PR agencies are expecting a surge in new enquiries and new clients now that the new Tony Abbott-led government is settling into Canberra.
After several months on hold as the country waited to vote on its leader, business is picking up for PR companies as businesses look to engage with the new government.
Mathew Jones, managing director of Ogilvy’s Parker & Partners, which specialises in government communications, told B&T he is already experiencing a rise in enquiries.
“We have definitely noticed an increase in enquiries from organisations who are thinking very hard about engaging with the new government,” he said. “We have seen this across a range of sectors – everything from education and agriculture to healthcare and FMCG, wherever there are issues that need to be discussed with the government.
“For a range of reasons, the last period of the last government caused many organisations to hold fire. The hung parliament and minority government caused a degree of uncertainty among clients, and that uncertainty has now been cleared up. I think we will now return to what is a more long-term normal way of operating.”
Jones said the week-and-a-half between the election and the new Cabinet being sworn in created a delay in enquiries, with businesses waiting to see who they need to engage with on which portfolio, but that is now a lot clearer.
“We are expecting to get a lot busier,” he added.
Glen Frost, publisher of The PR Report, agreed. He said in The Australian: “We have been in caretaker mode with not a lot of new activity but now the corporate sector is preparing for quite a bit of change. People who have got more experience on the Liberal side of politics will be the people being hired by large corporations that want to engage stakeholders in Canberra.”
