Trends impacting on South African PR agencies and their business models

M.A. (Strategic Communication)Abstract: The Public Relations industry has evolved significantly through the years, driven by various trends that have challenged the way the PR agencies operate. These trends include the changing media landscape driven by social media, the integration of agencies influenced by changing clients” needs and the rise of micro influencers enabled by technology. There is a dominant sense that the small PR agencies are feeling the pressure to adapt and reengineer their business models to reflect the change arising from the industry trends and ensure sustainability and business continuity. According to Butler (2013), change is not something that organisations must respond to, but is instead an outcome of organisational action. Organisations must adapt or change to survive in the new markets or political environments, but the primary role of public relations is one of purposeful, self-interested communication (Gandy, 2013). According to Simons (2013), business organisations must effectively address immediate challenges in order to survive in a climate of constant change; this includes managing on-going operations of businesses and, at the same time, allowing sufficient innovation to adapt to a changing market. With this in mind, the research problem proposed for this study is to investigate how small South African PR agencies in Gauteng are responding to PR industry trends. To understand this, the researcher reviewed literature across a diverse field of studies, including studies on organisational behaviour and strategy. The research design was exploratory. A qualitative research design conducting semi-structured interviews with 10 managing directors from small PR agencies in PR was used to examine the research question. A purposeful sample of 11 respondents, defined as experts within the research field, from 10 different companies was selected. From the face-to-face interviews, it was evident that the PR industry is evolving at a rapid pace and that PR agencies need to reengineer their business models to adapt. They must review their business models to introduce new range of services to their clients such as digital, social media, digital marketing and influencer marketing