PR Newswire plans India expansion

United Business Media Plc’s PR Newswire is expanding its business in Dubai, India and Scandinavia.

PR Newswire's European business performed better than the company's plan, and revenue in China more than doubled from 2006, writes Alex Armitage in Bloomberg.

The company, which also publishes Information Week, said second-half revenue will increase 6 per cent to 7 per cent, helped by ``strong'' sales at its PR Newswire unit and exhibition services.

United Business Media Chief Executive Officer David Levin is reducing dependence on magazine and classified ad sales by expanding exhibitions, distribution and business-information units.

Genesis Burson-Marsteller’s tie-ups with WPP’s BKSH, Quinn Gillespie

exchange4media reports:

Genesis Burson-Marsteller has announced strategic alliances with WPP group companies BKSH & Associates Worldwide and Quinn Gillespie & Associates to offer global public affairs capability to companies in India. The practice draws upon an international network of public affairs professionals to offer integrated multi-market public affairs campaigns across Washington, Brussels, Hong Kong, China and India.

The alliances were announced by Howard Paster, Executive Vice-President, Public Relations/ Public Affairs at WPP Group. Emphasising the importance of these partnerships, Paster said, “It will act as a two-way bridge to help our international clients ably navigate regulatory environment and policy developments seamlessly across international markets.”

“Our team of experts, who have decades of experience of working with the government, help companies understand the emerging and often complex regulatory and policy issues that impact their business,” said Prema Sagar, Principal and Founder, Genesis Burson-Marsteller. “As Indian companies compete in international markets, our principal partnership with BKSH and alliance with QGA will further strengthen our ability to provide valuable counsel and reach,” she added.

“We help companies find business solutions for a range of issues, including foreign direct investment, policy and regulatory affairs, through our campaign framework methodology. Using Constellation, our proprietary tool, we also help companies engage with a complex set of stakeholders,” explained Ashwani Singla, CEO, Genesis Burson-Marsteller.

Can global PR giants succeed in India?

“How big is the Indian PR market?”

“Can global PR agencies succeed in India?”

“Are there enough margins to attract global giants in PR to India?”

These questions have been doing the rounds in the Indian PR industry as rumours persist about the imminent entry more agencies of top networks like Omnicom, WPP and Publicis. Also waiting in the wings are several leading independent agencies, according to the grapevine.

APCO, which is the 18th largest global PR firm with revenues of $ 81.84 million in 2006, launched its operations in India recently.

The India PR industry might still be smaller than APCO’s global operations. The Indian corporates might still be reluctant to pay the kind of fees APCO commands globally. But more agencies like Fleishman-Hillard (launched their operations in India) and Manning Selvage & Lee (announced the acquistion of their Indian partner recently) are entering India.

With the arrival of such giants, 15 of the top 20 global PR agencies have a presence in India (either their own operations or have tie-up with Indian agencies) even as the debate on the questions raised at the beginning of this post continue.

It is not difficult to find answers to such questions, especially because of one’s experience in a global network agency as also a top Indian PR agency.

Watch this space for some interesting updates.