The latest piece of research commissioned by ICCO – on how to retain talent in public relations firms – is now complete. The final study, which was authored by graduate students from New York University and co-sponsored by the Institute of Public Relations in the US, will be made available in its entirety on the ICCO website later this month. A press release highlighting the key findings of the study will be distributed in the coming days.

Elena Fadeeva, Chairman of the Russian association AKOS and Director General of Fleishman-Hillard Vanguard (Moscow), spoke on September 29 on behalf of ICCO at the PRGlobal conference on International Reputation Management. ICCO was once again this year a Media Partner for the high-profile PRWeek event.

Public relations specialists from Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, the US, France, Belgium, Bahrain, Russia and other countries came together to discuss the latest trends in public relations and to share experiences in reputation management from an international perspective. Among them were Heads of Communications of some of the world’s best known companies, including AstraZeneca, American Express, Unilever, Dow Jones, American Airlines and Citibank.

Elena spoke on “Working with PR Agencies: Picking the Right Partners to Ensure Consistency of Message and Maximum Global Coverage”. She focused on whether employing a global agency with local offices is the most effective way of managing a company’s international PR and whether local offices can guarantee consistency. She then explored the pros and cons of employing boutique, large local and international network agencies in accordance with the following parameters: transparency, technology, corporate culture, costs, level of control required, flexibility and staff. Elena also highlighted specific areas to be taken into consideration by companies when working with agency partners in order to ensure successful cooperation.

For more insight into Elena’s topic, contact the AKOS Executive Director at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

The ICCO Board of Management, comprised of one representative from each member country association, met for its annual autumn meeting on October 9-10 in Athens. The Greek association EDEE (HACA) hosted some twenty participants over a very productive two days.

Thursday saw a gathering of the Executive Committee, press interviews for President Lou Capozzi, and a dinner for the larger board along with local Greek colleagues. The full management meetings kicked off on the Friday with a lively debate on how the current economic climate will affect public relations consultancies around the globe, followed by discussions on: membership, the content of the next Global Summit, the ICCO leadership and ideas for future research studies.

Contact your local board representative for more information.

Lou Capozzi spoke to an audience of thousands in October at the PRSA International Conference in Detroit, Michigan. His topic – “Repairing America’s Connections with the Rest of the World” – detailed the depth of the country's reputation problems and called upon communications professionals for help.

He challenged the gathering of public relations practitioners to use their skills as communicators to help repair the damage. Specifically, he suggested four ways of contributing:

1. First, like doctors, we should do no harm. Make sure your clients aren't using the issue to take cheap shots at America: like a billboard from Australia promoting Smart Cars as having German engineering, Italian design and “American nothing”. 
2. Second, we need to embrace the issue. PR consultants must make it part of their agenda with management. Advise them on the implications for the organisation and urge them to act.
3. Third, communicators need to activate their networks and use the power of public relations to engage employees, customers, suppliers and others to help with the repair job.
4. And finally, offer your advice and support to organisations like Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA) that are working to repair the connections. Go to www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org.   The information and resources on the site provide guidance for joining in the effort.

"The public relations profession is growing in stature and influence everywhere," said Capozzi.  "We have an opportunity to help reverse the terrible decline in America’s relationship with the rest of the world, a reversal that will help virtually every business in every corner of the globe."

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) has added the Brazilian Association of Communication Agencies (ABRACOM) to its membership. The incorporation of Brazil greatly strengthens the presence of the international network in the Americas.

According to Lou Capozzi, President of ICCO, “Having ABRACOM on board makes it that much easier for individual firms within our network to find reliable business partners in the markets that interest them most. It also enriches the ‘global’ perspective of ICCO in all of our discussions and industry research.”

ABRACOM aims to grow and professionalize communications consultancy in Brazil while ensuring high ethical and service standards from its member firms. The association counts with some 289 businesses, representing approximately 80% of the national public relations consultancy market. Currently there is strong demand from within the local membership to improve access to international business opportunities – something that affiliation with ICCO will help them to achieve.

To learn more about ABRACOM and its member firms, visit www.abracom.org.br. 

10 ways ICCO can help in difficult times

How can ICCO help public relations firms during difficult economic times? This was the topic on everyone’s mind during the recent Board of Management meeting in Athens. Participating board members agreed that ICCO can support its membership best by being a first resource of ‘things to share’, for example by:

1. 1) Devising a PR plan for PR
2. 2) Demonstrating how to steal market share from other disciplines
3. 3) Offering insights from financial benchmarking and analysis of sector trends
4. 4) Providing the ICCO ‘global’ perspective
5. 5) Sharing success stories of actions by associations and from individual firms
6. 6) Enabling dialogue on issues like competition and pricing
7. 7) Publishing thought pieces on why high-level PR services in particular should be valued
8. 8) Exploring possibilities for addressing the EU Commission on rules for buying intellectual services
9. 9) Distributing public procurement guides from member associations
10. 10) Producing a thought piece on the high costs of public procurement, which are shown to be too high for both sides

Board representatives also concurred that although 2008 should finish strongly, 2009 will be more challenging for our businesses. In general we can expect: more project-based as opposed to contract work, increased pressure on pricing, and a shift from private to public sector clients. 

ICCO will be actively gathering information and documentation from the local trade associations over the coming weeks and months in order to deliver to our collective membership on the above ideas.

Help us address the needs of public relations consultancies in our community by sharing success stories, thought pieces and business issues via your local association or directly with the ICCO Executive Director at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .