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London, 16 May, 2007 - Hotwire, the international technology PR agency, today announced the results of a pan-European survey that shows that the rise of digital media is having a dramatic effect on both the responsibilities within the communications function in businesses, and the ways in which companies interact with their customers.
The survey of marketing, PR and communications directors across the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy shows that 83 per cent of respondents expect to have much more direct interaction with the customer in future. A remarkable 25 per cent believe that customers will create and own a company’s communications themselves through new user-generated content such as blogs and wikis. This increasing emphasis on giving the customer ownership of its interactions with businesses is reflected in the survey results, which show that nearly half (47%) expect to employ an in-house blogging and consumer interaction team in future to deal with this.
The survey revealed other potential changes to the structure of communications departments in the future. While currently 42 per cent of all respondents believe that brand and communications strategy is the responsibility of the marketing director, and 30 per cent that it falls under the remit of the communications director, one third (34%) feel that new digital methods of communication will change where the responsibility for a company’s brand and communications strategy lies. 28 per cent stated that the responsibility will rest with a new, not yet developed position, raising questions about how future brand and communications departments will be structured, and particularly how they will be represented at Board level.
It is not just in-house teams that need to be able to adapt to this change however – nearly four out of five respondents (78%) believe that the role of intermediaries and agencies will also change as a result of increased direct customer interaction, needing to expand their services to embrace new areas of communications.
In-house, the PR department appears to be embracing new digital media channels far earlier than the marketing department, with two thirds (63%) of PR respondents planning to use platforms such as podcasting in the future, compared to just a third (32%) of marketing respondents. 79 per cent of PRs also believe that new techniques such as podcasting and video casting will play an increasingly important role in communicating with customers and key influencers, compared to just half (50%) of marketing professionals.
This difference is mirrored in the two departments’ perceptions of the importance of user-generated content. While a massive 84 per cent of the PR respondents believe that user-generated content will be increasingly more influential in PR communications, only 36 per cent of marketers agreed. Despite this more than a third (36%) of marketing respondents think that user-generated content will be more effective than advertising, indicating that ad agencies may also have to re-assess their role in the new communications environment.
Brendon Craigie, UK MD at Hotwire UK comments: “These findings reflect what we have been saying for some time – that in order to communicate effectively, businesses need to get to grips with digital media so that they can respond to the changing media diets of their customers. The traditional communications roles also need to be flexible as PR and marketing channels change, and as an agency we have been quick to adapt to the demands of new digital media and to embrace the opportunities that these extended channels provide to innovate and expand our services.
“While the research shows that communications professionals are still divided as to the eventual impact of digital media on their roles and responsibilities, it is clear that both PR and marketing functions need to develop a more integrated way of working together in order to exploit these new channels effectively. But digital media is not the last innovation we will see within our professions, and as ever we need to approach it strategically, with clear objectives and measurement in mind, if we are going to truly understand and influence our target audiences.”
About Hotwire
Hotwire is an international technology public relations consultancy established to provide the technology industry with progressive PR services.
Since its foundation, Hotwire has won a number of prestigious awards across Europe. In November 2005, the company was named as European Technology Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report. Hotwire has also been awarded ‘Best IT PR Company’ at the Computing Industry Awards, the French Public Relations Top Com d’Or Trophée, and the International Public Relations Association’s Best Business-to-Business Campaign for its work with telecoms company THUS.
The company has six client practice areas: applications & services, consumer, digital media, enterprise & electronics, telecommunications, and banking & finance.
Hotwire is part of North by Northwest Group of PR and communications brands.
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