lowest ranking answer. Volume is still an important indicator for a significant minority.


Spending on PR:

How has the spend on PR and communications (excluding advertising) in your organisation changed relative to the total revenue over the last 5 years? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

42%

35%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

IT HAS INCREASEd COMPAREd TO 5 yEARS AgO

IT HAS REMAINEd THE SAME AS 5 yEARS AgO

IT HAS dECREASEd COMPAREd TO 5 yEARS AgO

24%

Spending on PR:

How has spend on PR and communications in your organisation changed relative to advertising spend over the last 5 years ago? (Answered by senior in-house communications professionals only)

Significantly the increased value of reputation has been matched with an increase spend on PR. It is a very positive sign to see PR spend increase compared to total revenue and compared to similar disciplines.

42%

28%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

18%

12%

IT HAS INCREASEd COMPAREd TO 5 yEARS AgO

IT HAS REMAINEd THE SAME AS 5 yEARS AgO

dON’T KNOW

IT HAS dECREASEd COMPAREd TO 5 yEARS AgO


Spending on PR:

In 5 years time, how do you think the percentage of your organisation’s revenue spent on PR and communications (excluding advertising) in your organisation will fare? (answered by all respondents except agency directors)

This trend of increased budgets is crucially expected to continue into the future.

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

IT WILL INCREASE

IT WILL REMAIN THE SAME

IT WILL dECREASE14%

47%

39%

18%

17%

5%

12%

15%

5%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

NONE

UP TO ONE HOUR

FROM 1 TO 3 HOURS

FROM 4 TO 7 HOURS

FROM 8 TO 10 HOURS

FROM 11 TO 13 HOURS

FROM 14 TO 17 HOURS

FROM 18 TO 20 HOURS

MORE THAN 20 HOURS

21%

4%

5%

PR in the boardroom:

How many hours per month do you spend with your CEO? (Answered by senior in-house communications professionals only)

Worryingly almost one in five in-house heads spend no time at all with their CEO.

PRCA REPUTATION OF PR REPORT 201234

PR in the boardroom:

How frequently is your organisation’s reputation on the agenda at board meetings? (Answered by non-PR board directors only)

Although reputation is frequently on board meeting agendas, again there is nearly one in five times when it is never on the agenda. Interestingly it was more frequently on the agenda in public organisations’ (50%) meetings compared to private (30%).

46%

7%

14%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

IT IS ON THE AgENdA FREQUENTLy IN BOARd MEETINgS

IT IS RARELy ON THE AgENdA IN OUR ORgANISATION’S BOARd MEETINgS

I dON’T KNOW HOW FREQUENTLy REPUTATION IS ON THE AgENdA ON My ORgANISATION’S BOARd MEETINgS

IT IS ON THE AgENdA IN EVERy BOARd MEETINg

IT IS NEVER ON THE AgENdA IN OUR ORgANISATION’S BOARd MEETINgS

32%

2%


Over the past few years, one PR membership body has taken the NLA to court. Won the Government contract and established PR apprenticeships. Referred around £1m a month in new business to members. Produced a balanced budget every year. Introduced modular qualifications. Provided interactive training webinars globally. Established an Access Commission on diversity in the industry. Published the first PR Census with PR Week. Put on hundreds of completely free member events. Introduced the designatory letters MPRCA denoting adherence to a Code of Conduct. Maintained an independent and accurate Public Affairs Register. Partnered with 12 leading universities. Has trebled in size. Has led our industry.

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PRCA - Repuation of PR report