CorpComms Magazine

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, there is one absolute certainty. It's going to be tough. For sectors such as banking, retail, automotive and aviation it's potentially going to be one of the most challenging years in recent memory. But to some extent we are in unchartered economic territory with the extreme tightening of credit conditions and global nature of the downturn.

Non-core business functions will be cut back as organisations look to rein

in expenditure. Marketing and communications typically head the finance director's list of functions where expenditure savings are targeted. ITV, a barometer for the advertising industry, revealed the impact of the recession when it reported a five per cent decline in broadcasting revenue in the first nine months last year.

We would typically expect PR and communications to have an equally challenging time with budgets.

But perhaps we should view the downturn as much as an opportunity for PR communications as a threat. For those able to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of PR relative to advertising expenditure, then there is an opportunity for PR to become the communications' focus during times of tight budgetary conditions.

In recent years we have witnessed the explosive growth of social media. This unruly arena, characterised by many as ‘bandit country media', has thrown out the media rule book and left many communications professionals in a quandary as to how to effectively track what is being said, what is influential and how to engage with it.

This will be the year that the PR industry starts to effectively understand what conversations are happening online and, more importantly, which ones to keep an eye on as tools emerge to help them do this. Armed with an understanding of conversations among influential social media writers and groups, PR people will finally be in a position to make some decisions about how to engage with these debates.  

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet