Public Relations Agencies - Used to Be Dominated by "Old Pros"

 When I was starting out my career in writing promotional material (we called it "writing" then, not "content creation"), there was downright awe for the "old pros" in public relations agencies. They had the business down cold. Their names appeared not only in the trade press but also general Big Media. The late Jack O'Dwyer also followed what they were up to in his iconic newsletter and his annual print directory.

And if your work caught their eye they would mentor you, at least a little. And through them you could receive many lucrative assignments at those large agencies, ranging from Edelman to Hill & Knowlton. 

Now, as professional anonymous network Reddit Public Relations flags: there are fewer of those seasoned public relations players these days:

" ... if you're at one of these larger agencies the more senior you are you had better be either very billable or driving new business or you're at risk.

The posting was in response to both the Edelman two rounds of layoffs (the first targeted the old pros) and the proposed merger of Omnicom and Interpublic. The query was how those on that subreddit read the tea leaves on layoffs and hirings in the near future. The past two years had been tough in the public relations sector. 

Forbes puts it this way:

" ... the industry evolves. AI-driven productivity, further consolidation among agencies and greater overlap with digital marketing ... take place ... [It] is already beginning to explore AI and automation for tasks such as media monitoring, data analysis and content generation ... consolidation to persist as larger firms aim to expand their service offerings and global reach. This can lead to mergers to form more competitive entities."

A recent article in O'Dwyer's Public Relations reports on the Prowly survey. The major budget item for public relations agencies in 2025 will be for AI, ranging from research to analytics to content. More from the survey:

"Three out of four PR professionals surveyed (74 percent) predicted that AI will be the biggest PR trend in 2025. Coming in at a distant second is data-driven PR strategies (37 percent), followed by hyper-personalization (32 percent), real-time crisis management (28 percent) and purpose-driven PR (25 percent)."

One employment shift is to go in-house at a business. 

Another common exit ramp is to hang out your own shingle. The old pros have the knowledge base, skills and contacts. And that form of startup is relatively cheap. Also it can be conducted remotely. The game is now the specialist one so they can focus on a narrow area of expertise such as influencing the influencers or crisis communications. 

Meanwhile the holiday season is one of nostalgia. I'm circling back to those heady times for the public relations industry when a contact such as Dick Kosmicki made it possible to meet with the old pros. Those agencies vibrated with energy. Very important people walked in and out. My eyes bugged. The money was there so I could expect to be treated to lunch at a Manhattan restaurant near Central Park. You bet, it was "Mad Men" ethos.

Now that, as Forbes observes, the industry is evolving no one can predict what kind of entity will take shape as the new business as usual. 

During that transition more middle-aged in the sector are coming to my career coaching services. This replicates my own experience in the late 1980s when we middle aged middle managers were pushed out of Corporate America during the Jack Welch type of downsizing. First shock, then we became The Accidental Entrepreneur Generation. I set up office in a tiny apartment between the stove and table. 

Affordable Career Coach Jane Genova provides end-to-end career services, ranging from diagnosis of the challenges and fix-it strategies to preparation of resume/cover letters/LinkedIn profiles and how to gain control of an interview. She specializes in over-50 work issues. For a confidential complimentary consultation please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com. Fees custom-made for your unique budget.