PR Newser recently published public relations predictions for 2010 from several industry leaders, including Saxum Public Relations CEO Renzi Stone. The questions covered business forecasts, industry acquisitions and the biggest PR story of 2010. One standout prediction from Renzi was that a new player will emerge to challenge Facebook. The full responses to the questions are included in this post.
Q: In 2010, I expect my business to be up/down/flat, and here’s why.
A: We’ll be up – way up. Like double digits. But then again, we were up 20 percent plus in 2009.
Three reasons-
First of all, we are headquartered in the South. Population and job creation trends for this part of the country are far better than the rest of the nation. One demographic study by noted author, Dr. Wendall Cox, shows Texas and Oklahoma ranked first and eighth, respectively, in net domestic migration gains in 2009. More jobs equal more people, which equals more PR opportunities. Ask Detroit PR firms about their 2010 forecast. Not good, I’m sure.
Secondly, advertising remains broken. This week on Forrester’s Blog for Interactive Marketing Professionals, Augie Ray, a new senior analyst of social computing, correctly asserts that consumers feel there is “too much advertising.” From our perspective in our markets, it means that clients who used to spend big ad dollars are coming to us for more bang for the buck. That means more video, social platform development and CSR. Public relations as a profession has almost made the monumental leap from press release people to strategic brand and interactive communications managers.
Finally, we will not be up because current clients are raising their budgets to pre-recession levels. Current client budgets will likely remain flat to slightly up. We will be up because we have invested in training and hiring top human capital and developing intellectual property in 2009 – all in speculative anticipation for the rebound. My best new business indicator – as always – is how many proposals we have sent out. In December alone, we generated more proposals than July – November COMBINED.
Q: In 2010, I expect there to be more/less acquisitions in the PR industry, and here’s why.
A: Acquisitions follow capital which follows confidence. Public relations still needs to build mainstream (read: CEO and private equity) confidence in our newfound acceptance as the prominent player in the overall marketing mix. There will be more acquisitions in 2010 than 2009. There will be more acquisitions in 2011 than 2010.
Q: The biggest PR story of 2010 will be…
A: The end of advertising as we know it. More online newspapers with Google-like ads. More network television attempts to grow product placement and DVR-proof ads. More chasing the newest social channel to find key demographics. Remember, MySpace was alive and in control of the social space in 2007. A new player will emerge to challenge Facebook supremacy. Other than that, we’ll all watch and see if Tiger gets his act together.
No Responses
Tags: advertising, Facebook, Google, marketing, MySpace, PRNewser, public relations predictions, social media