According to a survey of Britain's 100 leading press and public relations agencies, 79% of the industry's major players have yet to develop a set of online and social media services. Perhaps not surprisingly, over half of the agencies that do offer online PR are based in London, as the chart below displays.
Meanwhile - despite the steadily increasing importance of blogging as a media tool - 89% are still failing to publish their own blogs. Again, over half of the agencies that do maintain a blog are located in London.
Only 21% of the agencies surveyed included Internet PR as part of their service offering. Of those, however, only 14% of the operations that claimed to have new media covered published their own blogs.
Taken as a whole, only 11% of UK PR Consultancies use blogs to communicate with clients, colleagues and the wider marketplace.
London outfits appear to have taken a clear lead in embracing the expanding field. A clear 28% of the capital firms surveyed offer Internet PR, with 14% publishing their own blogs.
Companies from elsewhere in the UK fared much worse in the research, with 14% offering Internet PR and 8% publishing their own blogs.
"Despite finding that an increasing number of UK PR professionals are on the ball when it comes to online PR this survey confirms our experience that a high proportion are still more focussed on traditional media. However, given that this is most probably a reflection of client budget and resource allocations, perhaps what we should be asking ourselves is what this says about UK business' attitude towards online communications," said Adam Parker, Chief Executive of online news distribution company webitpr.
He added: "On a positive note, we feel that with steadily growing interest in the online world from both agencies and in house departments, the tide is beginning to turn. But if it is to properly address the challenges and opportunities that new media offers, the industry must invest in relevant services and training at all levels. Those failing to do so run the long-term risk of losing out in the inevitable battle for the online communications market."
