By Azeez Disu
As some public relations firms continue to decline in patronage and revenue, John Ehiguese, Managing Director of Mediacraft Associates Ltd and President, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) has called for new approach and new offering modeling to grow in the competitive market.
He made this call at the March edition of the Lagos NIPR Clinic held recently where he made a presentation on the theme, “Disruption on Steroids: The Changing Face of PR’’.
Ehiguese pointed out that the public relations landscape in Nigeria has changed, a change caused by technology disruption, social media trend and media fragmentation and proliferation. In order to remain relevant in this current time, he urged practitioners to accept the new reality, unlearn some of the old paradigm and monitor contemporary global trends.
He added that practitioners and their firms now should position themselves as a consultant for their clients and beginning to offer robust communication solutions. He stated that by listening to clients and understanding their situation a robust solution can then be packaged which will invariably impact on their bottom-line.
“We need to become business consultants with a communication focus rather than communication consultants. Consulting firms like Philip Consulting when they go to a client they propose a holistic business solution with communication as part of it. If you are going to play in this field successfully you have to begin to look in that direction so that you can position your business”
He explained further that the dearth of research and measurement is a challenge to the industry and more than ever clients are demanding for the impact of a PR campaign on their Return of Investment (ROI) and reputation. He therefore urged practitioners to embark on scientific research and measurement.
He also advocated the adoption of storytelling technique to reinforce a particular public relations campaigns objectives through use of videos to connect customers to brands, adding that press releases should be written to suit a particular medium whether traditional or online media.
Ehiguese is passionate about Public Relations, which he brought to bear in the running of Mediacraft Associates, founded in 2003, and has grown in fifteen short years to become a leading PR consultancy firm in Nigeria today.
Over the years, the PR Clinic has featured several notable speakers and has proved a valuable resource for Public Relations practitioners, communicators and journalists.
Lagos State Chapter is the flagship branch of NIPR, the umbrella body of professional public relations practitioners chartered to regulate as well as direct its development and the practice.
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