NEW YORK--The Holmes Report has launched the Influence 100, a new project that uncovers the 100 most important in-house communicators in the world.
Led by a dedicated microsite, the project includes profiles and interviews with the 100 comms chiefs, who reflect the rising importance of the role of senior public relations professional within major corporations— and other institutions that face intense public and media scrutiny.
The Influence 100 also features in-depth research of the budget, responsibilities and attitudes of the senior communications pros selected for the list. This includes a survey of their favourite agencies and communicators; insight into their geography and background; and, information on their reporting lines, budgetary and agency oversight. The findings are summarised in this infographic.
For example, the study reveals that 40 percent of the Influence 100 control a public relations budget that is more than $50 million, but 16 percent spend less than a million on external counsel.
As one might expect, given the size and stature of the US public relations industry, almost exactly half of them are based in the US, and about a dozen are headquartered in the UK, but the remainder are spread around the world, from markets including Australia, Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Russia, and South Africa as well as all of the major markets in Western Europe.
In terms of agencies, only four percent of respondents say they work with a single global public relations agency of record in all markets around the world, although another 36 percent do have a global AOR, but supplement its work with other firms. Asked which PR agency they most respected, Edelman received most votes, followed by Burson-Marsteller, Waggener Edstrom and Weber Shandwick.
All of this information and more is available on the Influence 100 microsite, and is summarised in this infographic.
