Content area
Full text
Global PR agencies are so far holding their own and their breath - as they continue to expand into new markets in a tougher 2008. Alex Black reports
More than ever, PR is a global industry. As companies find new ways to sell their goods and services outside their home country, PR agencies are finding more ways to help them.
Big international agencies are setting up shop - mostly by buying up budding local businesses - in a growing number of markets. But the big areas of growth as we move into the second half of 2008 are Eastern Europe, the Middle East (or, more accurately, the UAE) and the'BRlC bloc of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
New offices are springing up all the time in Moscow. In December 2007, FleishmanHillard became the latest international agency to open a practice there in the hope of securing lucrative work from Russia's rapidly expanding economy.
While the picture in emerging markets is varied, many of the more established markets are...