Digital investment & demand for strategic services inspire global PR confidence

Public relations professionals around the world are feeling increasingly confident about the future of their organisations, according to PRCA’s latest Global Confidence Tracker.

275 PRCA and ICCO members took part in a single-question study conducted by Question and Retain.

The highest levels of confidence were prevalent in Southeast Asia, with 90% of participants saying they feel quite confident or very confident about their organisation’s future.

The surge in confidence was most prevalent in Latin America with 83% of respondents feeling confident or very confident. This was an increase of 29% since the last Confidence Tracker in March.

Confidence levels remain strong in both the United Kingdom and Middle East & Northern Africa (MENA), despite a dip in overall levels of confidence for these regions. Figures fell from 93% to 84% in the UK, and from 84% to 78% in MENA.

87% of ICCO members – drawn from a global pool of practitioners – said they were either confident or very confident about the future of their agency. This is the highest ICCO figure recorded since the tracker launched in April 2020.

Reasons for global confidence included the success of vaccination programmes, which many leaders feel has led to an increase in new projects. Numerous PR leaders also cited an increased demand for strategic advisory services, as well as greater investment in social media, as reasons for increased levels of confidence.

PRCA Director General & ICCO Chief Executive Francis Ingham MPRCA said:

“Our latest Global Confidence Tracker has reaffirmed our overwhelming confidence that 2021 will be a year of resurgence for the PR industry. Significant challenges lay ahead, particularly as COVID-19 variants emerge around the world. But our industry now faces those challenges from a position of strength. Our data show that PR leaders globally are more confident now than at any stage of the pandemic, with digital investment and increased demand for strategic services fuelling confidence around the world. Having endured a torrid period, the industry’s foundations are sound, and its future is bright.”

Annabel Dunstan, Founder & CEO, Question and Retain:

“The Confidence Tracker is a simple one question Pulse Check and happily the trend we have observed is a positive one. It has been a smart move by the PRCA to track member confidence through these most extraordinary of times. The feedback we have gathered on their behalf has helped inform and shape events and communications to support members who have had to pivot and adapt rapidly to ensure their businesses survived and thrived.”