PR industry trends to look out for

Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI), India’s largest PR professional body, has released SPRINT 2022-23 – its annual study of public relations insights, nuggets and trends

The study, done in collaboration with Astrum, India’s first science-based specialist reputation advisory to generate unique industry trends and insights, revealed that PR consultancies in the country are making a considerable investment in strengthening their regional outreach as clients reach out to consumers in tier II and III cities.

Speaking on the role regional PR plays in the industry, Deepti Sethi, CEO, PRCAI, said, “ I think this is mirroring the trends of where the consumption patterns are and how the relevance of the content is made relevant. So, if you see the PR spends, what was 15 per cent earlier, would go to 25 per cent in the next three years, which really shows that today, you are not painting everybody with the same brush. You are making sure that the targetted comunications is happening to the languages to the formats that those people are wanting to listen to. And that is the power of the new digital integrated communications, where we are not restricting ourselves to doing a press release and just transcribe that into 30 languages. We are creating content which is relevant for the audience. The second thing is the way businesses are growing. Four metros, if you go back a few years, that is where all the action was. But that's not the case anymore. There are over 35 cities that are playing a significant role in the growth of the economy and the business and if you have to communicate to the audience there, you have to be mindful of how you are communicating with them. Look at Google and how it has diverse regional languages. I think that is the kind of clear trend that you have to make sure how your communication is relevant to the audience today that you are talking to and that is no longer only a marketing function. It is where communications – with its diversity it is bringing to the table today has the power to implement and execute.”

However, the report revealed that the high employee attrition rate in the industry at 20 per cent is a pressing issue that may hamper the quality and ability of client service. Said Atul Sharma, President, PRCAI, “This is a problem that every industry is facing in this day and age. So, if you look at the Great Resignation, the entire space has been built on the back of that. I also think that when people were holed up in their homes, suddenly priorities changed. Being in the present became more important. And I think that is something that people have assessed, people have reviewed and I do not see this trend going away anytime soon. People have become more certain about what they want in life and their priorities and in some of these cases, it is about work-life balance, in some cases it is about getting more from your life than work and I think those pieces are very clear out there. What we are trying, and can tell you as a PR firm, one of the things that we are trying to do is trying to make sure there is better work-life balance for everyone.”

Other Key Trends In SPRINT 2022-23:

Digital First: In this hyper digital era, nine out of 10 clients has to deal with fake news in last one year and trust and authenticity in communications has taken over visibility. While 75 per cent feel that newspaper space is shrinking, 3 out of 5 see an increase in the share of paid news across digital media. Media Relations is losing revenue share but continues to be a significant contributor at 68 per cent, in the next three years its significance may drop to 48 per cent.

Increasing PR off Marketing Pie: An encouraging trend qualifying integrated communications is that companies in India are now allocating a higher proportion of their marketing budget to PR services. PR share of annual marketing budgets of clients saw 7 percentage point increase in 4 years, expanding from 10 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent in 2022

Broadening Services Portfolios: The post pandemic scenario points out that clients turned to PR to effectively communicate with multi stakeholders – both external and internal where 93 per cent ranked crisis handling as most important, followed by public affairs and advocacy at 89 per cent and internal communications at 85 per cent, becoming the top three sought-after services in the PR realm.

The PR Measurement Efficacy: SPRINT 2022-23 revealed that 95 per cent of respondents measure their PR efforts, with over 80 per cent reporting that measurement metrics are finalised at the beginning of the campaign, a positive step to drive effectiveness. Even more importantly, three out of five respondents agreed that PR measurement and evaluation is shifting from AVE to other metrics, a long-overdue development that can only support the industry’s overall value.

Talent Shortage Is PR Industry’s Biggest Headwind

Talent Scarcity: The survey insights noted that the industry has been witnessing attrition of more than 20 per cent, higher than the global standards. For the Millennials, the balance between career aspirations and better quality of life is no longer an either/or choice. Higher compensation and need for work life balance reasons for frequent job shifts, besides post Covid-19 phenomenon reflective of different live goals of millennials changing careers path outside PR to opt for alternate career choices like creating music band, teaching in rural areas, taking up entrepreneurship.

Newer Hunting Grounds: The study found that most staff are still recruiting from masscomm and journalism institutes, through new hunting grounds are emerging with increased hiring from graduate colleges and MBA institutes.

Higher need to upskill people: The study shows there is under-investment in talent development and firms are spending less than 1.5 per cent of their revenues in training, making a strong case for the immediate attention to prioritize constant investment in people that will pay dividends in the long run.  

Bridging Client-Agency Expectations: A bridge needs to be built between client and consultancy expectations. While clients are willing to pay for higher quality talent and expects PR professionals to come with rich experience in public advocacy, legal expertise, and other key subject matters, 83% of consultancy respondents revealed that the client budgets are not increasing at the same pace as consulting expenses.

Concluded Sharma, "PRCAI is striving to build a more professional, ethical, and prosperous PR industry. SPRINT 2022-23, is a step in that direction and reveals how the industry professionals are increasingly becoming indispensable to India Inc., not just as supporters but partners in growth.”  He added, “We are now being recognised as strategic consultants who help solve business problems and for this transformation to sustain, technology and talent has to complement each other most effectively.”