Beyond the general despondency in the marketplace, there are signs of continued vitality in some segments of the market which need to be tapped by the PR sector.

The French PR market was already in a period of slow growth when the financial crisis started to hit. The industry had reported a five percent growth in 2007 over 2006 with the sub-prime crisis in the summer of 2007 already looming.  Although it is too early, at time of writing, to have figures for 2008, the growth is not likely to have been any stronger.  The positive signs of growth which were witnessed during the first half of the year could not resist the pervading pessimism.  And who knows what 2009 will look like? 

That said, the overall picture should not conceal a diversity of situations which, individually, may show a continued vitality is some segments of the market.  Not all impacts are negative.  Clients' closer control of their budgets, the economic pressure they are facing in their own markets and the uncertainties of the future all open windows of opportunity. 

Close scrutiny of budgets (and not just those allocated to PR) gives our industry a competitive edge by being able to show how PR can deliver value in comparison with other communication disciplines.  This is not necessarily a new concept but clients are certainly paying more attention to this fact.  It is up to us as an industry to convince, if not to demonstrate, that this is the case in a variety of situations where communication is vital to management.  

This is particularly relevant in the following areas:

• When dealing with social issues, whether internally or externally, affecting employees and their communities. 

• Web-based campaigns which allow the creation of fruitful relationships with key target groups in a conversational style. 

• When communicating with society's stakeholders and financial shareholders. 

• Communicating with customers who are much more critical in a global context. 

Attention must be on the generation of focused, relevant and effective media impact whose value will not be deemed to have decreased if the focus is quality and not just measured in column inches or ad space equivalents. 

The trend of bringing together a range of communication disciplines to form an efficient combination, rather than behaving as competitors all after the same budget, is on the rise within the current environment.  This will benefit not only the large integrated groups but also the smaller local agencies which can combine to effectively and efficiently serve their objectives. 

The pressure which clients are under within their own markets and the pressure to perform competitively within sluggish markets with less resource is adding a premium to creativity.

Not only that but consultancies need to think creatively how they allocate resource between traditional media channels, how they identify and activate the means to leverage opinion and hone their ability to scan and track their target groups beyond the traditional spheres. 

The motto of today is: "the past will not return". Moreover, one cannot predict the future.  This poses a double challenge to our profession.  How can we serve the needs of management and public bodies by offering a sense of direction and motivation?  And how can we restore credibility to a generation of leaders who, particularly in the financial sector, are seen as lacking in reliability and a sense of responsibility? 

However immodest it may seem, our profession and particularly consultancies, should play a key role in meeting those two challenges.  Our responsibility is to understand and share all that can be understood of the mechanisms of trust in society.  Our trade stands or falls by the credibility of our sources, of leadership and of governance.  Our function is to include the intelligence of direction and the appropriation of meaning in the management of people.  All three areas of competence are required to a higher degree in these particular times - not just as businesses and professionals, but as members of society as well. 

This view is not specifically French.  But neither is the context.  These are features which are common over borders across which public relations travels.  There is no protectionism in public opinion.  Or if there is, it will soon turn to chauvinism.  And the French could not be accused of that.

Jean-Pierre Beaudoin is Managing Director of Groupe i&e