The Sri Lankan business sector appears to have come a long way in its use of Public Relations and Non-marketing / Sales Messaging. The businesses could stride much further by leveraging the tremendous values that the PR and communication industry packs. For the local PR industry on the other hand, time has come to clearly demonstrate to the business sector that the cup is half full, rather than half empty.
When the APAC Chapter of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the world’s largest and influential PR body, carried out a Survey among 31 Agency Leaders and Executives to assess “the current and future context of Sri Lanka’s PR industry”, it found that two thirds of local clients saying that they “somewhat understand the role and impact of PR.”
While it is encouraging to see that two thirds of the clients are aware of the role of PR ‘somewhat’, much more could be done to see a business sector that would adopt PR and communications strategically, as present levels of engagement could largely be just that- mere ‘awareness’ on PR. When we extrapolate this mere awareness to the overall market potential for the industry, realistically, the level of PR engagement of Sri Lankan businesses appears to be no more than a murmur of “testing, testing…”, where, instead, proactive leveraging of PR as an impactful tool to engage the market, could bring them better RoI.
In the APAC-PRCA Survey, the great majority of respondents voted “Print” as their most preferred channel, despite the rising trend of online/digital content consumption. One reason for this could be due to clients’ preference (at present) for the “tried and tested channels” in view of safeguarding or maximizing their RoI on PR spend, rather than immediately embracing the digital -an act often seem to be performed for the sake of “going digital.” The other likely implication is that clients are still wedded to familiar, traditional channels due to the possibility that their information requirements are still largely fulfilled by the “print” channels in comparison to online channels. In other words, the clients are resistant to what agencies are actively trying to promote-i.e “online”, rather than “traditional”. (In the Survey, “Online” ranked as the top channel (90%) that the agencies are promoting to clients). The other important factor lies in a much talked about development – mis-information and dis-information. The medium credibility factor has and will continue to make an impact.
The Survey shows that the majority (80%) of clients largely engage with routine PR activities (press releases, media monitoring, conducting events, crisis comms, etc) rather than non-routine activities (Eg: Media training, research, modern content, specific internal communication strategies such as DEI focused Comms etc), which is an indicator of untapped areas in reputation management. The recent macro and micro – economic challenges resulting in “business strategy” due to the twin blows of pandemic and the national crisis can be looked into as a priority. Engaging in developing Reputation and PR activities also carries the risk of unexpected financial implications, which may concern budgeting and accounting departments accustomed to routine PR expenditures. One possibility is that they do not see these activities as value-generating and therefore lack the motivation to pursue them.
How ‘sustainable’ Sri Lankan clients want their comms to be? ESG and DEI appear to be important for the clients but are not on their priority list. ESG, DEI related PR activities are prioritized by only one fifth (19%) of clients while 80% placed ‘routine PR activities’ as their top priority. The local clients’ low preference for ESG related PR (only one fifth), strongly contrasts with global PR industry outlook (49%). The latest World PR Report by the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) shows almost half of the clients (49%) increasingly focusing on ESG over the next year. The contrasting numbers in Sri Lanka should be something to be concerned of, but need not be misinterpreted as clients’ disinterest for sustainability PR. It’s likely to be a result of limited funding available for sustainability PR due to the twin blows of the pandemic and the national crisis. However with financial reporting shifting into more ESG it is paramount that local businesses look into a very pertinent growing communications factor.
The Sri Lankan Survey shows 56% of clients indicating that “proving the value of PR to clients” as the ‘most pressing challenge in the PR industry’. This is understandable since most PR metrics provided to clients such as news clippings etc Visibility Indexes, are not demonstrative of the actual value addition to the clients’ “organizational goals” (read “bottom line”!). This is not a dilemma limited to the Sri Lankan market. The AVEs, which even ICCO says is a discredited PR metric “of a bygone era”, is still used around the world when reporting PR metrics. It is evident that the local PR industry continues to strive in creating knowledge and continuously educating of clients has pivoted, the task is indeed, half empty or even more as the cup remains untapped in many avenues that helps organizations to be strategically utilizing PR in the days to come in to challenge prone industries which requires greater transparency. The survey underscores the evolving landscape of the Sri Lankan PR industry, characterized by a blend of progress and persistent hurdles. Bridging the gap between client expectations and industry advancements remains paramount for fostering sustainable growth and strategic communication practices in the future aligned to evolving organizational strategic objectives.
