…Projects 2018/19 political campaign to boost profit

By  Princewill Ekwujuru

The Nigerian Public Relations (PR) Report, an annual PR research, published by BHM, a PR agency, said 33 percent of PR practitioners agree that profitability in PR dropped in 2017 compared to 20 percent in 2016, but expects political campaign in 2018/19 to shore up profit.

The report, which is a joint product of Brentt Consulting, Nigeria, stated that the 2016/17 economic recession in the country was responsible for the dwindling profitability of PR businesses in 2017.

It also pointed out that PR is mostly the first casualty when companies initiate a cost-cutting exercise.

Another reason given why PR is the most hit of all companies’ supplies items in times of cost rationalisation was the disposition of communication managers towards PR.

The report also said  the slow decline in profitability is reflected in the continued encroachment on PR practice by  competing PR companies who use digital/social media marketing to offer PR services.

The report stated that on PR Spend, most micro-mini and mid-sized companies avoided PR agencies in 2017, leaving the space for mostly large PR firms.

The data showed that companies whose PR Spend were in the budget of N0 – N5m, N6m – N10m, in 2015 did not engage PR agencies for the year 2017. Those companies whose budgets are N11m – N20m and N51m -N100m recorded a 25per cent increase in the PR Spend in 2017.

The  2018  PR report  which is divided into seven sections covering various areas of interest revealed that the first section, Research Findings, gives an industry overview and state of Nigeria’s PR industry.

It highlighted a trend that more agencies in the country recorded some increase in their annual revenue, but those whose revenue declined were more. It also highlighted products performance in the market.

The report said there was a 166percent rise in the number of agencies that recorded annual revenues of N6 – N10million between 2015and 2017, and a 58 percent increase in the number of agencies that earned N150m and above in 2015 and 2017.

The report revealed that  14percent of agencies billed below N5million annually in 2017, compared to the 33percent recorded in 2015.

The  report  also showed there were drops in the numbers of agencies whose annual revenue were N11million–N20million (9percent), N21million – N50million (16percent) and N100million – N150million (42percent) between 2015 and 2017.

The overall report indicates that mid-sized agencies (billing-wise) faced challenges like their micro- and mega counterparts.

It stated that alcoholic beverages, increased approximately 200percent over its standing in 2016, upstaging the banking/finance sector, which dropped 11percent, telecoms with a 38percent drop, and manufacturing increased 15percent in 2017.

The report stated that  digital/social media marketing was the most sought after and offered service in the Nigeria PR industry with  over 80percent of respondents using it, because the measurement is more accurate than the traditional media

Specialist in Strategic PR, Media and Reputation Management, Moliehi Molekoa said:  “Digital and social media channels provide the platform for engagement and advocacy amongst a youthful, tech-fuelled population and with that comes the reputational challenges of a society that now has the power to communicate in real-time with its global ‘neighbours. Now, more than ever before, PR professionals are under pressure to be more thoughtful, more creative and focused on delivering value for their clients. What makes a PR person different from the regular ‘tweet’ is their ability to bring to bear the traditional principles of PR in a technologically sophisticated communications terrain.”

Corroborating, Associate Analyst, Online Community Management, Chain Reactions Nigeria, Uchechi Onuoha told Vanguard  Companies and Markets (C&M):  “It really just affirms the saying that the world is a global village.

Any PR outfit    that, by now, has not realized that being digital/social media savvy, no matter how basic, it is really just setting itself up for failure.

Indeed, a future focused PR firm should invest heavily in the digital capabilities of its people or attract new talents with those capabilities. Everything happens online now – news, banking, entertainment and so on. The media consumption pattern of most of the target groups has also been heavily influenced by the digital/social media world.”

Managing Partner of Greenland Communications, Owerri, Imo state, Ijeoma Njoku said: “The traditional method of disseminating information through the newspapers cannot die, despite what the digital and social media is doing online.

The client still wants their products or campaign talked about in the Newspapers and broadcast stations. The traditional media and the digital can work hand-in-hand, the best for the client.”

On declining profit, Managing Consultant, Precise Reputation Design, Bolaji Okusaga said: “The state of affairs has been driven largely by currency volatility, macro-economic shocks and policy issues with big spenders like MTN and Etisalat (now 9Mobile) in the Telecom sector, Unilever and the P&G’s in the FMCG sector crawling back with consequent squeeze on the local PR industry.”

On perspective of improving Nigeria’s PR industry status, Okusaga,  posited, “2018 promises to be brighter and better, given the obvious recovery of the economy and a projected increase in government and political spending being a year before the general elections.”

Nkiru Olumide-Ojo, an integrated marketing communications professional highlighted some of the attributes that clients expect from their agencies which have invariably led to decline in PR profit attributed it to need for increased stakeholders reach, creativity and innovativeness, pedigree and good track record, professionalism, clear understanding of clients’ business, quick turnaround time, among others.

In her words,  “there’s a lot that goes into being a successful PR consultancy or consultant. And while everyone takes a unique path, there’s one prerequisite that stands in the way of becoming successful: You have to possess a weighty understanding of who you are and what you bring to the table. In order to help others, you need to be acutely aware of your strengths, weaknesses, past experiences, and future aspirations and limitations.”

The PR experts also skills required for successful PR practice as good business idea, content and storytelling, creative thinking and media relations.

Ikem Okuhu, Publisher of Brandish called for the review of the relationship between PR agencies and their media partners to dialogue and renegotiate how news stories should be treated, as most of the items PR practitioners pass off as earned media are actually paid media.

Femi Falodun, a Marketing and Digital Communications Consultant, advised brand managers, who run to social media influencers instead of PR agencies to promote their brands, should ensure that the influencers “really deliver value in terms of sales growth, marketing return on Investment (RoI), consumer behavioural change, brand recall and TOMA — the real outcomes that matter, and not just vanity metrics of Likes and Impressions.”

Moruff Adenekan, a Marketing Communications and Reputation Management professional, who also spoke on influencer marketing, expressed regret that some clients are beclouded by the sheer number of social media following of paid influencers, instead of first ascertaining whether these followers actually believe in them.