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Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business
More than a third of PR agencies are expected to cut down on their marketing budget due to the slowing economy in Gulf countries due to the fluctuating oil prices, according to a recent survey conducted by Middle East Public Relations Association (Mepra).
Ray Eglington, Group managing director at Four Communications and the MEPRA Board Member, told Emirates Business, “The Middle East PR industry must focus its collective effort and investment on discovering innovative ways to find, train and retain employees.†“I believe people are central to what we do, and we’ve been given a serious wake-up call to engage with an incoming generation of professionals who bring both fresh and local perspectives to the table,†he added.
Of the 138 respondents to the Mepra survey, two-thirds considered investment in the PR industry would stay the same or grow throughout the year. This was a huge drop from 87 per cent in last year’s survey.
It is also been witnessed that the second half of 2015 and this year has been a crucial economic climate for the Emirates and the other Gulf countries. Oil prices remaining low, visitors from Russia and China slowing and a strong dollar, to which the dirham is pegged, making the country more expensive for many tourists.