Is Nigeria’s Public Relations in dilemma?
Achieving strong brand equity can take years of work and maintenance. And strong brand equity directly contributes to a company’s position in the market. For any brand to constantly stay relevant in a world that is being practically disrupted by technology on a daily basis, it is a natural fit to use up-to-the-minute public relations tools and techniques to enhance its equity.
The rise of technologies has since changed the communication industry. Digitalisation is taking up a major part in consumers’ lives—from smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and gadgets, to voice recognition systems, personal finance and many more. Today, we are talking not only about pure PR. Communication processes are more integrated; campaigns are also more integrated, mixing different communication tactics, blending digital and non-digital tactics and reaching target audiences in the best way possible at the right time with the right content.
Digital disruption challenges agencies to keep up with technological development, while innovation services and tools are taking over traditional PR functions. In advanced climes, the traditional press kit and media relation process is now digitized. Brands and companies now use virtual press rooms with all kinds of media assets, PR agencies have started to move in this direction likewise. But how much of these changes are we witnessing in Nigeria’s PR space? How automated are the processes within its ecosystem? What innovative solutions are agencies proffering to their clients?
In measuring PR value, one is tempted to imagine the definition of return on investment (ROI) which is believed to be the amount of income earned through public relations initiative after subtracting programme expenditures. Be that as it may, it has also been argued that this is not always the best way to demonstrate the return on investment of communications programmes to executives.
While this is not in dispute, measuring the true value of media coverage for an organisation remains a conversation that continues to confound marketing and PR executives the world over. The reason is simple, the task requires you to objectively analyse something that is largely subjective.
Experts and industry watchers widely perceive PR as the weakest link in the country’s IMC mix. Apart from PR practitioners’ inability to incorporate the latest digital tools and technical know-how for best practice, absence of research, measurement and quackery among others are reasons why the profession still remains a piece of stereotype. Even the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the regulatory body saddled with the statutory responsibility of ensuring professionalism and global competitiveness is also perceived as a fossilised entity, lagging miles behind its peers in advanced countries.
What’s more, market intelligence reveals that PR profession in Nigeria has continued to fall below standard of recognition by Holmes Report. The Holmes Report is a global ranking of Public Relations agencies and industry’s source of news, trends, events and career information for PR professionals, based in New York, U.S.A. Some of the trends that have affected the PR industry are mentioned in Holmes global communications report 2017. The top trends influencing 2018 are digital storytelling, social media listening, blog data, behavioral research, influencer marketing, and real-time marketing.
Analysts believe Nigeria’s PR industry has to be innovative, think of new and modern solutions quickly, and know what consumers want and why it is important to their clients and relevant to their clients’ businesses.
“The future of business comes down to relevance and the ability to understand how technology affects decision making and behavior to the point where the recognition of new opportunities and the ability to strategically adapt to them becomes a competitive advantage,” said an analyst who wouldn’t want his name in print.
The Managing Director, Mediacraft Associates, John Ehiguese, thinks the inability of PR to add value to clients’ brand equity in the country stems from an ineffectual regulatory environment.
“I think at the heart of it is a relatively weak regulatory environment. PR, unfortunately, in Nigeria has become an all-comers business. The level of quackery is simply unbelievable,” he said.
According to him, elsewhere in the world, PR is highly regarded, noting that in many Fortune-500 companies across the world, the head of public relations occupies a vice presidential position and reports directly to the Managing Director, or President, of the corporation.
Mr. Ehiguese, current President of Public Relations Practitioners Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), who believes that his generation of PR practitioners are giving way to millennial practitioners hopes they will elevate the profession to its pride of place at the global level.
“We have done our bit. My generation is phasing out and I hope the younger ones will work harder to grow the PR profession and make it occupy its pride of place in the IMC mix,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos State Chapter, Segun McMedal, said the body was doing everything possible to reposition itself and the profession in the country. According to him, NIPR contributes a lot in adding value to the practice of PR in the country as well as to brand owners. He explained that practitioners were beginning to use the AMEG (Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Guidance) principles and two other measuring parameters which is a shift from the advert value equivalent that was initially used by practitioners. He also noted that the chapter was doing its best to raise the profession to its greater height amongst other chapters in the country, adding that programmes and activities were being organised to expose and educate practitioners on contemporary issues in Public Relations.
In all, a meaningful disruption in PR practice in Nigeria can only happen through the application of technology, gadgets, automation of processes, social media, or innovations in terms of products and services. These will revolutionalise the stages of planning, executing, and managing communication strategies by various agencies. Moreover, PR departments and agency teams have to have the same goals as any other departments in the company (marketing, finance, sales, IT, etc.). This allows for all communication flows from various departments to be coordinated and have “one voice” of brand and customer communication. Whether this can be achieved in Nigeria’s PR space is a different matter entirely.
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