PRN & the PRCA launch new working group for the PR industry
Updated: Oct 23, 2018
The PRCA announced today that George and I are to chair a new PRCA working group to champion the burgeoning “virtual agency” segment within the PR industry. We'll be supported by the rest of the PRN management team and are actively recruiting founding members from fellow virtual agencies, with details TBC shortly.
As identified by PR Week, and backed up by our own Pulse research earlier this year, virtual agencies are a growing sub-sector of the industry. We've been doing this since 2005 and now have a network of 1800 senior associates worldwide, but there are many boutique firms using the same / similar model to great success in the UK and beyond. Big brands are now considering us alongside traditional agencies for a wide range of briefs, in contrast to previous years when a virtual agency might have been considered a ‘wild card’ choice.
We've noticed significant appetite from large clients over the past 18 months and approached the PRCA to discuss setting up a new group with its support, to further drive growth and development of the category. We are already working with some amazing clients including Dropbox, Lexus, Sophos, Toyota, Vodafone and Zipcar, on a huge variety of PR and AR programmes, to give just a few examples of large companies “going virtual”.
Francis Ingham MPRCA, Director General, PRCA, said: “Virtual agencies are becoming increasingly popular across the PR and communications industry, so I’m thrilled to be working with Nicky and George to launch this new PRCA Sectoral Group and help better meet the growing needs of our members working in virtual businesses.”
The aim of the group will be to discuss the opportunities and challenges offered to agile companies who categorise themselves as ‘virtual’, or borderless, and to develop initiatives that drive the sector forward.
Several founding group members have already been confirmed and we will be hosting our first event with the PRCA soon. Please contact nicky@thepr.network if you're a board director or owner of a virtual agency and would like to be involved as a founding group member.
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