No longer the poor cousin, PR is riding a revival of sorts

PR has a tough time of it in Asia. The poor cousin - in billings, at least - of media and creative, the sector is too often seen as a commodity, a service provider, rather than a consultative and creative offering. But PR has, in more recent times, had something of a revival, thanks in no big part to the ongoing shifts in the digital and consumer landscapes.

Coming out of the recession, the PR sector proved to be far more resilient than advertising. Whether this was because clients opted for the more affordable service, or whether the functions of PR were more relevant at a time of downturn is unclear. What is becoming clear, though, is that many brands placed - and are still placing - more importance than ever before on what PR can offer.

The key to this, perhaps, is that the changing nature of marketing is playing into PR's hands The growing emphasis on conversations, consumer dialogues and especially social media, is part of the sector's traditional domain. As such, PR has been quick to latch on to the potential marketing uses of digital media platforms, forging a lead on the advertising agencies.

Despite the positives, however, PR is still in need of some adjustments if it is to maintain and build on the progress it has made. While PR may have led the way in terms of consumer and corporate engagement with new media platforms, it has concentrated too much on the medium over the message, or, as one attendee at a recent PR Media roundtable event said: "We have become a bit too mesmerised by the new toy."

PR has to take a much more involved line over the content it creates for such media. PR agencies know it is no longer enough to be telling clients the benefits of listening and participating in online conversations - they need to get more creative in determining what the topics of conversations are.

This is a major challenge and is not helped by the fact that the lines between PR and other marketing disciplines are becoming increasingly blurred. PR firms are now not just competing against each other, they are also finding themselves up against the big creative shops, for whom content is at the heart of what they do.

In a sector that at the best of times has to deal with a talent deficit, finding the kind of people capable of developing such compelling PR content will not easy. Convincing them that a long-term career in PR would be their best move when confronted with the options of working for a creative agency or going in-house with a big brand will be even harder. Still, with so much talk about the death of the traditional advertising model, perhaps the potential is there for a rebirth of the PR model.

This article was originally published in the 12 August 2010 issue of Media.