Bridge: How well do Chinese business people understand PR?

Katsunobu Katada: PR as we know it supposedly began in China with Hill and Knowlton's office opening here in 1984. With a business history of only 22 years, the industry has been growing at more than 30 percent a year, according to an announcement made by the China International Public Relations Association. The industry as a whole reached 1.5 billion RMB (about $192 million) in revenues in 2000, but that number swelled to 6 billion RMB ($857 million) in 2005, and it is expected to grow further this year. These sales numbers, while much lower than in some other countries, are already higher than PR revenues for the Japanese market. PR-consciousness and recognition of the industry by the Chinese business world may still be somewhat lacking, but if one simply considers the rapid growth of the industry market then PR certainly seems to be gaining recognition in China.

Bridge: Do you know any foreign companies that do their own PR in China, or do they all hire PR firms?

KK: This is really case-by-case. Western companies in China are more PR-conscious than the Japanese and local Chinese companies, and they do their best to implement PR activities in a systematic and strategically sound way. They often have their own local PR personnel, providing them with all the know-how and skills to handle activities by themselves without outsourcing. They are still likely to use PR agencies on a project basis for special activities. Therefore, the use of PR companies by Western business is generally high.

Bridge: What is the PR agency market like in China?

KK: PR practiced in China includes corporate communications, media relations, communications research, crisis management, and other common types of PR practiced elsewhere. Chinese PR agencies are aggressive about marketing to foreign companies, and they do have many foreign companies as clients. Several of these local Chinese agencies are spin-offs from Western PR agencies, started by former employees of Western firms. Our agency, headquartered in Tokyo, specializes in communications support for Japanese companies in China. We see this positioning as an initial stage of our operations in the Chinese market. Japanese companies have a unique corporate culture and different and harder-to-solve language issues than Western companies, and therefore are a much bigger challenge for local Chinese PR agencies to deal with. Western PR agencies mainly serve European and US companies. However they do have some Chinese clients.

Bridge: What is the cost of the average monthly retainer paid to PR firms in Shanghai?

KK: This varies a lot depending on the amount and type of service. For our firm, the fee could range from about 10,000 RMB/month* for general communications research to 300,000 RMB/month for an overall brand strategy consultation program. For conventional PR activities, the general fee would probably range between 50,000 to 100,000 RMB/month.

Bridge: We hear the younger generation in China is quite different from their parents. What advice would you give to marketers who want to reach young Chinese consumers?

KK: This is a very difficult question. The younger generation can be very different, and have completely different attitudes to consumption, depending on what region of the country they live in. If you just take the example of the big cities of Shanghai and Beijing, it's important to realize that you can't equate spending power with salary. This tendency isn't limited to the younger generation, but it is especially strong among them. Some people who earn a fixed salary of 3,000 RMB purchase 500 RMB cosmetics and have 700 RMB dinners on a regular basis, wear 1,000 RMB shirts and drive cars that cost more than 100,000 RMB. This indicates that a sizeable number of people can rely on extra discretionary income, such as an allowance from parents, presents from boyfriends, part-time second jobs, etc. Marketing campaigns based on the average official income of the younger generation of urban Chinese will not work.

...2007 Expected to Be Worse

Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the outplacement firm, announced the results of a study on January 25^th that shows the number of planned job cuts in the U.S. media sector rose by 88 percent last year and will continue to increase this year, as readers shift from print to online services. The media industry announced 17,809 job cuts in 2006, up sizably from the 9,453 cuts announced in 2005, according to the study.

"These organizations will continue to make adjustments as their focus shifts from print to electronic," said John Challenger, head of the outplacement firm. "Until they can figure out a way to make as much money from their online services as they are losing from the print side, it is going to be an uphill battle."

In January, Time Inc. announced the elimination of 289 jobs. The New York Times Co. announced it would cut 125 jobs and close all remaining foreign bureaus for the Boston Globe, which it owns, a decision met by cries of anguish from the paper's editorial staff.

"Media relations is a totally different experience today than a few years ago," said Bridge president Lucy Siegel. "Sadly, even some of the country's top 10 newspapers no longer have specialized reporting staff in many areas. For example, there are few papers that have health or science reporters any more. They buy those articles from other papers, such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times or Washington Post syndicates, or wire services. The result is a lot of media power in the hands of just a few journalists."

Tips for Giving Better Speeches

By Sandra Kazan

Rehearse your speech in front of a few colleagues or friends and ask for feedback. Here are common criticisms of speakers and suggestions for improvements to address those criticisms:

1. If you have distracting body mannerisms: write the mannerism in the margin of your text, i.e. "head scratching," "finger pointing," and cross it out. This will help break the habit.
2. If you can't hold the audience's interest: establish genuine eye contact with your audience. Arrange your written text in spoken phrases so that you look at the people you're addressing rather than at your text. Use language written for the eye instead of the ear. Your audience should feel you're talking to them, not making a speech. Find words that are direct, vivid, and to-the-point. The audience has to grasp what you say immediately.
3. If people have trouble understanding you:firm up your consonants. Speak a few lines of text with your index knuckle in your mouth. Then remove it and speak normally. Your articulation will be crisp and clear.
4. If you are self-conscious about your accent:working with a speech coach can help identify the sounds-i.e. "l" "v" "r" "w"-which most non-native speakers of spoken English have trouble with. With practice, an accent can be reduced and you can speak with confidence.
5. If you suffer from stage fright — i.e. dry mouth, shaking voice, legs turning to jelly: preparation and rehearsing for a presentation will give you confidence. Warm up your voice with a gentle hum from low to high and back to low.
   
   When fear sets in, people often hold their breath. To release the breath, prolong your exhale, then allow the breath to return. This will help focus your concentration. For dry mouth, bite the tip of your tongue gently to create saliva.
   
   Get centered physically. Flop over like a "rag doll" as far as you can. Make sure you fully relax your head and neck. Now with your eyes closed slowly roll up to a standing position. When you're physically centered open your eyes. You should feel released from tension.

Sandra Kazan is a speech coach, Broadway actress and director who has served as a speech consultant to corporate executives in top management positions for over 20 years. She has special expertise in coaching people who are not native English speakers and want to make speeches and presentations with greater clarity, ease and confidence. She has worked with clients of Lucy Siegel, Bridge's president, for more than 15 years. For information on working with Sandy, call Lucy Siegel (tel: 212-583-1043).