QUESTION: How is the PR industry using VNRs?
ANSWER: It appears that VNR campaigns are going to remain the same this year versus last year. A recent survey
conducted by PR News and DS Simon Productions of approximately 400 PR professionals discovered the majority of respondents (46%) planned to repeat the same level of
VNR usage for 2006 as they did for 2005, while only 12% said they planned to use them less and 8% stated they would increase their VNR efforts; the remaining 34% were uncertain of
their upcoming VNR plans.
When asked if the competitive media environment would encourage more compelling and less commercial PR video stories to the media, 46% of respondents said they were not
necessary and 40% said they were.
Despite last year's controversies surround the White House's use of VNRs, the issue of disclosure has not effected the PR industry. Fifty-three percent of those polled have
not changed their disclosure policies to make their communications with the media more open when using a spokesperson or producing a VNR; only one-quarter of those surveyed have.
Furthermore, 63% of the respondents stated they were not planning to include Guaranteed Placements in their VNR initiatives for 2006 while 8% were.
PR News will further explore the state of the VNR strategy in an upcoming edition.
QUESTION: How does the PR industry view its commitment for diversity?
ANSWER: A new survey by the Public Relations Coalition suggests that a great deal of work is still in order. Polling 73 heads of corporate communications within
major corporations and CEOs of PR agencies, the survey found 52% of respondents thought the PR industry needs "a lot of improvement" as it pertains to minority representation at
all levels; 38% only felt "some improvement" was needed while 7% thought the industry was "very diverse" and the remaining 3% didn't know.
The survey also determined that women made up 66% of all employees within the industry, but only 38% of senior management positions were occupied by women. Among minority
groups, only 3.9% of senior management positions were held by non-whites and 13% non-managerial roles were filled by minorities.
The survey was conducted by BPRI, a WPP research agency. The Public Relations Coalition is an alliance of 23 industry-related organizations.
QUESTION: Is nothing sacred when it comes to PR? ANSWER: Correct! Nothing is sacred - even the sacred.
Earlier this month, the online spirituality portal BeliefNet (which attracts 2.5 million unique visitors per month) conducted what might have been the weirdest consumer
product-related survey of all time. BeliefNet asked its audience (and we are not making this up) the following question: "What would Jesus have on His iPod?"
Needless to say, many people were not amused: 55% percent of respondents checked off the answer "Jesus would never own an iPod." For those who wanted to speculate, the main
answers were Christian rock (13%), classic rock (11%) and "Songs of King David" (11%).
By the way, the Apple Computer team behind the iPod brand had nothing to do with this survey and did not endorse it.
(To ask a question of the PR Sherpa, pass your inquiry to our editor Phil Hall at [email protected].)