Archive for category: ICCO Blog

Be bold in your thinking – and more lessons from ‘Fearless Girl’

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Elise Mitchell, CEO, Mitchell and Dentsu Public Relations Network | ICCO Vice President

Cannes 2017 (Part 1 of a 4-part series from Elise highlighting takeaways from this year’s festival.)

No matter how surprising the campaigns, conversations and connections at Cannes Lions can be, one thing is certain. You will walk away emboldened to try new things.

This was my third year to attend Cannes, and I was energized by the fearlessness that abounds. You see it in the provocative campaigns that swept the awards, in the entrepreneurs I met and their big dreams, and in the visionary thinking among panelists and presenters about what will drive brands in the future.

The annual international creative festival is a unique experience, to say the least. It draws more than 10,000 talented marketing and communications professionals from more than 100 countries and all walks of life. They spend one week together swapping ideas, challenging old ways of thinking and recognizing the industry’s best work.

So it’s no surprise you find brave ideas and the people behind them.

But does brave work?  Does courageous creativity make a difference?

I believe so, and in fact came away from Cannes with many lessons learned.

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“Fearless Girl” and what we can learn about being bold

One of my favorite moments at Cannes was watching “Fearless Girl” win three Grand Prix awards on Monday night – in the Public Relations, Glass (for entries positively impacting gender inequality, imbalance or injustice) and Outdoor Lions competitions. It went on to win a fourth Grand Prix later in the week in the Titanium Lions (for truly game-changing work).

“Fearless Girl” and its goal of raising awareness for investment opportunities in companies with more women in leadership illustrate just how well bold ideas can work – and not just to win awards.

The concept was simple but powerful. State Street Global Advisors commissioned an original piece of art — a statue of a determined girl staring straight ahead, hands on hips. On International Women’s Day 2016, it was placed just a few feet away facing the iconic charging bull of Wall Street. “She reminds us that while marching is important, sometimes you can make a difference by standing still.” – The New York Times

The statue was an instant hit. A constant stream of visitors crowded around the statue for a picture. The earned media attention and social buzz were nothing short of astronomical: 4,000-plus broadcast stories, 3.3 billion Twitter impressions and 405 million Instagram impressions.

Business results over time showed a 384% increase in the She Fund shares traded daily and a 379% increase in State Street’s share of voice. These results illustrated the breadth and depth of the power of public relations and how it can drive your business forward.

Bold reminders

I remember being personally quite moved by “Fearless Girl” and writing a blog post, inspired by the statue, about how to overcome what scares you most as a leader.

Based on my thinking then and how blown way I was by the courageous creativity of the campaign (and many other award-winners at Cannes), I’d like to share a few of my takeaways.

  • Be bold in your thinking.
  • Don’t be afraid to put it out there.
  • Be “all in” on your execution.
  • Sometimes power is seen in quiet strength.
  • Take on the long-held traditions and rules of the game if they don’t make sense anymore.
  • Don’t look back if you know that looking ahead will get you where you want to go.
  • Don’t shrink from standing for what’s right, even if you’re the only one. If you’re standing for others, you’re never alone.

Good reminders for us all.

Cannes 2017 (Part 1 of a 4-part series from Elise highlighting takeaways from this year’s festival.)

(Next up: Insights from the Cannes PR Lions jury – what winning public relations looks like.)

 

Original article: http://blog.mitchcommgroup.com/be-bold-in-your-thinking-fearless-girl-cannes

Minding The Gender Gap In PR

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Article by Aaron Kwittken for Forbes

Equality in the workplace continues to be a topic that impacts companies of all types. At the same time, there’s also a growing desire among the younger workforce for more diverse and flexible working environments. This, combined with our always on digital mind and tool sets, makes it more important than ever for brands and agencies alike to re-assess company culture and employee engagement.

I recently spoke with Angela Oakes and Susan Hardwick, co-founders of Global Women in PR (GWPR), a relatively new not-for-profit organization that creates a “forum for networking groups of senior PR women to meet and share contacts, experiences and ideas for their mutual benefit…and for debating and drawing attention to the major issues affecting women working in the global PR industry today.

Aaron Kwittken: You both have experience working with technology, sports, luxury brands, telecommunications, etc. How has your background led you to your roles today and inspired your work with GWPR?

Angela Oakes: I founded and ran a London-based PR agency, specializing in consumer PR. My workforce was predominantly young women and I saw first-hand the demands and struggles women in their mid-30s face in managing a PR career. In 2012, when Sue and I relaunched Women in PR (WPR) in the U.K., there was a strong appetite for a networking organization that could provide support and mentorship to women in the PR industry. I was at a point in my career where I wanted to give back and help other women succeed. For me, it was the natural progression to turn our successful model of WPR in the U.K. into a global organization. Three years later, we formed GWPR.

Susan Hardwick: I worked in-house for brands, owned my own business and served as a Board Director at a top PR company in the U.K. When I graduated from university in the late 1970s, I never thought the working world would be anything other than a level playing field. An inspirational chancellor once said that we should always find ways to make a difference. That was what pushed me to drive GWPR forward.

Being a part of WPR in the U.K. provided opportunities to discuss important issues and gather feedback from similarly-minded women. As President of WPR in the 1990s, I had insight into the difficulties women face in progressing their careers. When we revitalized WPR in 2012, women were still facing a number of challenges. We lived in a digital age, but there was a strong appetite for a face-to-face networking group. This led us to take the U.K. initiative onto the global stage. Our goal was to create a vehicle that could explore best practices and create a forum that encouraged change and greater balance.

Kwittken: There’s a growing need for flexible working arrangements. From an agency leadership perspective, what is the best way to approach this?

Hardwick: The culture of having a fixed workplace still exists, whereby there are a set of rules outlining how business should be conducted. Unfortunately, this practice can hold people back. When it comes to flexible working arrangements, both men and women need to embrace the idea of balance. We must come forward with examples of how other creative agencies within other industries are successfully embracing this change. The PR industry is slower in adopting these practices compared to others, but flexible working can lead to greater creativity. It can also add to the bottom line.

Oakes: Agencies must communicate with employees regarding why flexible working arrangements exist. Another approach is to show that creative, forward-thinking companies are implementing these practices and provide examples of how it can benefit the working environment.

Kwittken: What are the biggest challenges in creating more flexible working environments?

Hardwick: When we started working in PR, Twitter, Facebook and email didn’t exist. There was a more structured approach to communications and how activities were conducted. Our environments have changed and will continue to change. The digital age, along with social media, has turned our world into a 24/7 culture. As employers, we must address these shifts or we will risk losing talent. We need to identify how we can embrace the 24/7 society we live in by creating work streams that allow us to do so without burning people out in the process.

Kwittken: Oftentimes, more senior employees require flexibility due to family situations, caring for loved ones, etc. In turn, junior team members feel they are carrying extra weight. This isn’t always the case, but how do you address this with employees? What role does transparency play?

Hardwick: It has to be addressed from the start, especially as you employ new people. Agencies must be transparent in setting goals and defining how a business operates. As more companies embrace flexible work environments, the PR industry must as well. Millennials are more strident than other generations in coming forward and setting the standards for the types of work environments they want to operate in.

Kwittken: The gender pay gap and a lack of women in the boardroom are two major issues you often cite as affecting the industry worldwide. How do these gaps impact individuals working in the field, clients and the industry as a whole?

Oakes: People, regardless of their gender, should be paid the same for doing the same job. Equally important is the commercial imperative. One of the biggest challenges, particularly in the U.K., has been in trying to publicly reveal what the gender pay gaps are. Businesses should be required to publish their male and female employee salary figures.

Research has also shown that businesses with a balanced boardroom are more profitable. Additionally, when women and men work together, they bring different skills to the boardroom, which can benefit a business and its clients. Flexible work practices, job shares and remote working will help more women make it into the board room. We also need to empower women by offering training in leadership and commercial skills. We need to equip women with tools that enable them to feel more confident in their abilities. This can be achieved through mentorship. At GWPR, we encourage mentor women at mid-career level, allowing them to empower other women below them.

Kwittken: Since GWPR was founded in 2015, you have opened chapters in Europe, the Middle East and Canada, respectively. How do you select the geographic areas to target? How are the challenges women in the industry confront in those areas different, and/or similar?

Hardwick: In 2015 we launched chapters in Europe and Canada, and last year we launched in the Middle East. In the Middle East, the indigenous population is perceived to be less inclined for equal balance between men and women. However, there is a large expat community, particularly in Dubai, which has impacted local populations. These groups have slowly adopted the practices being brought to the region. Women across the Middle East are keen to embrace the opportunity to network. While there are restrictive practices, there is also a growing desire for women to succeed since women contribute to the economic growth of the region.

In Sweden, there are issues with encouraging more men to take on senior roles. Culturally, they have a more egalitarian society. Men and women have an equal amount of paid leave, following the birth of a child, and there is a much greater degree of flexibility in working hours, taking vacation and in creating environments that encourage everybody to work together. Canada is similar to the U.K. and the U.S.

Kwittken: From a workplace, gender and equality perspective, Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, has had a tremendous impact on workplace culture. She has spoken about how women who are strong leaders can be referred to as “bossy”. How important are words in the workplace?

Oakes: It’s interesting because there was a social media campaign to “ban bossy” as a result of Sheryl’s book. A strong woman is called bossy, yet a strong man isn’t. There are psychological, physiological and natural differences between men and women, ones we have to respect. Sheryl’s book was groundbreaking, and much of what she wrote remains true. It can be difficult for women to distance themselves from stereotypes. We need to be more aware of barriers to success to create change. Women also need to be more forthright in asking for what they need in order for changes to happen.

Kwittken: The name of your organization, Global Women in PR, begs the question about diversity. Can you talk about diversity in the workplace, aside from gender, and its role in your mission?

Hardwick: Diversity is about gender, background, sexual orientation and more. Clients expect you to sell their products and services to diverse communities, thus we need to create diverse workspaces that foster inspiration for the services we provide. Last year, the PRCA census reported that 91 percent of PR professionals were white males. It’s not only about creating more opportunities for women. We need more diverse environments. It is changing, but the change is slow. In the U.K. and U.S., employees are encouraging their companies to create more diverse workplaces. Ageism is also a problem.

Kwittken: Ageism is very interesting and not often talked about. Why do you think that is?

Oakes: For those over 50, unless you are self-employed, it’s very difficult to get a job. Interestingly, this age group has more disposable income than any other group. Therefore, as brands think creatively, the over 50 age group needs to be considered. Campaigns need to be directed toward wider audiences.

Kwittken: How does this idea of “unconscious bias” play a role in all of this?

Hardwick: It is definitely relevant. As women, we can be our own worst enemy. We can behave in ways that don’t drive us forward, but instead hold us back. That’s what makes it so challenging and fascinating because we are wired differently. It’s evolving, but certainly a challenge.

Original article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/aaronkwittken/2017/06/26/minding-the-gender-gap-in-pr-my-qa-with-global-women-in-prs-angela-oakes-and-susan-hardwick/#698253ecd1a8

Opinion: How will Cannes 2017 be remembered?

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Article by Francis Ingham, Chief Executive, ICCO for Communicate Magazine

Francis Ingham reflects on the value of the Cannes Lions Festival for the PR industry and discusses how the festival is changing for the better

I’d say that the overall sentiment is one of relief – 2016 was most definitely not a good experience for the PR industry in Cannes, and while this year was by no means outstanding, it was certainly better. PR agencies walked away with more Lions than ever before, and the vibe I picked up from those present was that the Cannes’ organisers had listened to the criticism made of the event’s criteria, heard the message and acted upon it.

The event is certainly evolving. The heart of it is still, of course, creativity, and it always will be. But this year, I was struck by how measurement and evaluation is creeping up the agenda. Agencies increasingly are proving not just that their ideas are original, but also that they have impact. That can only be good for our industry. Happily, AMEC was present formally for the first time, with a place in our ICCO House Of PR – a development which I am confident will continue in future years as our industry embraces our joint message of effective evaluation.

Two other elements struck me as noteworthy.

The first is that our disciplines truly are merging. We recorded dozens of interviews with agency heads and other industry leaders. Pretty much all of them mentioned the transformation of our industry over recent years, as boundaries continue to blur. And they also spoke of how this blurring is working in our favour. The ad guys aren’t eating our lunch, we are eating theirs.

The second is the focus on diversity. And in particular on removing the (I would say unintentional) barriers that still stand in the way of so many talented women within our industry. I’m not just referring to Fearless Girl of course. Though the triumph of that campaign did seem heartily appropriate!

There was much else besides. I had the pleasure of moderating Global Women In PR’s first ever Cannes event. It considered the challenge of flexibility in the workplace, an issue that doesn’t affect just women of course, but which nonetheless is of acute importance to them. The contributions of powerful women from Prime, Airbnb, and HP were thought-provoking and challenging. They also secured pretty much unanimous agreement from the attendees. Great progress has been made within our industry, but there is much that remains to be achieved.

No summary of Cannes 2017 would be complete without some reference to the Publicis and WPP comments on its cost. Yes, Cannes is expensive. That’s simply undeniable. And that expense discourages some within our industry from engaging with it, and from entering the awards.

And yet, thousands of people from our industry descend upon it every year. And they do so because it remains the pinnacle of creativity within PR and communications. The work that is showcased is truly outstanding. And there is, quite frankly, no better networking opportunity in the calendar.

We have worked hard with Cannes over the years to make the festival more relevant to the PR community. And Cannes has been eager to make that happen. More and more PR agencies are entering their work, as they realise that you don’t have to spend vast amounts of money on glitzy collateral to win.

Agencies have also realised that they can use ICCO and our House Of PR – present in Cannes for its fourth year – as a way of meeting their peers, and of doing so in a cost effective way.

My plea to the industry would be this: the future of PR and communications lies in the blending of marketing disciplines. Our trade relies on two things – creativity and evaluation. If we are serious about that future, then we need to continue to be at Cannes. Yes, you can spend ridiculous amounts of money if you want to. But you don’t have to.

Let’s not run away from Cannes. Instead, let’s get stuck in even deeper. After all, we wouldn’t want the ad guys to have it all to themselves, now would we? They’d spend their time eating our lunch again.

Francis Ingham is the chief executive of ICCO and the director general of the PRCA.

Original article: http://www.communicatemagazine.com/news/2017/opinion-how-will-cannes-2017-be-remembered/

Fearless (creative) girls

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Article by Hafida Abahai, Chief Client Officer & MD Consumer Marketing & Brand PR, Weber Shandwick The Netherlands

It was perhaps no surprise that Fearless Girl by our sister IPG agency McCann New York has won three Grand Prix in the PR, Glass and Outdoor Lions this week. In fact, her spirit proved to be a symbol for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity as a whole: this year, “Fearless Girls” are everywhere.

Supermodel Karlie Kloss has been championing coding for young girls. Tommy Hilfiger’s Chief Brand Officer Avery Baker described how she completely transformed the company in just six months. Creative women are networking over manicures in The Girls Lounge. The Innovation and Creative Data juries were gender-balanced. Our own groundbreaking campaign to help Kenyan girls stand up to FGM, #BrutalCut, won two Lions.

And at the IPG Women’s Breakfast yesterday morning, the theme was how women’s identities – whether based on nationality, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, motherhood or work – can affect their perceptions and experiences with media, careers, gender equity initiatives, brands and fans.

There is still work to do. Speaking at the Festival on Monday, Saddia Zahidi, Head of Education, Gender and Employment Initiatives at the World Economic Forum, reminded delegates that progress in bridging the gender pay gap has been slow.

Women are still most likely to be left behind by the technological transformation of the workplace; they need support, resources and training to fulfil their economic potential and pay it forward into their communities.

Within our own industry, we still need to work on tapping into the full creative potential of women and attracting a more diverse pool of talent – something which has been repeatedly referenced across the Festival this week.

During one panel session on women and cinema, renowned Australian film director Gillian Armstrong noted that stereotypes about gender roles persist to the point of impacting who and what we think of as “creative”.

Mentorship and role models have an important role to play here. But it’s perhaps even more important that women feel empowered and confident enough to speak up, and speak out. As Kathryn Jacob, CEO of Pearl & Dean, put it: creative women “should show off more”, and own their ambition.

Kate Stanners, Chairwoman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, added that finding and nurturing female talent takes concerted effort: it’s not going to happen by itself.

When we encourage and support women in our own organisations, it can be felt deeply in the work we do. One day, and hopefully soon, we will have true gender equality in the creative industry. But to get there, we’re all going to have to be fearless girls.

blog.webershandwickemea.com

Timely. And timeless. A code for winning at Cannes.

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Blog by James Nester, Executive Creative Director, Weber Shandwick UK and EMEA

Like waiting for your exam results, your child to be born, the new season of your favourite show to start, your Guinness to settle, or this blog post to get to the point, time moves slowly when you’re shortlisted at Cannes.

So we were pleased and relieved when we heard that as well as winning a Silver PR Lion, our #BrutalCut campaign for ActionAid was the only UK campaign to win a prestigious Glass Lion – a category that celebrates ideas intended to change culture by addressing gender equality.

Winning at Cannes has the potential to transform an agency, helping us impress CMOs, land bigger-budget briefs and propel the careers of those who played an integral role.

But there were 43,101 entries this year. With such colossal competition, how do we keep winning?

Every year, I look through the winners, trying to crack the code. Because if we crack that, we’ll transform our work and all become billionaires.

Last year after Cannes, I wrote about “Blurred Lines”: the premise that the best ideas in the world usually come from merging unexpected disciplines and channels. Which is why you see the same great campaigns winning across totally different categories – PR, Cyber, Promo, Direct, Film – and why we all need to keep embracing different specialisms.

Very true – and you can see the same again this year.

So here’s a formula inspired by the work this year. In fact, it’s based on all the greatest creative work, of any type. A code so true that I’m going to hold myself and all work up against it, from now on.

Great creative work is Timely. And Timeless.

Timely, because….

… great work taps a bigger cultural context. Riding a wave of surging public interest can give an idea unstoppable momentum.

… great work is inextricably linked to the time of its conception, to society’s concerns, fashions, memes, hopes or dreams. It can only live now.

… great work is expressed in a way that can only live now, too. It uses new technology, new creative techniques or new media channels.

Work that doesn’t feel Timely is easy to spot. Just ask yourself, could I have made this idea five years ago? Hopefully, the answer is no.

Timeless, because…

… even though society is changing faster than ever, mankind does not. The work that makes us laugh, cry, the magic that send shivers through our spine, the stuff we talk about and share with friends does not fundamentally change, and never will.

… if an idea doesn’t contain a universal seed of human truth or meaning, it’s just jumping on a fad. A bandwagon. A gimmick. Another bit of marketing fluff that will be washed away by the relentless surge of content that floods our newsfeed, every day.

… we want to create work with a legacy. Big ideas that stand strong in the face of time – that enable us to continue creating new executions for our clients for years, not just one-off tactics that nobody cares about.

Work that isn’t Timeless is easy to spot. Just ask yourself, will this idea still feel interesting and powerful in five years? Hopefully, the answer is yes.

So, let’s try to create “Timely and Timeless” work. If we do, we will have even more cause to celebrate next year.

blog.webershandwickemea.com

Reflections on Two Days in Bangkok

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Blog post by Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA; Chief Executive, ICCO

Looking back in a few years’ time, May 17th and 18th 2017 might just –hopefully- be seen as the dates when AVEs finally received notice of their dismissal from our industry. Because the AMEC event in Bangkok was something special.

This was my fourth AMEC Global Summit, and I detected a different tone to its predecessors. There’s more determination to eradicate AVEs; more frustration that we are even discussing them still; more conviction that if PR practitioners and measurement and evaluation experts work together, we can indeed achieve something worthwhile.

Richard Bagnall, AMEC’s new Chairman, set the tone right from the beginning, with his announcement of ‘AMEC in global drive for final eradication of AVEs’, a renewed commitment by the AMEC Board to finish the job begun so many years ago.

But like all good intentions, actions are also needed. And I think we agreed on a good many of them.

Here’s what ICCO and the PRCA announced:

 A new guide to evaluation, co-authored alongside AMEC

That guide to include an evaluation charter that both PR practitioners and their evaluation equivalents commit to. And my suggestion is that line one within in would be that PR professionals won’t ask for AVEs; and that evaluation professionals won’t offer them

A joint conference in London, timed to coincide with Evaluation Month, holding us to the commitments made here in Bangkok, and bringing together both industries

The exclusion from the ICCO Global Awards of any campaign that uses AVEs

Taken together, I think that this package will comprise a major step forward for our two industries. And in particular, I believe that our final commitment will have impact. It means that if you want your work to be recognised as truly world standard, then you have to abandon the flawed metrics of the past. Or you can stick with AVEs, and be literally a loser.

 Concluding my comments announcing all of these measures, I made two observations. First, that we owe a great deal to Barry Leggetter. His dedicated and inspirational leadership has put evaluation where it rightfully belongs –at the heart of our industry. Secondly, the challenges we face will be addressed only if we work together in our common interests. PR practitioners working alone isn’t enough; evaluation specialists working alone isn’t enough either. We can talk to ourselves and feel a little better for doing so. But the results will be minimal. Working together however, we can achieve great things. And one of those things will be to hasten the death of AVEs.

How to do PR in Africa

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Article by Jennifer Leppington-Clark, Executive Director at Hill+Knowlton South Africa

It’s not one size fits all. This is the advice that anyone who wants to do business in Africa hears first – and then repeatedly. Public relations professionals often have to give this same advice to foreign companies who want to strengthen their public profile or brand on the continent.

Africa consists of 54 countries and unlike the traditional world map we all know, its true geographical size means that it is bigger than the United States, China and India combined. Here are a few things to remember if you want to succeed at public relations across this vast space.

  • Understand the country you are in

African markets are not only very different from the rest of world, but also from each other. Tactics that work very well in one African country, may get you nowhere in another. Each African market has its own very distinct media landscape with its own peculiarities. For example, in Uganda it is impossible to get any radio coverage without paying for it. The quality of content on airwaves often suffer and as a result radio is not a very a credible communication channel in Uganda. But in Mali radio is the primary means of getting your communication across and there are over 100 radio stations. In Algeria you have to take into account that the government controls all printing presses and advertising and owns all radio and television outlets.

  • Make sure your content is relevant

A few tweaks in the angle or adding a local spokesperson is simply not enough to localise a media release for each African market. Cuba and the United States are neighbours, but audiences in these two countries have vastly different views and interests. In the same way, just because two African countries are neighbours does not mean the people who live there will be interested in the same news and content.

Africans do care about international news and opinions. But they want to know how Brexit, Trump or an election in another African country will affect them. They consume news like any other audience – they care about the items that could have an impact on their lives and ignore those that do not.

  • Find the right channel

African audiences may have unique cultures and interests, but so do consumers in each and every other market around the world. In truth, public relations in Africa is not that different from any other market. In order to succeed, you need to identify the audience you would like to reach as well as the best channel to reach them.

This means that a media release may not necessarily be the correct approach to get your message across. In Kenya and South Africa, for example, digital media has seen exponential growth at the expense of traditional media, while blogging and social networking have gained great momentum over the past few years. But at the same time any digital campaign in Africa also has to take into account the high cost of data throughout the continent.

  • Find the right partners

On a practical level the unique characteristics of each Africa market means that research is key and that partnerships with local agencies or affiliates are extremely valuable when operating on the continent. You need to be able to speak to people who really understand your clients’ stakeholders and potential consumers. You need to be able to get into the heart of understanding brand loyalties in the communities you are trying to target. You not only need local partners to identify the correct channels to reach your audience. Relationships and local and industry expertise are crucial if you want to utilize those channels effectively.

  • Be aware of culture

There are also more subtle cultural differences to take into account when operating in Africa. Our colleagues in other African countries often complain that South Africans are a too blunt or even rude. This is of course not intentional – we just like to get straight to the point. We don’t want to waste your time on a long phone call. Our colleagues in Kenya and Nigeria disagree. There it is customary to have a friendly conversation first before turning to business matters. You need to ask people how they are and take the time to listen to their answers.

Companies who sell products ranging from cars, to airtime to shampoo and nappies have found ways to adapt how they sell their products in African markets. Essentially, as public relations professionals we need to do the same to our communications strategies. We don’t need to sell a different product, we just need to sell it differently. This means being aware of what makes African markets different, but also remembering that they may have more in common with audiences in the rest of the world than we think.

Interview with Loretta Ahmed – Middle East market insights

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In December 2016 ICCO announced the appointment of 5 Regional Presidents, who represent the recently formed Regional Groups covering Europe, Americas, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. 

We chat to Loretta Ahmed, CEO of Middle East, Turkey & Africa for Grayling, and ICCO’s Regional President for the Middle East, about the Middle East PR market.

 

1)    What is the current state of the public relations market in the Middle East?

The Middle East PR market continues to grow – with sustained market entry by global players and a relentless number of new start-ups.  The latter come from agency breakaway teams as well as home grown startups by regional entrepreneurs.  Across the region agencies are innovating and many of the rising stars are the new order firms – rooted in digital, storytelling and influencer marketing.  However, while the new kids on the block excite and delight in pitches, most clients here have a need for deep strategic counsel, CEO/expert profiling and global outreach. There is room in the market for this diverse line-up if agency heads are sensible and don’t discount to win, thereby driving down all our budgets and margins.

 

2)    What challenges do communicators face in the Middle East region?

Talent is the greatest challenge right across the region.  Strong, local, experienced talent is what all agencies are looking for – with Arabic language and writing a key part of all client work.  It is good to see most agencies now getting the balance right and relying less on expat hires.

 

3)    What are the opportunities for communications agencies operating in the Middle East?

New markets continue to provide opportunity so agencies need to look beyond Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha and consider the strength of their regional footprint and their ability to grow out strong local businesses across the wider region.   After four years here, I can safely say that clients in this region are prepared to take risks like no others I’ve worked with elsewhere in the world.  If something has never been done before there is a greater appetite to try it – nirvana for leaders looking to build out new agency models and offerings, and a reason why the pace is furious and changes comes fast.

 

4)    What are your main priorities as ICCO Regional President – Middle East?

Raising the profile of the incredible work being undertaken in this region is my main goal.  There is a tendency for some to peer across at the Middle East and think we are all a few years behind when the opposite is true.  Here agencies have leapfrogged – unencumbered by outdated models and out of the line of sight of the head office.  Moulds are being broken daily and campaigns are being delivered that are truly world class.

 

5) For you, what is the most rewarding thing about working in PR?

The people I have worked with in my career have been humbling and inspiring.  What we all do every day is incredible when you stop to think about it.  Influencing business leaders and bringing about huge changes in opinions.  That ability to come together to land on a brilliant creative that will genuinely change the way people act or think is addictive.

My Report Back From Johannesburg

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Blog post by Francis Ingham, CEO, ICCO; Director General, PRCA UK & MENA

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting South Africa for the first time. It’s a beautiful country, and home to a vibrant PR and communications industry, so I was thrilled to be there.

The occasions were ICCO’s Global Board Meeting, and PRISA’s National Conference, both held in Johannesburg. The discussions around the ICCO Board were detailed; the speeches and debates at the PRISA event couldn’t have been more engaged and engaging. And by the way, if you haven’t heard it yet, I strongly recommend you listen to David Gallagher’s presentation on expectations; exploding engines; and the current scene. All the better for having a bird sitting next to or above him in the hall throughout his comments….

What did I take from the event? Quite a lot actually, and here are six highlights:

  1. The industry has a natural desire to network and to exchange ideas, experiences, predictions. We had representatives from around 20 countries in Johannesburg, having made often quite significant commitments of time and money to be there, and all of them eager to learn from one-another.
  2. There is more than unites us than divides us. The key issues facing the industry in world region after world region, and evidenced by the ICCO World Report, is talent. Though we might live and work thousands of miles apart, there truly is such a thing as an ICCO community and commonality of interests.
  3. What’s driving growth around the world is digital and content creation.
  4. But that growth sits happily with older PR and communications skills -e.g. media relations. We have reached a happy place of equilibrium, where our industry can provide the old and the new skills and services alike.
  5. Everyone is worried by fake news; by political turmoil; by the need for our industry to stand up for ethical behaviour. Speaker after speaker raised those three issues. And we need to address each of them seriously.
  6. And finally….. ours is the industry of the future. Vibrant around the world; represented by committed, passionate, intelligent people; confident in its future

The title of my presentation on trends within our industry was this: Bright. And Getting Brighter. I stand by those words more so now than ever before. Happy days to be in PR and communications.

 

East meets West: 4 cultural tips for dealing with Chinese businesses

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Article by Mark Fowler and Edwina Chung, Senior Client Managers at Racepoint Global

With China well established as the world’s second-largest economy, communicating with Chinese businesses and consumers has become critical to global commercial success. Communicating successfully with China isn’t just about learning the language. But like the old cliché goes, it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.

Knowing the cultural nuances and the idiosyncrasies between the East and West – what not to say as much as what you should say –  will help you achieve your goals in China,  whether it’s dinner with a potential business partner or advertising to consumers.

 

With that in mind, here are four tips to remember to keep your communications on track.

1.       Numbers: lucky for some…

Don’t panic if you can’t find any floors with the digit ‘4’ in them in a hotel; as you probably know if you’re reading this, the number four is considered unlucky. For the same reason, brands avoid using the number four in their name and product  ranges often skip from 3 to 5. The reasoning behind this is actually quite interesting; the way the Chinese works places a lot  of emphasis on pronunciation since ‘four’ sounds similar to that of the Chinese word for ‘death’,  it’s unsurprisingly  considered taboo. By the same merit though, other numbers are considered lucky such as eight because it is pronounced closely to the word for ‘prosperity’. And the number 13? Well, it might fill some in the West with the same sense of unease as a black cat crossing their path but not so in China where it sounds similar to the word for ‘birth’.

2.       Colour: stay in the lines…

What’s your favourite colour? If you’re in China there’s a good chance it’s red. Due to its association with joy and prosperity, red is widely used in China for holidays and festivals, as well as by the government. Gold remains popular for similar reasons. The affection for tasteful monochrome that many of us have in the West is far less the case in China where black and white are closely associated with mourning. Electric blue suffers from a similar association due to its use at funerals. Green, which is considered a symbol of freshness in the UK and wealth in the US brings to mind quite a different image in China – that of plummeting stocks. Be careful when picking which colours you use for your branding and where you use them.

3.       Eating: something to chew over…

There’s an old Chinese saying: “People are iron. Rich is steel. You will feel like crap without a meal.” It’s fair to say food is an essential part of  daily life for the Chinese. Have you ever sat down for a meal with a group of Chinese people and felt a  bit confused as they openly share food across the dining table? Sharing food is like sharing ‘grace’ and where westerners  usually invite guests to choose their favourite food on the table,  Chinese prefer to fill the bowls of others by chopsticks to show their hospitality.

4.       Gifts: it’s (not just) the thought that counts…

To end on some good news; even numbers are seen as lucky in Chinese culture and so people prefer sending in pairs. For example, two bottles of wine might be offered as a gift rather than one. The rationale  here – much like  with our  Chinese  dinner hosts – is a show of generosity. Another subtle difference is that when receiving gifts, Chinese will tend to put these aside to open later, to avoid being seen as greedy, where we in the US and Europe will regularly open a gift as we receive to show appreciation.