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New Italian guidelines for private tenders: agreement between Assorel and UPA

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Assorel, Italian PR Agencies Association and ICCO Member, and Utenti Pubblicità Associati (UPA), the organisation representing Italian investors in communication, have drawn up a document providing guidelines for the correct and transparent conduct of the selection of the agencies during a private tender.

According to the two Associations, consultations would be the most profitable way to start the selection, but if for operational reasons a tender is required it is good practice to have reports for its proper conduct, or to establish shared principles between clients and agencies.

The document includes guidelines about the number of participants, indication of agencies invited to participate in a tender, evaluation criteria of projects, timing of presentations and flat rate refunds for all projects.

The report does not offer prescriptive directions, but shared principles between clients and agencies. With these guidelines UPA and Assorel hope to set a relationship that benefits the quality of work and results for both parties.

For more information:

http://www.assorel.it/relazioni-pubbliche/presspdf/press_allegato2pdf_2213.pdf

ASSOREL – Alessandro Costella – direzione@assorel.it

UPA – Giovanna Maggioni –  giovanna.maggioni@upa.it

 

About ASSOREL

ASSOREL is the Italian Association of Public Relations Agencies, founded in 1982 which brings together the major operators in Italy and a member of Confindustria Intellect and ICCO – International Communications Consultancy Organisation – the global organization that brings together the Associations of 36 countries.

About UPA

Utenti Pubblicità Associati (UPA) is an Association that brings together the most important and prestigious industrial companies, commercial and service companies that invest in advertising and communications in Italy.

GWPR to undertake global gender pay gap survey

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Women’s PR industry body GWPR (Global Women in Public Relations) is planning to undertake a global gender pay gap survey in 2016.

GWPR is a new international network of independent Women in PR associations, providing a forum for networking groups of senior PR women to meet, share contacts and experiences for their mutual benefit. It is also an important channel for discussion on major issues affecting women working in the global PR industry.

Sue Hardwick MPRCA and Angela Oakes MPRCA, co-founders of GWPR said: “In the UK, women constitute two thirds of the overall working population in the PR industry, however there is a widely reported gender pay gap. Quite simply, men and women in the UK PR industry are not being equally rewarded.

We believe that this issue is not limited to the UK, but is affecting the majority of women working in PR around the world. Initiating this Global Gender Pay Gap Survey will enable us to highlight the bigger picture.

GWPR was launched last year, as an umbrella organisation linking WPR networking groups, so we can address key issues like this both for women and for the PR industry worldwide.”

GWPR has recently been appointed a place on the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) Board of Management, which will offer a global platform for the research. ICCO comprises PR trade associations representing over 2,500 agencies, in 48 countries worldwide.

ICCO Chief Executive Francis Ingham MPRCA said: “There is a global problem with the gender pay gap in PR, and we are very pleased that GWPR is seeking to address this issue. The existence of a gap deters entrants into our industry, and encourages leavers from it. With GWPR now a member of the ICCO Board, we can work closely to shine a light on this incredibly concerning problem. And having shone that light, we can then take action to solve it.”

If you have any questions about the research or are interested in taking part, please contact Sue Hardwick (sue@globalwpr.com) or Angela Oakes (angela@globalwpr.com)

 

About GWPR

GWPR (Global Women in PR) is a new international network of independent Women in PR associations. As an umbrella organisation, GWPR provides an invaluable international forum for networking groups of senior PR women to meet, share contacts, experiences and ideas for their mutual benefit. It is also an important channel for debating and drawing attention to the major issues affecting women working in the global PR industry today.

http://www.globalwpr.com/

 

About ICCO

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations representing 48 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Australia. Collectively, these associations represent some 2,500 PR firms.

http://www.iccopr.com/

An Armchair Conversation to reclaim Public Relations

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Written by: Georgia Stephens,

Print@PRIANational

Set in cosy 332 Manhattan café, Canberra, the first PRIA ACT Armchair Conversation took place between two Fellows, Tom Parkes and James Mahoney.

With a glass of red and canapés, Tom interviewed Jim about public relations, in particular the importance of strategic communication. Full of anecdotes and evidence, Jim shared his research findings, experience and advice with a captive audience who left revived about their purpose in professional communication.

Jim recalled a stage in his career when it was a struggle to convince senior practitioners to take a strategic approach to communication – a must for an organisation to succeed.

“The problem for PR practitioners is we tend to have all this accountability but no authority. We need to think strategically and avoid getting drawn into just digital media.”

“For PR to prove their worth to an organisation we need to demonstrate our understanding of how the business operates, pre-empt issues and create a communication strategy that supports an organisation’s short term, midterm and long term horizons.”

Jim believes our current politicians are an example of defaulting to tactics rather than strategy, “Everything they do is for media exposure, their channel, and their short focus – reactive.”

Strategy on the other hand requires analysis about who you want to read the story, and creating the right situation to do it – an environmental scan – one of Jim’s must do’s as a PR practitioner. “You need to be aware of what’s happening all around you. Read the news every morning – watch ABC news of an evening – watch the 7:30pm report tonight. View!”

With his hard hat on, Jim was honest about many topics, including the public sector’s need to begin evaluating properly, starting with smart objectives. “Too many people produce outputs rather than focus on outcomes which requires measurement.”

In summary, Jim’s top advice is:

  1. Don’t accept the status quo – challenge it;
  2. Always think strategically; and
  3. Don’t default to tactics.

Researching, Measuring and Evaluating PR Success

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Written by Sarah Alvarez for the PRIA.

From Optional Extra to Valued Must-Have: Researching, Measuring and Evaluating PR Success

With lines blurring between public relations, marketing, advertising and communications it is increasingly important for PR practitioners to be able to tangibly demonstrate the outcomes of their efforts and the value of public relations to clients. In response to this the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) Registered Consultancy Group (RCG) Research, Measurement and Evaluation (RM&E) Committee released its Principles on Best Practice in RM&E and Media and Social Media analysis guidelines. At the end of last month PRIA held a special panel event in Sydney to discuss the guidelines on how to best implement research, measurement and evaluation in public relations. The panel consisted of:

PRIA’s RCG RM&E committee members;

Carol Moore, Director of Moore Public Relations and
Michael Ziviani, Founder & CEO of Precise Value, Co-Chair AMEC Asia-Pacific Chapter

With special guests;

Rhys Kelly, Head of Communications at The Smith Family
John Vineburg, PRIA NSW Council President and Senior Project Officer (communications) with NSW Health and
Professor Jim Macnamara Associate Dean (Engagement and International), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of UTS.

The panel discussed the guidelines, which were the outcome of extensive thought, discussion, experience and effort. They also gave some practical examples of how to apply the best practice RM&E principles. Here are some snippets of what was covered;

  • PR professionals need to stop demonstrating their value based on comparisons to Advertising. Advertising equivalent values for earned media are not valid measurements of success, using them does a disservice to the work that PR professionals do, there is no proof that PR content is more credible than advertising.
  • How you, as a PR professional, measure success may not be how your client measures success.  It can take time to really work that out, but it is paramount that you do, and will benefit you in the long run.
  • Research provides the foundation for success. Research doesn’t have to be costly, but it should be part of your budget, it will enable you to set objectives that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely).
  • PR campaigns need to be measurable wherever possible. If PR professionals don’t communicate and report their successes in measurable ways, clearly demonstrating how their efforts have produced desired outcomes they leave themselves vulnerable to having others claim credit for their work – and also their budget.
  • It is not big data that makes the difference it is big insights. The data you get through research measurement and evaluation from your campaign should teach you something.

“Research measurement and evaluation needs method and structure to deliver good insights…good insights create valid understanding… understanding has high value to senior management. Using research, measurement and evaluation properly provides feedback to review and refine what you do and then do it better” – Michael Ziviani

If you want to learn more about the guidelines or how to apply best practice research measurement and evaluation in your PR and comms practice, or learn how you can implement the guidelines you can read more on the PRIA site, or attend PRIA’s full-day RM&E workshop in Sydney on 19 August where you and your staff can explore the detail of best practice RM&E and how to adopt the principles to benefit your business and your clients.

State of the Market Pulse Check™: ICCO reports global PR growth; highlights the need to retain talent

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ICCO, the organisation representing 2,000 PR agencies in 31 countries around the world, today released its latest State of The Market Pulse Check™ findings.

Highlights: Continued growth; the need to retain talent; the rise of digital media; and challenges securing the right fees.

Following the biannual ICCO Board Meeting in Vienna April 2015,  board members were asked to complete the ICCO State of The Market Pulse Check™ to gain valuable insight into current developments of our industry. ICCO State of the Market

PR agencies reported continued growth in their local markets, with digital highlighted as the leading driver of expansion, and the main opportunity in the future (55%). Content generation was identified as the second most important factor (36%).

ICCO board members acknowledged talent retention as a key need in order to retain such growth (59%), and consultancies are beginning to acknowledge the importance of developing skills for the future (27%).

While reporting a mix of challenges, the ability to secure adequate fees for the work undertaken was the most frequently mentioned (32%), followed by general economic conditions (23%).

Commenting, ICCO Chief Executive Francis Ingham said:

“PR remains a global success story, with agencies in every part of the world reporting expansion. Digital is driving that growth strongly –agency heads who are investing in their agency’s digital skills can seize the moment and build their businesses.

What is highly encouraging is that agencies recognise the need to invest in the skills of their people. Our industry recognises that staff retention is key to client retention; and that people remain with their employers when their employers are investing in them –a neat and very virtuous circle.

The abiding challenge facing the industry remains as it ever has been –convincing clients to pay an appropriate amount for the excellent advice given to them by their agencies. That’s an area where there is still much to do.”

Open the ICCO State of the Market Pulse Check™ here

The ICCO ‘State of the Market’ Pulse Check was carried out in May 2015 by Question and Retain, the online Pulse Check™ company.

About ICCO

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in 31 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Collectively, these associations represent over 2,000 PR firms.

Contact Binta Kristin Hammerich, ICCO Global General Manager

World PR Report: Global PR Industry Remains Bullish On Growth

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Research: Optimism & Attitudes

  • Global PR industry remains bullish on growth

  • Europe rebounds

  • Marketers continue to increase PR spend

Rankings: Top 10 | Top 250 | Fast Movers | Holding Groups/Networks
Analysis: Growth | Gender | CEO View

Public relations agency leaders from around the world remain generally bullish on the outlook for their business, with continuing optimism about the growth of the PR market in general and—to a slightly lesser extent—about their own agencies’ profitability.

The most significant shift saw less of a gap between the Americas and Asia (more optimistic in recent years) and Europe (where agency leaders have been inclined to pessimism).

Global optimism levels declined just a little from last year’s survey, with agency principals averaging a 7.62 (on a scale of one to 10) when asked whether they were optimistic about the future of public relations in their market (compared to 7.69 last year and 7.50 in 2013) and a 7.52 (down from 7.60) when asked whether they expected profits to increase this year.

12-OPTIMISMThe research—conducted by The Holmes Report and the International Communications Consultancies Organisation(ICCO) among nearly 500 PR agency principals as part of the World PR Report—found the gap between the Americas and Europe narrowing. Last year, North American agencies were considerably more optimistic than those in Western Europe (8.46 compared to 7.28) but this year optimism levels were more similar (7.89 for North America, 7.44 for Western Europe.

Once again, Latin America was the most optimistic region (7.90) and Eastern Europe the most pessimistic (7.16)—although again, the gap between the two narrowed significantly.

“For the past couple of years, Europe has lagged behind the rest of the world in part because of slower growth in the economy overall and in part because firms have not seen quite the same benefit from the social media revolution,” said Paul Holmes, founder and CEO of The Holmes Group. “But over the past 12 months, there has been an increase in optimism in Europe, in both the marketing and corporate communications realms.”

“Europe has undoubtedly been the most challenging region over the last few years. But from both this data, and what I see when visiting our European ICCO members, better times are definitely here, and growth and optimism are returning to European markets,” said David Gallagher, ICCO president and Ketchum EMEA CEO.

Globally, agencies are still broadly optimistic that marketers are increasing their spending on PR relative to other disciplines (6.05, down slightly from 6.19 the previous year). The biggest change was in Asia, which last year was most optimistic on this score (6.56) but this year was among the more pessimistic regions (5.76). North American agencies (6.33) remained the most optimistic about PR’s role in marketing.

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Agencies are also optimistic about the willingness of clients to turn to PR for non-traditional services (a category that includes advertising, digital and social media support, and word-of-mouth marketing). Firms in the Americas and Asia (7.29) were most likely to report demand for such services, but Western European firms were significantly more optimistic on this score (6.95 compared to 6.65) than they were 12 months ago.

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Similarly, Western European firms were increasingly more optimistic about their ability to meet clients’ digital needs (6.47).

On the corporate front, there is still a gap between the Anglo-Saxon markets and Asia—all of which report that CEOs in their regions take corporate reputation seriously—and other regions. North American agency principals are most likely (7.69) to say CEOs take reputation seriously, while agency heads in Eastern Europe are less convinced (6.88).

“One of the great opportunities for PR practitioners is to convince clients of the direct impact corporate reputation has on corporate success”, said Francis Ingham, ICCO chief executive and PRCA director general.

Agency leaders in Asia, meanwhile, were most likely to agree that companies in their region take corporate social responsibility seriously (7.41) compared to those in Eastern Europe (6.32), who see companies as least interested in CSR.

 

Read more via Holmes Report 

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