PR industry worth an estimated 129 billion yen in FY2018, up 27 points from FY2016
The Public Relations Society of Japan (PRSJ) recently completed its seventh PR Industry Survey. Conducted every two years, the research aims to gain insights into the latest industry trends and estimate total sales figures, based on business data collected from PR companies.
The survey was sent to a total of 202 companies, including 180 PRSJ members and 22 non-members, in PR and PR-related industries, garnering 71 valid responses (with a response rate of 35.1%, down from 37.3% in the previous survey).
The 2019 survey indicated that the PR industry was worth approximately 129.0 billion yen in fiscal 2018, a substantial increase from approximately 101.6 billion yen in 20162. Representing industry growth of around 27.3 billion yen, or approximately 27 points, the results point to an expanding PR market, and demonstrate that companies and organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of PR activities in a diversifying media environment.
- Overall industry worth was estimated based on the total turnover of companies that responded to the survey, taking into account factors such as median number of employees.
- 2016 sales figures come from 2017 PR Industry Survey.
Below is an outline of the survey results.
PR Industry Survey overview
- Sample: 202 companies (180 PRSJ member companies and 22 non-member companies)
- Method: postal survey
- Response rate: 35.1%
- Survey period: January–February 2019
- Survey conducted by: Hummingbird
Average PR company profile (dedicated PR agencies)
- Average number of employees: 60.7 (vs. 44.8 in 2017)
Median number of employees: 18 - Employee male-to-female ratio: 46:54 (consistent with previous trends)
- Average percentage of women in managerial positions: 9.6%
- Average number of planned new hires for spring 2019: 8.5 (vs. 3.9 in 2017)
Future performance and business outlook
Compared to the 2017 survey, 2019 results hinted at a more cautious outlook with regard to both sales and the future economic climate.
- 59% of respondents expected sales to increase, down from 64% in 2017.
- 34% of respondents described the current economic outlook as “good,” down from 41% in 2017.
39% (40% in 2017) believed that the situation would “remain unchanged or plateau,” while 14% expected circumstances to worsen, up from 7% in 2017.
Trends in PR Practice
- Most common types of PR services provided (multiple answers permitted)
| Publicity planning and execution | 83% |
| Mass media relations | 79% |
| PR consultancy services on retainer | 78% |
| Press conferences/PR event planning and management | 76% |
| Monitoring and clipping | 75% |
| Information gathering and analysis | 72% |
| Sponsored editorial content | 69% |
| Measurement of PR effectiveness | 68% |
| Marketing consulting services | 66% |
| Social media communications using influencers | 66% |
- Fastest-growing services since previous survey
(multiple answers permitted; 2017 survey results shown in parentheses)
| Social media communications using influencers | 66% (53%) |
| Healthcare communications services | 38% (26%) |
| Corporate brochure & website production | 63% (53%) |
- Top 10 services for which demand is expected to increase (multiple answers permitted)
| Social media communications using influencers | 68% |
| Planning and management of owned and social media | 62% |
| Video production and promotion | 52% |
| Crisis management-related media training | 45% |
| Crisis management consulting | 45% |
| Marketing consulting services | 44% |
| Measurement of PR effectiveness | 44% |
| Planning and management of events for influencers | 42% |
| Branding services | 42% |
| Social listening | 39% |
| Crisis management PR | 39% |
| Global PR | 39% |
Observations:
- While publicity work and media relations continue to rank firmly at the top of the list of most-offered services, social media communications, such as influencer initiatives, are clearly taking on greater prominence.
- Among services for which demand is set to increase, utilization of owned media ranked highly, as did video production and promotion, supporting the idea that internet-based PR activities are on the rise.
Challenges in PR practice/company management
- Challenges in PR practice
When asked about current important challenges in PR practice, the most frequent responses were “training and securing human resources,” “developing new PR methods,” and “improving services,” results that echoed the findings of the previous survey.
(Multiple answers permitted; 2017 survey results shown in parentheses)
| Training and securing human resources | 80% (83%) |
| Developing new PR methods | 55% (66%) |
| Improving services | 45% (55%) |
| Securing good partners/subcontractors | 44% (34%) |
| Developing methods to measure the effectiveness of PR activities | 38% (32%) |
| Diversifying service areas | 38% (40%) |
- Challenges in company management
The top three challenges in company management were “boosting sales,” “improving employee motivation,” and “securing highly capable mid-career hires,” followed by “work-style reform” and “training managerial-level successors.”
(Multiple answers permitted; 2017 survey results shown in parentheses)
| Boosting sales | 65% (66%) |
| Improving employee motivation | 52% (61%) |
| Securing highly capable mid-career hires | 44% (49%) |
| Work-style reform | 42% (50%) |
| Training managerial-level successors | 39% (30%) |
