Less fear of contact between PR and advertising
Public Relations Swiss PR agencies are growing again after three years. In 2005, fees rose by 2.9 percent to 61.5 million francs.
There is continuity - with Christian König (Farner Consulting, Zurich), Peter Felber (int/ext Communications, Basel) - and new strength with Roman Geiser (Burson-Marsteller, Zurich) and Peter Knobel (Knobel Public Relations Consultants, Zug). The latter replaces Ulrich Bollmann (Burson-Marsteller), who has worked for the BPRA for many years, as President. For Knobel - "our preferred candidate" - the new board is "an ideal mix with representatives from large and small agencies".
The BPRA is proud that this association is "one of the only ones in the world" that is still able to map the market transparently with figures and a ranking. Publication of the figures is still a clear condition for a PR agency to be accepted into the BPRA. Two agencies had to be warned about the current statistics. If there are still no figures, they face exclusion next year.
Burson-Marsteller and Trimedia have found a legally "courageous" and elegant solution. Because the American Stock Exchange Act also prohibits partners of a US network from publicly disclosing profits or losses, Burson-Marsteller and Trimedia deposited their figures anonymously with a trustee. The trustee then compiled the ranking for the BPRA. "Now Trimedia can work out what Burson-Marsteller earns and vice versa," joked Christian König at the media conference. Whether the model with the reports protected by a fiduciary office would also be possible for BSW agencies is doubtful. "Too complicated for so many agencies," believe the PR people.
There have only been minimal shifts in the ranking. The five largest public relations agencies in the BPRA have a market share of 67 percent. Farner Consulting remains at the top in terms of net fee income with 11.2 million, followed by Burson-Marsteller (figures confidential due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act). In third place is Peter Bütikofer & Company with 8.4 million, followed by Trimedia (undisclosed figures). In fifth place for the first time is an agency "outside the PR Mecca of Zurich" - freicom St. Gallen with CHF 5.5 million in fee income. "A real PR market is emerging in Eastern Switzerland," interpreted Knobel.
The outlook for the current year is "intact" according to a survey by the association. Three quarters of all agencies have received significantly more inquiries for new business in the past six months. However, the difficult situation of the last three years has also left its mark. Seven agencies no longer appear in the statistics.
Wirz Corporate and Mediapolis no longer appear in the market statistics because the two agencies have withdrawn from the traditional PR consultancy market. Zahner & Partner no longer appears due to the merger with Trimedia Communications, DBCOM due to discontinuation of business and the three agencies PLEON c-matrix, Creafactory and idtcom Hugo Schmidt for commercial reasons.
Of the 19 agencies organized in the association, 13 have already joined an international network or a PR group. "This trend towards international networks is on the rise. Cross-border mandates are also growing," said one at the media briefing. Both incoming business and exports of Swiss PR concepts abroad are developing positively.
Of course, small agencies can no longer keep up here. They are also "at risk in the face of increasing competitive pressure". In an international comparison, growth here is not yet as pronounced as in Germany, for example. There, fee revenues are said to have increased by 11.4 percent.
As seven agencies no longer appear in the market statistics, the market recorded in this way has fallen from 81.2 million francs to 61.5 million francs. The number of employees increased by 1.8 percent. Per capita income thus remained virtually unchanged at CHF 220,000. It has thus remained at practically the same productivity level since 1998. "An unmistakable sign that the agencies are managing their business soundly," commented the new President.
The agencies of different sizes show a largely balanced market structure. According to the statistics, the previously missing midfield has closed from top to bottom. The BPRA's statistics do not include an estimated 50 million that are generated by "individual agencies", for example with ghostwriting or local assignments.
The outlook for 2006 is good: all agencies report higher or at least the same level of budgets from their clients for 2006. Every second agency was invited to competitor presentations more frequently in the last six months than in the same period of the previous year.
The trend today is for large companies to want to rethink their relationship with an agency every three years with a competition or to have to do so for reasons of corporate regulations. Since a serious participation in such pitches costs around 30,000 francs, many agencies are not only enthusiastic about this development. "There are other ways of evaluating an agency," says Christian König.
One important trend shows that - obviously a sign of the expected boom - crisis PR is increasingly taking a back seat. Marketing communication is more in demand instead. Many PR agencies are increasingly teaming up with traditional advertising agencies at the pitch stage. "The fear of contact is diminishing."
On the other hand, the BPRA clearly rejects PR agencies that are only affiliated with advertising agencies as small units. If such units were included in the association - even if their work is appreciated - the BPRA would "massively lose profile".
New quality assurance with CMS IIAs Peter Felber explained at the media briefing, the new quality assurance project with CMS II enjoys a high priority within the association. Over the last twelve months, seven BPRA agencies have already signed up to and been certified to this, the world's highest consultancy management standard in the PR industry. Five more agencies are on the waiting list. More information can be found on the Internet at www.bpra.ch.
Andreas Panzeri
