Global
Media and Public Relations agency, BlackHouse Media (BHM), has announced the
release of the fourth edition of its annual PR report. Reputed as Nigeria’s
first-ever Public Relations annual report, it is dedicated exclusively to
chronicling data on trends, perceptions, challenges and prospects within the
dynamic industry.
A cursory look at some of the findings from the
report shows that the insights presented are prognostic at the very least,
creating a framework for practitioners to successfully manoeuvre these
momentous times brought about by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Adun Okupe, Lead Researcher, Compass
Insights, “The Nigeria PR Report does not come at a better time than this. The
COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the world and now more than ever, PR agencies are
having to prove their worth to their clients leaving consultancies with
unanswered questions as to how to make sure that their businesses are providing
the right services and the 2020 Nigeria PR Report helps to shape thoughts in
this direction.”
Speaking on Nigeria PR Report 2020, the Founder
and CEO of BHM, Ayeni Adekunle captured the volatile nature of the year for the
PR industry.
“When we planned for the 2020 Nigeria PR Report,
we had no idea of how the year would turn out. These are very unique and
interesting times as our choice to have the report focus on sustainable growth
has now come into focus with the adverse effects of Coronavirus.’’
“The importance of the report to the Public
Relations industry in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. By modeling
well-founded world reports such as the Holmes Report, World Development Report,
Relevance Report, the Nigerian PR Report team continues to hope to create a
standard global report that can easily be used for referencing details,
instances and facts about the industry,” he said.
Insights from the report highlight the pedigree of
some of the PR agencies in Nigeria. To be sure, 12% of Nigerian PR agencies
have been in operation for five years, 19% have been in operations for more
than 5 years and less than 10, whilst only 9% have been in operation for over
20 years.
In addressing the improvement made to counter
gender imbalance and the need for improvement on the same, the report shows
that the industry remains male-dominated with a record of 74 percent while
women constitute just 26 percent of the industry. Younger agencies under 5
years old seem to have a higher proportion of men with women comprising only 21
percent of women PR professionals working in these agencies. Older agencies
that have been practicing for 11 to 20 years parade 44percent of women
professionals as their staff.
This
situation is not limited to Nigeria. In a report published on the PRWeek in
2019, 64% of PR professionals surveyed in 37 countries in the first Global
Women in PR(GWPR) Annual Index to address issues in gender diversity believe
having more women in the boardroom would improve profitability and 81 per cent
said more should be done to help women get there. Eight in ten survey
respondents believe the biggest barrier to career progression was childcare and
caring responsibilities.
Most of
the PR agencies are within the SME band, with the 64% of respondents qualifying
by the number of employees as micro-enterprises based on the number of
employees as defined by The Small and Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria
(SMEDAN). 56 per cent of PR agencies in Nigeria are reporting revenues of less
than N5 million (five million naira). Together with the new entrants into the
industry corroborating this finding, it is reported that 64 per cent of the new
agencies have fewer than ten employees, 14percent are small enterprises with
11- 20 employees and 22 per cent with more than 21 employees.
One of
top five challenges plaguing the industry and captured in the report is
attracting and retaining the right talent within the PR industry in Nigeria.
70% of the professionals within the industry have less than five years of work
experience. Seasoned professionals and institutions should begin to explore
establishing teaching faculty in PR management to equip new graduates seeking
career opportunities in PR.
The
much-anticipated Nigeria PR report 2020 is the collaborative brainwork of BHM’s
research arm – BHM Research & Intelligence (BRI) in collaboration with
Compass Insights, a leading Customer Engagement and Insights Company, and
technology company, Plaqad.
Interested
professionals can download a copy on the website www.NigeriaPRReport.com, on Amazon and on iTunes.
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