• Offerings/disciplines

• Agency structure

• Training, recruitment and HR/societal trends

• Data, research and evaluation

• Making money/commercials

• YouGov partnered with PRCA to survey 51 in-house PR professionals and 63 agency PR professionals between 14th August and 2nd September 2013

• Across public/private sector including charities, professional services, construction/manufacturing, financial services, and other sectors

• In-house respondents include directors of marketing/comms, head of marketing/comms, head of press/PR

• Agency respondents include CEOs, MDs, Partners and Directors

54% of companies surveyed currently employ a PR agency

86% of clients also use a non-PR agency with “specialist expertise that their PR

agency lacks”

0

20

40

60

80

100

010203040506070

Build brand equity/credibility

Drive national brand awareness

Drive local brand awareness

Build or protect reputation

Amplify other marketing elements

Launch new products, brands etc.

Increase visibility through media

Drive direct consumer engagement

Build/support a digital community

Increase product/service sales

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

In-House

Agency

Shift from retained to project work

Other marketing disciplines encroaching on PR budgets

Shortage of skilled PR consultants

Increasing importance of procurement

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

Agency

“We find that unless clients have previous experience and understanding of the value of PR it is very difficult for them to appreciate the full potential of what can be achieved. Despite improvements in evaluation tools

and methods it remains a challenge.”

“Price is being driven down/negotiated from pitch to the start of the business, but expectations of results

remain the same.”

“Alastair Campbell has a lot to answer for in that there is a belief that the PR people create the belief rather

than it being based on what is true.”

Strate

gic co

nsult

ancy

Social

med

ia/ co

mm

unity

man

agem

ent

Idea

s gen

erat

ion

Conte

nt cr

eatio

n/ p

rodu

ction

Digita

l (web

sites

etc)

None

05

1015202530354045

Clients reporting requirements that they want agencies to deliver (but they can-not)

Agencies reporting requirements of clients that they cannot deliver

Agencies reporting on areas they are capable of performing but clients are not requesting them

No changes

Yes, other

Yes, we've merged some positions

Yes, senior job titles and responsibilities

Yes, all job titles and responsibilities

Yes, we've grown the team

Yes, we've created specialist roles

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

In-HouseAgency

46%

14%

11%

11%

3%

11%

3%I have complete control over the purchasing

I work with other internal non-marketing teams (aside from procurement)

I work with other internal marketing teams

I work with our procurement team

It's run entirely by our procurement team

Other

Don't know

Proof

of R

OI

Offer m

ore

inte

grat

ed co

mm

s

Mak

e be

tter u

se o

f dat

a/re

sear

ch

Offer m

ore

busin

ess/

man

agem

ent c

onsu

ltanc

y

Have

a be

tter u

nder

stand

ing

of S

EO

Devel

op st

rong

er so

cial m

edia

offe

ring

Offer b

ette

r val

ue fo

r mon

ey

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Agency

In-house

Agency: “Clients are looking for specialist advice rather than general capability. Offering specialist advice gives the

opportunity for premium pricing.”

In-house: “At the moment PR agencies set themselves apart by saying they can do more and do it better. However,

most of them do pretty much the same things as their competitors, it's just a different noun above the door.”

In-house: “The offer needs to be across communications and engagement and all its disciplines - not just narrow PR.”

85% of clients believe that traditional PR services will continue to be

needed in the future…

…but 55% would consider buying traditional PR services from another

type of agency.

Work with a smaller number of agencies

Work with a larger number of agencies

Taking on more work in-house

Outsource more work to agencies

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

In-House

Agency

Content Generation Agency

Brand Development Agency

Social Engagement Agency

Clients aware of value PR agencies bring to brand awareness, equity and

credibility, alongside media skills

Clients are generally happy with the skills available in PR agencies – more

content than agencies themselves!

Agencies appear to be responding to requirements of clients by creating

specialist roles and growing the team

Clients are not convinced of PR agencies abilities to increase sales, nor

their digital abilities or ability to work alongside other marketing elements

Problems remain such as shift to project work and other marketing

disciplines encroaching on PR budgets

Issues of price and the involvement of procurement continue to be a

sticking point

Agencies and clients alike agree that Proof of ROI and VFM continue to be the major issue for the agency world

Greater evidence required of PR agencies’ ability to offer integrated

approach to communications

Increased focus on specialist advice over general capabilities