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Weber Shandwick, the world's largest public relations (PR) firm, plans to double its personnel in China within three years to become a market leader here, company CEO (chief executive officer) Harris Diamond said.
The company also wants to upgrade its clientele by increasing the proportion of Chinese enterprise clients from the current 20 per cent to 50 per cent, Diamond said.
The Chinese market is of great importance to Weber Shandwick's global strategy given the country's great growth potential.
The company finds China appealing because its economy is one of a few in the world expected to grow for many years, Diamond said.
As China integrates with the world now that it is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), domestic enterprises will have to adjust the way they behave and talk to fit their new audience - and that's where PR firms can help, he said.
He said his company has identified some Chinese enterprises that possess both Chinese and multinational characteristics and hopes they will use PR firms to help them better navigate both worlds.
Diamond declined to say how much money the firm generates in China but said, "We are still not as strong as we should be in the China market, and China should contribute to the firm's global businesses in the next few years."
Weber Shandwick's short-term goal is to add more workers to the firm's Shanghai and Guangzhou operations since they are the most developed cities in China, Diamond said.
The most desired talents can write and understand a product inside and out so they know which attributes to tout, he said.
Another company goal is to better promote its products, Diamond said.
The company, like most of its global counterparts, has concentrated on relationship building and strategic planning while most of China's domestic firms have focused on product promotion for enterprises.
Industry experts say China's PR industry is still in its infancy, but Diamond said that in the long run, quality of service, not price undercutting, will determine which PR firms succeed.
He said his firm is off to a good start, thanks to the work it did to help Beijing land the 2008 Olympics.
"After the Olympics, we saw a great demand for PR services," he said.
(Business Weekly February 17, 2002)
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