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29 March 2024

Competition key to improving PR practices across the region

Participants taking part in a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk in Dubai. The role of public relations in CSR strategies is to communicate effectively to build corporate accountability and transparency. (EB FILE)

Published
By Vigyan Arya

Public relations may differ in perspective or approach for different PR companies, but one thing commonly applicable to all PR firms is their growing influence in the mechanism of handling public image of their clients.

Especially in the current economic crisis, their role has come to a forefront as companies fight to keep a clean and employer-friendly image. While many have braved the storm and taken on the role of a saviour, others complain media houses have taken undue advantage of the situation and are dictating media relations on behalf of their clients.

Emirates Business spoke to some of the leaders in the industry, including the Mepra (Middle East Public Relations Association) representative about the most sensitive of issues faced by the sector today.And all of them believe that competition leads to improved working practices in the industry.

How has the role of PR increased in the recent times, especially to handle the current crisis?

Rebecca Hill, MEPRA Executive Director

There is an increasing recognition of the important role public relations can play for any organisation, with transparency becoming a priority. However, for many CEOs this is a new concept and there are many levels of transparency. Majority of them see PR as media relations or publicity without understanding that all stakeholders – employees, customers/ clients, banks, investors, bond holders, rating agencies – need to communicate directly and have their voices heard. In this region, there is some way to go before public relations becomes a planned and sustained effort.

Hania Tabet, MD, Ketchum Raad Middle East

The focus on the role of PR has increased significantly since the Lehman Brothers crash in 2008 due to the need for companies to manage their reputations and inform stakeholders through the downturn. In short, PR often provides the appropriate form of engagement.

Chuma Goodwin, General Manager Tamra C2

Corporate PR values don't change with the changing economic situation. The current climate has merely highlighted the need to really underline this basic tenet of the industry.

Corporate communications teams won't always be able to shut down the flow of negative stories but they will be able to get their side of the story across and more importantly, get that message to the key audiences at the right time and with the right information.

Are PR services used because they are cost effective?

Hill: Public relations is used because every company or organisation needs to build goodwill and mutual understanding with its public. If you are comparing public relations or communications with advertising or marketing in terms of costs, then the function is not clearly understood. Publicity can play a key role in underpinning sales objectives. But public relations go beyond a sales or advertising campaign.

A public relations practitioner can work across all segments of an organisation – from HR and communicating company policies with employees (employee communications) to business development and sales (marketing communications), government relations (public affairs), management (reputation management, issues/crisis management) and treasury (financial communications, investor relations, etc). In addition, PR practitioners also co-ordinate with various communities that have vested interest in the organisation's existence such as NGOs and environmental groups (community relations) as well as suppliers and business partners. As there are so many different touch points an organisation has with its public, one of the biggest risks is that it ends up with conflicting messages. A good communications strategy and plan will ensure that any outreach is co-ordinated, effective, value adding and cost effective.

Tabet: Compared to other communications mediums, PR remains very cost-effective and the most credible format to carry a message in my opinion.

Chuma: The issue at play here is more about what you want to communicate to your customers rather than just the direct cost implications for a client. Each marketing discipline has its own particular merits and no one avenue is ostensibly better than the others for all situations. Public relations, when delivered effectively, can be one of the strongest ways to communicate complex messages to customers, clients and indeed, the media but it always boils down to the simple issue of being able to distil that key business message and deliver it to your customers in the language that they understand in an environment that best suits them. Tradeshows, newspapers, social media and even stunts all have that in common – different cuts from the same cloth.

Is the dependence on PR across the board or it utilised by only a specific genre of companies?

Hill: Every organisation needs to communicate with its audience including privately held companies, family businesses, governments and membership associations such as Mepra.

Tabet: Here in the GCC, we can see that a wide cross-section of private companies initially warmed up to PR first, but now it's commonplace to see government entities becoming more interested in active elements of PR such as public affairs.

Chuma: All companies use PR whether they employ huge in-house teams, large multinational agencies or small boutiques. Some companies are willing to let it just happen, while others take a more proactive approach to it.

Public relations, from the ground level up, can only be as effective as those delivering the message, internally as well as externally, regardless of the size of the company.

Larger companies do need to retain control of their core messages and often deliver multiple-layered messages to wide-ranging audiences. This is where professional agencies can step in and help them harness their energies and manage the communications flow.

Will the increased and enhanced role of PR remain with the clients, after they come out of the current crisis?

Hill: Once an organisation has implemented an effective communications programme, there is no turning back. If there is one lesson to be learnt from the crisis it is that you can only communicate out of a crisis.

Saying nothing only makes the crisis worse. Post-crisis communications is really important as stakeholders need to be reassured that they won't be subject to a similar situation again.

Tabet: Most definitely. Once CEOs and CMOs can see the tangible RoI that PR can deliver in their overall communications mix, they will never drop it. Certainly all our clients at Ketchum Raad Middle East are huge advocates of PR. And we love them for that. Only PR can generate a meaningful and credible dialogue in my opinion.

Chuma: [Refrained from answering the question]

Has the dependence on PR industry improved and has the standards of the industry risen?

Hill: To a vast extent, the focus has been on media relations with relatively little effort on internal capacity building and corporate communications. There is a lot of talk about the need for transparency but there is less understanding about what it means and who has ownership. For standards to be really raised, top management needs to embrace the importance and value of communications and invest in good resources.

Tabet: Yes it has. In fact, the industry has its own body – the Middle East Public Relations Association (Mepra), with currently 23 agencies registered and actively participating to promote and standardise the practice of PR sector in the region.

Chuma: It's not about 'dependence', it's about interdependence.

Journalists and seasoned public relations professionals will often maintain relationships throughout their careers. If, and it's a strong if, both are able to have that trust in one another – ie, the PR requires to deliver against the journalist's needs and the journalist to accurately and fairly represent companies in the media. These relationships can last a lifetime. The PR industry is slowly learning this and beginning to learn how to better serve the interests of the media. Similarly, as pockets of the media continue to improve, this should demand better access, commentary, spokespeople and reporting. On both sides of the fence, those that will flourish are those who would be able to recognise and respect what the other has to give.

Has it changed the relationship between PR professionals and media representatives (journalists)?

Hill: Has the crisis changed the relationship? Yes but it has changed the relationship with other audiences as well – employees, investors, bondholders, shareholders, banks, customers, etc. There is much more understanding and recognition that you have to talk to these groups. The media is one channel for a company to use to communicate its message. Direct communications is much more effective and should be integral to a communications strategy and plan.

Tabet: I don't believe so. With the 'pull' for stories from journalists and a 'push' of content from PR companies, there will always be a certain 'fission' between journalists and PR professionals. However, the good practitioners on both sides of the fence know they need each other. The role of the journalist has matured quickly too, with a much better level of topic research and less of a tendency to just 'replay the PR messages' verbatim.

Chuma: There are poor practioners in all walks of life. For public relations professionals in the infancy of their careers, it's always broken down to the basics – know your media, read their articles, know how they operate, what they like, what they don't. Be a trusted accurate source and communicate your clients messages clearly, succinctly and in a timely fashion. Simple. If PRs can do this, then there's nothing to stop their relationship with the media growing closer.

Have PR companies increased their fees considering their role and responsibility has changed and increased?

Hill: Not that I am aware of although at some level they should. Public relations expertise, especially within agencies owned by advertising agencies, has often been given away for free or deeply discounted. This has undermined the value of public relations and not helped clients understand the role it can play. A recent study of Mepra-registered agencies showed that the majority are expecting growth this year and can therefore be more discerning about which clients they work with and less willing to cut their rates.

Tabet: I can only speak for Ketchum Raad Middle East…and in our case, only in line with inflation.

Chuma: Everyone has gone through tough times in the past couple of years. Marketing as a whole has suffered in terms of the fees they can command. While many companies have pulled much of their marketing spend, some have prospered from a communications perspective by shifting their budgets from other disciplines into public relations. In these harsher times, every dirham needs to be effectively spent and messages need to really hit their mark. For this reason, many agencies have retained their fees structure and in some instances, they have improved on their overall bottom line.

Even in the times of crisis, many PR companies (especially multinational ones) have opened shop here. Do you feel additional competition from them and what's your opinion on increasing competition in the PR industry?

Hill: The UAE is a crowded market with more than 120 agencies having set up shop in the past five years. Competition benefits everyone as it forces agencies to deliver a better product and service, ensures they invest in their staff and offers clients more choice over who they work with.

In-house practitioners also have to improve their game as there is some excellent talent in the market looking for a suitable role.

Tabet: Well, at Ketchum Raad Middle East we are part of one of the top five globally networked PR agencies and I firmly believe in the competitive advantage of this. Being both local, regional and truly globally in our capabilities, it sounds terribly clichéd. But increased competition is leading to improved working practices in our industry.

Chuma: Competition is always good. There are some great PR people in the region as well as those with a little bit more to learn. The multinationals have their obvious strengths but those new to the market will often hit barriers as they get to grips with the region. The larger agencies need to understand the intricacies of the new markets and the locally based agencies need to be able to demonstrate world-class delivery. Somewhere in the middle, you'll find some very happy clients.