Ajith Henry, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Capital Gate AdvisorsThe Middle East is launching giga-projects, welcoming global investors, and reshaping economies – yet its PR industry is still grounded in a commodity-mindset, based on a transactional approach viewing the number of press releases versus coverage.
While the global behemoths continue tried and tested formula – throwing in AI and data to camouflage lack of depth – many upstarts rely on the digital bandwagon bringing little subject matter expertise and a lot of empty noise.
So where does the problem lie?
At the international firm I was working a few years ago, two of our largest clients were large B2B entities. I urged the team to follow the market, become acquainted with macroeconomic issues and those affecting their specific industry sectors, including trends and legislation. But the regional boss couldn’t see the point, admonishing me with, “You’re too technical”. That got me thinking…
We see upstarts bagging big accounts, only to part ways in less than a year. Reason? There are few experts at the client or the agency side, who understand the industry, and are carried away by the initial highs of low hanging digital wins
As newspaper sizes shrink, there is little that PR firms can now ‘show’ – and that means clients, with high expectations, look for the next big agency.
Today, the Middle East, especially the GCC, is at an inflection point. It’s undergoing an unprecedented economic and socio-economic transformation. Success depends on a few inter-related factors: sustaining foreign direct investment (FDI), building a knowledge-based economy with further diversification away from oil and gas, attracting multinational businesses to establish operations, and drawing world-class talent to the region.
These shifts have profound social and cultural implications for its citizens and residents, affecting how they work, live, and engage with the world. The region is not only attracting investment and talent but also elevating national champions into global technical, financial, logistics and real estate brands. And identifying lucrative investment opportunities abroad for sovereign wealth funds and other local institutional investors. So, the GCC is acting as a conduit for capital and ideas, both inflow and outflow.
Communications play a central role in realising these ambitions. It must evolve from a tool to inform into a function that influences. But there are some serious challenges with the current PR scene in the region:
Firstly, there is an over-reliance on generalists, which account for 90-95% of the communications workforce. This would be fine if the GCC was still in early economic development. But now that it is a stable, dynamic and sophisticated market – rapidly transitioning from emerging to developed – there is a need to integrate knowledge-led industry specialists into PR teams. These should include economists, those with management consulting and Big Four experience, former financial analysts, data scientists, and people with knowledge of governance and environmental issues.
This is especially critical for high-stakes and special situation mandates such as initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions (M&A), restructuring and change-management programmes. It also applies to deep cultural and behavioural influence programmes like nation building. So, PR must shift from a generalist model to a knowledge- and expertise-driven approach. It’s no longer an option!
Secondly, there’s a lack of senior advisory people who can speak to the C-suite and government leadership at the same level, and also be involved in hands-on communications execution. A clear majority of PR mandates are run by junior or inexperienced staff. The industry must move away from a tactical, operational focus to a more strategic approach.
PR should not be about generating media coverage, likes and shares for the sake of generating them, but about creating meaningful – and consistent – impact. Agencies should be stakeholder-centric, solving real business challenges and driving outcomes, not just outputs.
Thirdly, there’s an absence of a knowledge transfer model. Agencies typically rely on long-term, sticky retainer relationships – often thanks to a global account – instead of building in-house capabilities within client organisations. Talent development should be a core function of PR agencies helping clients establish high calibre, internationally competitive in-house communications and investor relations teams.
If an agency does its job well, a client should not need the same level of external support beyond about two years. The focus should be on passing and retaining institutional knowledge to clients, and ensuring sustainability beyond the agency’s direct involvement.
The region’s economic, political and social transformation demands a fit-for-purpose communications model that informs, influences and drives real impact.
To remain relevant and effective, it must shift from generalist PR to expert-led, specialist-driven strategic communications, ensure senior advisory is coupled with senior execution, and build a knowledge transfer model that empowers clients rather than fosters dependency.
Unless you’re happy with ‘shares’ and ‘likes’. In which case you don’t need to get too technical.
By Ajith Henry, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Capital Gate Advisors
