The history of public relations has been defined by multinational firms. Take the example of H&K, or Burson as it is now known. H&K was, for all intents and purposes, the first global PR agency to set up shop in the Gulf, landing in Bahrain back in the 80s. It was Kuwait’s agency during the first Gulf war, infamously playing a role in the campaign that included the Nayirah testimony to Congress about babies dying in their incubators.
It was the first agency to invest seriously in a Saudi presence, back in the 90s, and it kept operating there through the hard years of the 2000s while building out the UAE and the rest of the GCC. H&K Gulf was, in essence, the global agency of reference. Today you’ll find H&K alumni scattered across the region, agency-side and in-house alike. It was the standard for award-winning comms.
While Edelman, the world’s largest agency, may have entered the market more recently, it has made its own impact with a rapidly growing operation in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Both they and other multinational firms have struggled of late. Sluggish spending and cancelled contracts caused by both the regional conflict and national deficits have meant reduced headcount and falling revenues. For me, there’s a bigger issue at play. What I see, hear and feel is that the region’s clients are asking something different of their agencies, which they haven’t asked before.
In effect, the retainer-heavy, full-service network model is under pressure from both directions at once. The multinational agencies are struggling with costs. And clients aren’t just paying less; I suspect many of them are rethinking what they’re paying for.
The shift isn’t away from good comms counsel; it’s away from a particular way of buying it. Clients increasingly seem to want senior counsel without the network overhead, flexibility without a 12-month retainer, and specialists over generalists, especially when budgets are being watched line by line. A large agency carrying thousands of staff and global pitch infrastructure is a hard cost base to justify when the client on the other end is asking procurement to defend every line.
And then there’s the changing nature of the industry. More collectives, groupings of senior advisors working together without agency overheads (this is a model that is taking root in both Asia and Europe), while local agencies savvy up and begin appointing international talent to provide clients with an expanding list of services. Local firms are increasingly able to take on the larger clients and win accounts which have been the preserve of multinationals for decades.
While the Gulf’s PR industry changes and adapts, the question is how will the multinationals respond? Some clients will still seek out the safer option, the brand they know. For those working in the industry, be prepared to adapt as much, if not more so, than your employer. The good news is that the industry is full of talent. Take Burson, for example, an agency I have long admired for the quality of its people, many of whom are now looking for what comes next. If you’re working on the client side, now is a great time to add some incredible people to your ranks.
