Stakeholders differ on PR Performance in 2016
Practitioners and critical stakeholders have expressed divergent views on the productive in-puts and contributions of public relations to the growth and development of businesses in the out-gone year 2016.
While some stakeholders were of the view that the industry, and indeed the practice has contributed significantly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP by boosting brand building and business growth, others are nonetheless of the view that the profession did little or nothing to impact on businesses considering the myriads of challenges that faced most businesses and industries which have led to the closing of shops by many.
Some experts who spoke with MARKETING EDGE during the industry intelligence report review spoke in discordant tunes concerning the performance and non performance of Public Relations in brand building and business growth generally in all the sectors.
Reviewing activities of practitioners in the out-gone year, National President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Rotimi Oladele, believes that the sector did excellently well, stressing that it was a good year for practitioners in the industry.
Oladele noted that in 2016, Public Relations went further in the journey of professionalism as most of its members pledged fresh commitment in upholding the ethics of the profession. He expressed satisfaction with the quality of jobs done for clients using Public Relations.
He said: “2016 has been a good year for us. We woke up the legal instrument; we got the support of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, the Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed being a fellow of the institute, the permanent secretary Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba being a full member and a senior colleague in the institute, so, with this commitment, we participated in so many activities, trainings and capacity building programmes and I think that we have done well“
“2016 was a year of solid foundation for positive change. It was a year when we discovered that a lot of our practitioners that have abandoned the beat came back because of the innovations that evolved especially in terms of quality professional education, international exposure and of course activities that are making superior argument on the field”
Speaking in the same vein, President Beec Consulting Group, Mr. Mike Okereke noted that Public Relations as a profession did very well in 2016.
Okereke, pioneer president of the institute pointed out that most organizations and the Federal Government made use of Public Relations strategies a lot last year, emphasizing that the need for Public Relations has become more appreciated in the country.
His words: “I think the industry is growing and doing very well. When you have a low budget, no money to spend, then you have got to do below the line promotions in terms of Integrated Marketing Communications to create business which covers all sectors and PR is well positioned to do that”
However, the President of the Federation of African Public Relations Association (FAPRA), Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, sharply disagreed with earlier commentators as he described 2016 as a trying year for Public Relations practitioners in the country.
Badejo-Okusanya noted that most of the problems that bedeviled the Public Relations industry in 2016 had their root causes in communication which the government failed to correct.
Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, former Lagos State Chapter Chairman of NIPR and Managing Director of CMC Connect Burson-Marsteller said:“Some of the most fundamental challenges we had, had their root causes in communication and I believe that if government had employed it properly, then we probably would not be where we are right now. I think that we also as practitioners needed to have risen to that challenge”
On his part, former Head of Department, Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye faulted the attitude of Public Relations practitioners, stressing that the profession could not have done well in 2016 because the body had failed in enforcing the letters of its enabling laws.
Akinfeleye stressed that of all the regulatory bodies in the Integrated Marketing Communications industry, NIPR was the weakest as it could not live up to its expectation.
He said: “Let them ensure that the enabling laws are enforced. NIPR has enabling laws, NBC has enabling laws, Nigerian Press Council has enabling laws, APCON has enabling laws, of all these regulatory bodies, it appears to me that APCON is doing better than any of them and NIPR is the weakest, it is not enforcing its regulations, it is not monitoring and that is giving room for quacks to flourish in the sector”
According to him, for NIPR to do well in 2017, it should design a new platform for the institute, adding that NIPR should also go further and adhere strictly to its enabling laws.
Speaking in a similar vein, Mr. James Ihebuzor, an advertiser was of the view that P.R practice could not have made any useful contributions towards business growth last year when P.R budget was amongst the first casualty of budgets right-sizing by the brand owners.
He stated that “the reality of recession happened on advertisers so suddenly with the dearth of foreign exchange to source raw materials from overseas. So what most manufacturers did was to start cutting some costs if only to stay afloat because it requires huge fund to source forex through the black market and I am aware, P.R budget was amongst the victims of budgetary rationalizations”, he posited.
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