PR critical to organizational success, according to new study

2004 was a "Bounce Back" year that saw strong growth in many key indicators of health for the PR profession, according to GAP III, the third annual Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices Study, published by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s Strategic Public Relations Center (SPRC) and sponsored by the Council of Public Relations Firms

"While one year is not a trend, our findings indicate that PR is not only doing well compared with recent years, it may be entering a new era of vibrancy and maturity," said Jerry Swerling (pictured), director of the SPRC and principal investigator on the Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) study.

"In nearly all types of organizations surveyed, public relations budgets increased, additional staff was hired, and PR’s role expanded," said Swerling. "But the most stunning finding of GAP III is that, according to hundreds of senior-level PR people, their CEOs now believe that PR is the #1 contributor to organizational success, ahead of marketing, finance, legal, sales, and others. By comparison, PR was ranked #6 out of 8 functions in both 2003 and 2002."

Swerling added that the increase may be attributable to the "transparent, communications intense environment in which we now find ourselves."

A total of 347 senior-level practitioners from companies, government agencies, and non-profit agencies responded to GAP III. The annual GAP study is widely regarded as the most comprehensive, in-depth look at the health of the PR profession.

"We sponsored the GAP study because it is essential that the profession monitors and tracks its own growth, and the GAP study is one of the best ways to do that. More specifically, we want to benchmark the trends among internal PR functions and their PR agencies, and track the overall contributions of public relations within organizations" said Kathy Cripps, president of the Council of Public Relations Firms. "From a bottom line standpoint, the GAP data should be useful for our members and their clients."