Brands to scrutinise value for money of large agencies

New research into the future of communications shows that 75 per cent of PR, marketing and communications professionals believe brands will question the value for money large agencies offer due to the results small agencies can achieve using communications technology.

The study by Mynewsdesk, providers of the world’s leading all-in-one brand newsroom and multimedia PR platform, shows that respondents from the marketing practice area predict greater cynicism from brands than PR and communications professionals: 93.5 per cent of marketers believe brands will question the value for money of large agencies compared to 77.36 per cent of PR and 67.6 per cent of communications professionals.  

Concerns about the value for money of agencies isn't just limited to the future, only 17% of PR, marketing and communications professionals believe brands are currently getting value for money from using external agencies to manage their social media. However the majority do not even seem to know whether paying external agencies to perform social media is a good use of resource or not - 45 per cent of respondents to Mynewsdesk’s research said they “neither agree nor disagree” as to whether social media agencies offer value for money.

The research is released ahead of one of the year’s most important gatherings of some of the world's leading PR, communications & marketing professionals – including FT press author on PR, speaker and CEO of PR agency Pure Performance Communications Deirdre Breakenridge; Silicon Valley reporter and press release killer Tom Foremski; and one of the UK’s top PR bloggers Neville Hobson – to address the future of professional communications. The #FutureComms14 event takes place on 18th June 2014 at The Crystal, London, E16 1GB.

The future of journalism and the role of data

Mynewsdesk’s research also shows that more than one in four PR, marketing and communications professionals (26.02 per cent) believe impartial, independent journalism will die out as a paid profession within 50 years, with one in ten (10.7 per cent) believing it will die out in ten years.

However, journalism skills will continue to be attractive to brands. Despite the increasing importance being given to the role of data in marketing and communications functions, 47.9 per cent of respondents expect employers will prioritise journalism skills over data analysis skills (26.3 per cent) when recruiting communications employees.

What’s more, most PR, marketing and communications professionals consulted by Mynewsdesk predict that brands will insource content development in the future rather than relying on external agencies (64.6 per cent), and that distinct marketing, PR and social media roles will merge into a single job title (53.84 per cent).  

Adam Cranfield, Head of Marketing at Mynewsdesk, said, “Communications technologies, such as digital newsrooms and social media tools, make mass communication much easier, faster and can attain a much bigger impact than was previously possible. Where once numerous people in-house and at agencies worked across various media channels, the future of communications looks to be about consolidating the communications function. The realisation of such efficiencies will raise issues of value for money of outsourcing PR, communications, marketing and social media. Consequently, greater emphasis will be placed on in-house teams and the use of communications tools that enable media management from a single digital destination. PR, marketing and communications professionals will continue to require strong journalistic skills, and those wanting to be journalists may need to seek careers in corporate environments rather than with media titles." 

Information about FutureComms14 is at: futurecomms.mynewsdesk.com 

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Notes to Editor

Mynewsdesk will be running the event FutureComms14, which will be the largest PR and comms event of the year in the UK.

The following speakers will be available for interviews at the event; Deirdre Breakenridge, Tom Foremski, Danny Whatmough, Neville Hobson, Paul Sutton, Justin Pearse, Stephen Fellows and Jon Bernstein. Other speakers may potentially be available during the event. 

A white paper with the full findings will be made available after the event.

For futher information or if you'd like a press pass for FutureComms14 then please contact Laura McLean, Communications Executive at Mynewsdesk on 07860 755 772 or email at laura.mclean@mynewsdesk.com

Methodology

Mynewsdesk consulted 195, marketing and communications professionals from a wide variety of organisations and agencies from the beginning of May 2014 until the second week of June 2014. Using a 5 point likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, the respondents were asked for their opinion on 10 statements relating to the future of communications.