Toni Muzi Falconi wrote an article (edited by Judy Gombita) that was posted on www.prconversations.com yesterday that is an interesting snapshot of the progress of public relations as a profession in Italy over the last 15 years.
What he found was amazing. He quotes the study of Emanuele Invernizzi (president of Euprera), done in 1983. He researched public relations professionals at the time and found that 54% of Italian companies had implemented some form of PR, but only 18% had a dedicated department.
In 2008, he presented another paper in 2008 saying that 78% of Italian companies had organizational leadership. This means that in the span of 15 years, the organizational need for PR professionals had risen a whopping 60%.
Why is this so?
Looking at how the media has effected the world in the last 1 1/2 decades shows us at least on of the answers. The media has evolved into a personal relationship with each individual, like it or not. Using social media, news is reported just as much and as fast by fellow citizens than by trained reporters.
For example, when flight 1549 crashed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009, social media was credited for breaking the story first.
News is instant, good and bad. Companies have learned that without the right PR, they have to change their own policies at a cost to their own integrities. Apple was forced to change its own policies regarding satirizing public officials because of bad PR.
It's a mine field out there without public relations training. Businesses are finding that the need for a good PR team is becoming a vital department to fund, just to stay afloat.
What he found was amazing. He quotes the study of Emanuele Invernizzi (president of Euprera), done in 1983. He researched public relations professionals at the time and found that 54% of Italian companies had implemented some form of PR, but only 18% had a dedicated department.
In 2008, he presented another paper in 2008 saying that 78% of Italian companies had organizational leadership. This means that in the span of 15 years, the organizational need for PR professionals had risen a whopping 60%.
Why is this so?
Looking at how the media has effected the world in the last 1 1/2 decades shows us at least on of the answers. The media has evolved into a personal relationship with each individual, like it or not. Using social media, news is reported just as much and as fast by fellow citizens than by trained reporters.
For example, when flight 1549 crashed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009, social media was credited for breaking the story first.
News is instant, good and bad. Companies have learned that without the right PR, they have to change their own policies at a cost to their own integrities. Apple was forced to change its own policies regarding satirizing public officials because of bad PR.
It's a mine field out there without public relations training. Businesses are finding that the need for a good PR team is becoming a vital department to fund, just to stay afloat.
I'm delighted you found the PR Conversations post interesting and useful, but please note that I simply edited and posted it. The author is actually noted Italian PR professional, Toni Muzi Falconi. Could you revise the above to reflect that?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Judy Gombita