Great growth - but look at your boss
In the wake of the system change, the industry's early days in Poland are widely regarded as little more than a gold-rush. "The beginning of the 1990s was a real Klondike period for PR agencies in Poland," the vice-president of the Polish Public Relations Consultancies Association (ZFPR) and president of Partner of Promotion agency, Paweł Trochimiuk, recalls.
PR in Poland only emerged after the fall of communism and in the first years it was dominated by journalists because professional PR experts in the country were few and far between.
This gap spawned a rapid growth in PR consultancies during that period, but not many have managed to maintain a presence on the market since then. "There were quiet a few spectacular downfalls," Trochimiuk said. The beginnings of PR in Poland were very much advertisement orientated - buying articles, or articles for favors was not something unusual.
Mind the gap
Since public relations was a completely new field in the early 1990s and the market demand for such services was very high, it meant that newly established agencies dealt with very serious projects, like privatizations of state owned companies. "Some of the projects we had in our first years of existence were much larger than anything we are working on today," Trochimiuk said.
But the golden days of the early 1990s, when fortunes were made virtually overnight, ended around 1997-98 when the PR market began to stabilize. The influx of foreign companies had a great effect on the changes in the Polish PR. "They came to Poland knowing what standard of services they want. Polish PR companies had to rise up to their expectations," Trochimiuk explained.
Stable ground
At the same time the growth in sharp practices fueled a need fo self-regulation. "I can say that the process has been very successful. Today there are less than a handful of agencies that we have concerns about," he adds.
Today the market has matured and international and foreign corporations are no longer the PR agencies' main clients. "Polish entrepreneurs have now understood that PR is much more effective than advertising," Trochimiuk said. While, according to euroPR Agencja Public Relations, in 2000 only 16 percent of companies in Poland used the services of PR consultancies, Trochimiuk expects that the ratio has doubled since then. "More and more companies prefer using specialized agencies to having their own PR departments, which are costly and need constant training," he explains.
Client change
However, the largest corporations use both internal PR and the help of consultancies. "In that case the company's PR director acts as a coordinator of the agency's work" Trochimiuk adds.
Although large companies remain, within the bulk of the market's clients there is a visible trend for more and more small and medium size enterprises to enjoy the advantages of good PR. Trochimiuk expects SMEs to provide some 50 percent of the income of an average PR agency in 2007.
Dragging down
Market analysts are predicting a rosy outlook for the industry, at least for the foreseeable future, with growth expected increase by around 20 to 30 percent in 2005 compared to the past year. However, there are still some hindrances limiting the rate of growth, according to ZFPR estimates. "The main barrier is still human imperfection. The graduates of the various PR schools aren't always of the best quality. This is because the study of PR is a relatively new one," Trochimiuk explains.
Another hindrance is the fact that PR companies are still run by PR experts and not those specializing in management. "They either have to retrain themselves or hire professional management experts," he adds.
PR in Poland only emerged after the fall of communism and in the first years it was dominated by journalists because professional PR experts in the country were few and far between.
This gap spawned a rapid growth in PR consultancies during that period, but not many have managed to maintain a presence on the market since then. "There were quiet a few spectacular downfalls," Trochimiuk said. The beginnings of PR in Poland were very much advertisement orientated - buying articles, or articles for favors was not something unusual.
Mind the gap
Since public relations was a completely new field in the early 1990s and the market demand for such services was very high, it meant that newly established agencies dealt with very serious projects, like privatizations of state owned companies. "Some of the projects we had in our first years of existence were much larger than anything we are working on today," Trochimiuk said.
But the golden days of the early 1990s, when fortunes were made virtually overnight, ended around 1997-98 when the PR market began to stabilize. The influx of foreign companies had a great effect on the changes in the Polish PR. "They came to Poland knowing what standard of services they want. Polish PR companies had to rise up to their expectations," Trochimiuk explained.
Stable ground
At the same time the growth in sharp practices fueled a need fo self-regulation. "I can say that the process has been very successful. Today there are less than a handful of agencies that we have concerns about," he adds.
Today the market has matured and international and foreign corporations are no longer the PR agencies' main clients. "Polish entrepreneurs have now understood that PR is much more effective than advertising," Trochimiuk said. While, according to euroPR Agencja Public Relations, in 2000 only 16 percent of companies in Poland used the services of PR consultancies, Trochimiuk expects that the ratio has doubled since then. "More and more companies prefer using specialized agencies to having their own PR departments, which are costly and need constant training," he explains.
Client change
However, the largest corporations use both internal PR and the help of consultancies. "In that case the company's PR director acts as a coordinator of the agency's work" Trochimiuk adds.
Although large companies remain, within the bulk of the market's clients there is a visible trend for more and more small and medium size enterprises to enjoy the advantages of good PR. Trochimiuk expects SMEs to provide some 50 percent of the income of an average PR agency in 2007.
Dragging down
Market analysts are predicting a rosy outlook for the industry, at least for the foreseeable future, with growth expected increase by around 20 to 30 percent in 2005 compared to the past year. However, there are still some hindrances limiting the rate of growth, according to ZFPR estimates. "The main barrier is still human imperfection. The graduates of the various PR schools aren't always of the best quality. This is because the study of PR is a relatively new one," Trochimiuk explains.
Another hindrance is the fact that PR companies are still run by PR experts and not those specializing in management. "They either have to retrain themselves or hire professional management experts," he adds.
