Brussels, Belgium – Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world’s leading network of independently owned public relations counseling firms, has announced the results of its first survey on PR trends in Europe.
The study shows several similarities between European countries. For example, when a new client is launching a product for the first time in a specific market, all agencies have said that dailies are still very important. Nevertheless, they’ve all agreed on the fact that newswires, magazines, TV/radio and bloggers should also be invited. For a fashion and cosmetics announcement, bloggers can be more relevant than dailies.
If the client is visiting the agency’s country for the first time and has no local offices, the most recommended events are one-to-one interviews, or a breakfast / lunch meeting with a group of local media. But then sub-regions show different preferences towards this: Southern Europe agencies would still organize a press conferences in one city but do not recommend social events, while in Central Europe visits to editors are well received. Northern European PR Pros would organize either a breakfast / lunch or a social event, and only Eastern Europe agencies recommend to cover more than one city when organizing a press conference.
Across Europe, consumer goods’ press conferences are the ones that can expect the biggest number of attendees (about 24), while Pharmaceutical events are the ones with less quantity of attendees (less than 10). There are also significant differences depending on the country. For example, the number of people attending a press conference in the technology industry is around 20 in Southern and Eastern Europe while in Northern and Central Europe this will be less than 10. In the consumer goods industry we can find as much as 40 attendees in Southern Europe and as less as 5 in Northern Europe.
Concerning meetings and tradeshows that imply travelling, Southern European agencies explain that in their region journalists will not travel if their expenses are not covered, while in Northern Europe 4 out of 10 journalists would still travel on their own expenses. Most countries have said that they need press releases to be translated into their local language in order to distribute them to the press, except for Portugal: here journalists would prefer to receive press releases in English instead of Brazilian Portuguese.
Overall, 29,4% of agencies would recommend Facebook for a B2B campaign. This practice is more popular in Eastern Europe, where 75% of agencies encourage this, and totally unpopular in Northern Europe, where nobody recommended it. Concerning Twitter, most agencies (70,6%) have said that less of 25% of the journalists in their country use it as a professional tool.
“This is a very interesting survey, as it allows us to learn more about common PR trends in Europe, and also about key differences. Each country counts with specific local characteristics that make it unique. In consequence, the way of doing a same announcement even in neighbour countries can vary significantly”, said Imma Folch, Worldcom EMEA Marketing Chair.
The purpose of this survey was to identify differences between regions when dealing with media. Worldcom PR Group has analyzed media trends across Europe in the following market sectors: Tourism; Public Affairs; Pharmaceutical; IT, Technology and Electronics; Health; Fashion and Cosmetics; Food and Beverage and Consumer Goods.
This survey was done in December 2010, and counted with the participation of 17 agencies based in Central Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria), Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovenia and Turkey), Northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom) and Southern Europe (France, Italy, Spain and Portugal).
About Worldcom PR Group
Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations counseling firms, with some 109 offices in 95 cities worldwide. Established in 1988, it was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent public relations firms could serve national, international and multi-national clients while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent agencies. Through The Worldcom Group, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture and customs of the geographic arenas in which they operate. Visit www.worldcomgroup.com for more information.
Worldcom EMEA currently comprises 36 agencies with strong expertise in consumer, healthcare, travel & tourism, technology, energy & environment, financial services, investor relations, public affairs and crisis & issues management. Clients include Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Panasonic, Sony Ericson, LG Electronics, the EU Anti-Tobacco Campaign, Verbatim and Palm. Visit www.worldcomprgroupemea.com for more information.
Press Information:
Press Office Worldcom PR Group EMEA:
LF Channel SL
Flor Calveiro
Tel: +34 93418 81 51
Email: fcalveiro@lfchannel.com
Twitter: @WorldcomEMEA
www.lfchannel.com
