Public relations agencies: A new landscape

WHAT IT MEANS: Tech-savvy millennials demand greater flexibility. Long-term fee retainer giving way to short-term objectives.

A millennial workforce that favours project variety over long-term employment is forcing often staid public relations (PR) agencies to think differently about their service offering.

Cape Town-based agency MarcusBrewster has introduced on-demand client management that allows this new type of drafted employee to offer a specific skills-set to a campaign and then move on if they want to.

Says MD Andre Fourie: "It’s a fundamental shift in the way all services are delivered. People want convenience and affordable access to services without having to cover the capital costs of accessing them. Usage-based payment means companies don’t have to incur costs during periods where there’s no need for these services."

Ogilvy PR MD Joanna Oosthuizen agrees the landscape has shifted dramatically and the millennial mindset is playing a major role. "Millennials are all about purpose and connecting this to philosophies in the type of work being undertaken creates the most remarkable outcomes. This means we move away from a transactional relationship with brands towards one where we are truly driving a transformational agenda. Embracing millennial thinking makes brands more relevant and credible, especially as consumers increasingly favour support for a cause over just support for a brand."

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Janine Hills, owner of the Vuma Reputation Management agency, says: "The difference with Millennials is they are techno-savvy, they demand flexibility in the workspace. Elders need to understand the new trends, in digital and technology, and who better to learn from and close the generational gap?"

PR agencies need to consider the changing work environment and become attuned to the needs of younger employees.

Fourie questions whether the PR industry is responding adeptly enough to this change. "Broadly speaking, the industry is putting more energy behind maintaining what it has — especially in terms of retainers — than into embracing this change and building something completely new." This could include integrating nontraditional PR activities such as management consulting and venture capital raising into the mix.

Oosthuizen says agility and flexibility have become crucial. "The most critical area relates to skills and an effective ‘T-shaped’ professional who has depth and breadth of thinking. More and more this means PR people are becoming channel-agnostic and are focused on leading strategically rather than just tactically."

Fourie believes the industry-standard long-term fee retainer will become an exception as clients shift focus to short-term objectives by partnering the best service provider for a specific task. This "creates a terrific opportunity for PR agencies to expand their services to ensure multiple value propositions for any one client campaign or task."