Digital age PR agencies threat to old guard in 2005

David Davis of www.askdd.com says in his annual predictions for 2005 that “In the past year or so there has been increasing evidence that they are winning major new business in competition with the large established agencies because they are offering clients fresh faces, fresh strategic thinking and fresh ideas and more importantly they are more attuned to the digital age. This trend will accelerate in the next 12 months”

Another prediction of interest to us in India is that "India and China will grow will grow faster than anywhere else" while the boom in central Europe slows down.

He also says that "blogging will start to be included in the PR mix" and "more companies will increasingly turn to intranets".

I am sure many have a bone to pick with that prediction. As far as I know from the bottom of this well deep here in India, blogging is already an important part of the PR mix in the US of A and getting there in Europe.

As for intranets, aren't companies turning already to wikis.. or are intranets being used more effectively? At leats in India, its intranets 'could be useful, who knows' while wikis are at best, the sound made by a hiccup :-)

Kerala tourism, tsunami and PR

If you have accidentally landed up on my blog through a search engine looking for information on Tsunami hit towns in India or Kerala (my native state), here's what I know in a nitshell.

Kerala escaped mostly unscathed compared to Tamil Nadu, the adjacent state. Most of the deaths in Kerala (approx. 150 dead) were concentrated in the Kollam district.

Kovalam, the famous beach or the backwaters of Kerala were not affected in any way. So if you have friends / relatives there, you can be reasonably sure that they are safe - unless they left Kerala and crossed over to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu which was badly hit. Even then, so far, I have not come across bad news about tourists in Kanyakumari.

This info is for those who keep visiting the blog searching for tsunami relief or casualties information on Kerala.

The state's tourism industry is already back on its feet and the government has shifted into high PR gear, emphasizing that the well-developed state is already receiving tourists who are cancelling their trips to the Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the second-worst hit after Indonesia.

Edelman on PR and Tsunami relief

Richard Edelman has a post on the central role of Tsunami relief in his Speak Up blog.

If you are a PR professional, I highly recommend you read it.

How PR can lead brands in India - article by Robb Hecht

Robb Hecht has written an excellent article titled How PR Can Lead Brands in India. Do read.

The sub-heads are:

India's potential
New opportunity; new approach
How PR will lead branding into India
The Indian media landscape
Consumer markets: Unilever vs. P&G
Tech & IT markets
Branding India to itself
Branding India to the world