Swiss PR industry benefits from good economic situation

 The Association of Public Relations Agencies in Switzerland (BPRA ) expects fee income in the PR sector to grow by around 8 percent in 2007. This is the result of a survey of Swiss public relations agencies conducted in October. The most robust growth in recent years is probably due in part to the good economic situation. Two thirds of the agencies surveyed expect fee income at the end of the year to be significantly higher than in the previous year, while the others expect it to remain at least the same. A similar trend is emerging for 2008, albeit to a slightly lesser extent, according to the BPRA. The agencies are expecting growth primarily from clients in the energy industry, the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical technology sectors, the financial services sector, the real estate industry and the construction industry. The ICT/CE sector and trading companies are reluctant to place PR orders. According to the survey, clients are increasingly performing routine tasks themselves. However, PR agencies are being used more and more for highly qualified services, for example in the areas of strategy consulting and corporate communications.