A renowned industrial economist and business management consultant, Foluso Philips has advised public relations practitioners to re-brand themselves in order to stay relevant in the industry and provide strategic solutions to clients especially in the face of technology disruptions.
Mr. Philips said this while speaking on the theme: “The Business of Consulting: How consulting firms and clients can win in a VUCA economy,” at the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) 2023 Annual Economic Outlook, held on Friday at the Alliance Frencaise/Mike Adenuga Center, Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday.
The forum was designed to enable practitioners and clients to plan for the economic head-winds and inherent opportunities in the Nigerian economy as it relates to today’s working environment.
He stated that business owners must look inward, innovate to redo things in a different way because the paradigms are changing and they must be ahead of the curve.
“In today’s reality, those that are in the PR industry should understand the need to work like a professional consultants. Consultants solve problems, provide advise to clients. There is an urgent need for practitioners to be more professional in terms of their outfits, they should have a stronger focus on creating institutions that has a great power of succession. Ensuring also that they follow the modules that consulting firms are following all over the world.
“The most important thing is that they have got to redefine themselves and stop seeing themselves as agencies and think more as consulting firms that are providing solutions to organizations that are trying to have a strong public relations image. The whole industry is changing, it’s being redefined by technology and they need to begin to look into that part of the ecosystem. The thinking should be how can we help this organizations to thrive in this digital world’s today?.”
The forum also had a panel discussion comprising of industry leaders, Israel Jaiye Opayemi, President PRCAN and MD/Chief Strategist of Chain Reactions Nigeria, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, Group Managing Director of CMC Connect (Perception Managers) and President, African Public Relations Association, APRA, and marketing amazon, Tokunbo George-Taylor, Managing Director Hill+Knowlton Strategies Nigeria who dissected the topic of the discussion.