Live Issue... PR firms eye opportunities beyond crisis consulting

From financial collapse to melamine in milk, there was no shortage of crisis management work last year. So it is perhaps no surprise that the region’s PR agencies have recently moved to bolster their crisis communications expertise. Edelman, for example, recently acquired media training and crisis communications firm Coory & Associates, while Hill & Knowlton rebranded its crisis management unit to highlight its offering.

But while demand for this sort of consulting is undoubtedly on the rise, the latest moves seem a step beyond traditional crisis management; PR agencies are now setting up teams able to brief brands on how they deal with governments, and able to brief governments themselves. Kreab Gavin Anderson Worldwide recently boosted its public affairs unit by hiring two ex-diplomats. The goal is to produce teams that can advise clients on an ongoing basis, rather than just stepping in when a crisis occurs.

“Relationships with government and regulatory bodies are increasingly critical to business success and must be carefully nurtured,” says Jim Weeks, Kreab Gavin Anderson managing partner, Asia-Pacific. “As business issues grow in complexity, expert government relations and public affairs advice is in growing demand.”

This sort of public relations can be tricky, as shown by a recent face-off between the UK Government’s Treasury Committee and top bankers. The latter were blasted for sounding insincere and accused by the committee of having been briefed by PR companies. 

Alan VanderMolen, Edelman’s Asia-Pacific president, responds: “Executives and government officials who aren’t transparent should be ripped. Trust has waned in government and business for regulatory and operational failures. It is time for real-time, transparent and enlightened dialogue on the issues that matter most to society. Governments and executives need to be coached on how to be human, empathetic, engaging and honest.” 

Ogilvy PR China president Scott Kronick says his agency has seen growing work from government agencies, in particular ahead of the 2010 Shanghai Expo. “We are frequently courted by officials to conduct training programmes for them,” he says. “Equally CEOs need this understanding as well so that they know how best to interact with officials.”

The key market for this service is China, where there are plenty of multinational companies seeking to stake their claim in a market where relations with the authorities are key. Coca-Cola’s problems over its deal with Huiyuan last September was an example of a brand that arguably had not thought through its communications strategy; almost a week after it announced the deal it called in Edelman for advice. 

John Russell, executive VP for corporate and public affairs at Weber Shandwick China, agrees that this sort of service is gaining traction in affluent markets such as Beijing and Shanghai. “As the country matures and proliferates with more complex social regulatory community groups and media, people no longer just hope that problems will just sort themselves out,” he concludes. 

There may in the future be further opportunities as Asian brands look to go global. VanderMolen cites Japanese automakers’ need to communicate their environmental practices as a current example. “Asia, Inc is not very active today outside home markets. But I do believe this will change dramatically in the coming 12 to 24 months,” he says. “In many aspects, the companies will be forced to engage or risk losing the social licence to operate.”

For PR agencies, the race is now on to build the resources to handle this shift in client demands.