Global PR heads alert to social media and the internet

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PR Week’s European/Global Report Card (behind a pay wall) on the 12 big agencies makes interesting reading. Five of the 12 CEOs/VPs identify social media, digital media and the internet as being significant drivers for the PR industry.

Jeremy Galbraith, CEO Europe for Burson-Marsteller says: “With the growth of digital media, the power of individual consumers has never been greater. In future, the trick for our industry is going to be to identify smaller and smaller sub-groups of the population and their needs and wants.”

Donna Imperato, global CEO of Cohn & Wolfe, said the most pointless buzzword or trend she has heard is: “Social networking being applied in the wrong context. And blogs - not everyone needs one.”

Richard Edelman, global CEO of Edelman said: “I’d like us to exert greater leadership in the social media space, because it enables our clients to listen and engage directly with their audiences.”

Andrew Laurence, CEO EMEA for Hill & Knowlton said: “This time we really have to put the PR industry at the heart of digital communications.In case you haven’t heard, the last bus is leaving.”

Tim Dyson, group CEO, Next Fifteen said: “I wonder how many of them truly believe that social media are going to remain such an important driver of change over the next 12 months. I feel that social media are going to remain such an important driver of change over the next 12 months. I feel that social media are radically changing the architecture of the way people consume content and that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. I see the changes this brings as a great opportunity for PR to be ‘the next advertising’, but only if the industry embraces this change from top to bottom.”

Lots of food for thought and many of these comments confirm why it is the right time for us to start Wolfstar. Our belief is that PR is going to be at the forefront of these changes, but only if it is willing to learn, listen, change and adapt. Something that far to few PR people are willing to do at the moment.