The outlook for public relations in 2011 appears promising, according to local executives.
“I see healthy growth in the industry,” said Rebecca Hall, president of Costa Mesa-based Idea Hall. “I don’t see a spike or going back to the glory days but incremental growth for marketers.”
Several public relations firms have reported bringing on workers after nearly two years of cuts.
“We’re very optimistic about 2011,” said Daryl McCullough, chief executive at Irvine-based PainePR. “We’re in complete growth mode.”
The optimism about the year appears to be tied to an increase in budgets and the willingness of clients to pull the trigger on marketing plans.
“An increase in activity in public relations and marketing is closely tied to events in the economy,” Hall said. “With real estate clients, we’re seeing more transactions, which lead to more marketing for people buying, selling or leasing.”
Public relations firms have spent the past couple of years dealing with cautious clients.
“It’s been scary to make commitments or be too risky,” Hall said. “So we ended up with choppy and project-oriented programs. Now our clients are looking further into the future for marketing. We’re back to more stabilized marketing and public relations plans.”
Social media appears to be holding its momentum as more companies embrace social networking as part of an overall marketing campaign.
“We’re working with some terrific multinational brands and companies,” McCullough said.
PainePR was involved in this year’s social media campaign surrounding Isaiah Mustafa, the “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” guy from the Old Spice commercial launched earlier this year.
The social media campaign features Mustafa responding to questions and comments via YouTube through Old Spice’s Facebook and Twitter account.
The agency sent out updates on Mustafa’s responses and conducted media relations prior to the launch of the campaign.
SparkOC, Register
San Ana-based Arts Orange County, an arts nonprofit, and the Orange County Register have joined forces to promote the arts and generate some revenue.
The Register, part of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., and OC Arts want to increase readership for SparkOC.com, a website that showcases arts-related activities and cultural events. The plan is to share content with OCRegister.com with a new arts web page and cobranded weekly e-mail newsletter.
“OCRegister.com is the ideal partner to extend SparkOC.com to a wider audience and get people excited about experiencing an undiscovered arts venue or to try something new,” said Richard Stein, executive director of Arts Orange County.
SparkOC.com started two years ago and provides details on all of the county’s art events.
“We have somewhere along the lines of 300 to 400 arts organization and venues placing their listings on the site,” Stein said. “You might find upward of a 1,000 events going on in Orange County a month.”
The nonprofit approached the Register about SparkOC.com early on, but uncertainty at parent company Freedom and the economic downturn shelved the plans until recently.
“We all agreed this was a great thing needed by the community, but they had to wait until their affairs were in order,” Stein said.
As part of the partnership, SparkOC.com will contribute content for the Register’s dedicated webpage, including previews and listings for music, theater, dance and visual arts events around the county.
The weekly e-mail newsletter will contain content from SparkOC.com and the Register.
The two will share ad revenue from the website and newsletter.
“The new website and e-mail newsletter will help further our mission to make the arts more accessible and easier to experience in Orange County,” Stein said.
Shared promotions could include ticket giveaways through the web page, newsletter and the Register Insider, a subscriber rewards program.
“Our research shows that entertainment listings and ‘things to do’ rank among the top three topics of interest,” said Ken Brusic, editor and senior vice president at the Register.
Goodbye and Thanks
It’s hard to believe that I started writing this column some two years ago fresh from another publication where I watched the commercial real estate market start to collapse.
In that time, I’ve seen the entire marketing world come to a screeching halt and then pick itself up, stronger and smarter than before. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of interesting people from all aspects of business, from creative types to number crunchers and visionaries.
Throughout all those conversations, I heard about entrepreneurs who started their companies with nothing but an idea and a passion.
It got me thinking about following them and taking the plunge. This marks my last column for the Business Journal as I leave to pursue a career in public relations.
I’ve launched a boutique public relations firm, Irvine-based Orange Ink Public Relations, where I plan to help small businesses, entrepreneurs and other companies find their voices and get a little ink.
I plan to still be a part of the vibrant media and marketing community here, albeit from a different side.
Keep an eye out for my orange Camaro.
I can be contacted at orangeinkpr@gmail. com or (949) 923-5833.
Kari Hamanaka, who comes from the legal newspaper Los Angeles Daily Journal, is taking over the column as the Business Journal’s new media and marketing reporter starting next week.
