Blog
Many thanks to the Prova Team!
Prova and French PR agency BG Presse recently launched an exchange scheme. The first participant, Julien Eloy, shares his experience…
I would like to give a big Thank-you to the Prova Team. To work with you during the week was a real pleasure and very interesting for several reasons. Probably the first is to understand how an English agency like Prova works compared to my French agency, BG Presse in Paris UK
Julien
Prova’s sponsoring the Guild of Motoring Writers Awards 2009
We’re sponsoring a new award for the Guild of Motoring Writers, called the ‘Prova PR Business Writer of the Year’. The award and a cheque for £1,000 will be presented to the winner at the Guild’s annual ceremony which will to be held at the RAC Club on 3rd December. Guild members are held in high esteem across the industry and we’re really excited to be supporting the new award! The automotive sector is changing at an unprecedented rate in this country and it is heartening to see the Guild looking to recognise the importance of automotive business journalism. Emma
There is a light that never goes out...
Recent reports in the national media confirm that the publishing world, like so many other commercial arenas, is suffering. Circulation figures for consumer titles are heading south, with Nuts and Zoo down 25 and 31 per cent respectively and even FHM losing 15 per cent of its readers over the last year. In addition, advertisers are hardly forming an orderly queue at the offices of the leading publishing houses, clamouring for space. Indeed, media agencies are predicting further falls in advertising revenue over the next few months. So, while some are predicting the end of the recession, the publishing world seems to be lagging a few months behind. Yet some organisations are bucking the trend. Dennis Publishing has seen circulation fall by a mere one per cent and amidst the current downturn, there is some resilience amongst quality-led titles. And it is very much the same in the PR marketplace. Quality is alive and well amongst the agency community – and those offering an innovative, hard-working service based upon tangible results and added value, are starting to emerge from the downturn in a better place. However, the recession in publishing is having a knock on effect in PR-land. Fewer pages and magazines mean, on the face of it, less editorial opportunities for our work. And at the lower end of the quality spectrum, some business to business publications are seeking ‘colour separation’ charges – a euphemism for straight payment - in return for column inches. However, such publications are not the places for ambitious, forward-thinking organisations looking to build their profile in front of key audiences. And when we hear the cry of a colour separation request, we know its not a place for one of our clients. Indeed, it’s the magazines with staying power and healthy advertising revenues due to organisations wanting to be in them that should be the place where people want to be. And that’s the mantra we’re following – quality never goes out of fashion. While some offline publications are floundering, online outlets are flourishing. Companies who embrace the opportunities offered online, both in terms of publications and new ways of communicating with audiences, are those who will prosper as we all come out of the darkness of recession, blinking in the shimmering light of a new dawn! It is the role of a high quality PR consultancy to lead the way, picking the good from the bad. So, while the recession maybe shutting some doors, a whole new chapter of opportunities is opening up. We just need to make sure that we are offering media outlets what they want in order to be able to seize upon the opportunities around the corner. Richard
Social media shockers
Last week we stumbled on some interesting facts that highlight the growing popularity of social networking, some of which surprised us more than others and sparked some interesting debate here in the office. So, we thought we’d share some of them with readers of our blog… - 2/3 of the global internet population now visit social networks - Social networking is growing at three times the overall internet rate - 3,600,000,000 photos are archived on Flickr.com – June 2009. That’s roughly one photo per every two people on the planet and means we have a lot to trawl through to populate our new website!! - There is an average of 3,000,000,000 Tweets per day on Twitter.com - If Facebook was a country, it would be the 8th most populated in the world, just ahead of If you have any interesting social media facts then share them with us at blog@provapr.co.uk PS. We’ve just drawn lots to move desks here at Prova. Will let everyone know how we get on – they do say a change is as good as a holiday after all! Zoe
