Public Relations and the Advertising Industry
The public relations industry, the same as advertising, is concentrated in the hands of few dominant firms. Still, the striking element about corporate public relations is that PR firms are tightly related to advertising companies. Nine out of the ten biggest international PR agencies have close ties with the advertising industry. Also, looking at the largest acquisitions involving U.S. PR firms from 1997 to 1999 it is apparent that money coming from advertising agencies has played an important role.
Table: Top 10 PR Firms 1998
Rank 1998
| PR Firm
| Advertising Agency Related
| 1998 Net Fees (in U.S. $)
| 1997 - 1998 % Change
| 1
| Burson-Marsteller
| yes
| 258,417,000
| 4.2
| 2
| Hill and Knowlton
| yes
| 206,000,000
| 8.9
| 3
| Porter Novelli Int.
| yes
| 183,050,000
| 23.6
| 4
| Shandwick
| yes
| 170,300,000
| 7.3
| 5
| Fleishman-Hillard
| yes
| 160,692,000
| 19.1.
| 6
| Edelman PR Worldwide
| no
| 157,840,530
| 18.1
| 7
| Ketchum
| yes
| 125,248,000
| 29.6
| 8
| BSMG Worldwide
| yes
| 118,963,000
| 93.0
| 9
| Weber PR Worldwide
| yes
| 83,166,000
| 36.2
| 10
| GCI/APCO
| yes
| 79,667,957
| 28.4
| |
With many PR agencies sold to advertising companies, the advertising industry's influence further increases; enabling them to offer their clients not only advertising services, but also know-how in marketing, public opinion, crisis and issues management and political lobbying.
Table: Acquisition of PR Agencies (1997 - 1999)
Acquired Company
| Buyer
| Buyers Industry
| Estimated Purchase Price (in millions of U.S. $)
| International PR
| Interpublic Group of Cos.
| Advertising
| 230
| Fleishman-Hillard
| Omicom Group
| Advertising
| 85
| Ketchum
| Omnicom Group
| Advertising
| 60
| Dewe Rogerson
| Incepta
| Advertising
| 40
| Financial Rel. Bd.
| BSMG/TN
| Public Relations
| 33
| Weber PR
| Interpublic Group of Cos.
| Advertising
| 15
| Alexander
| WPP Group
| Advertising
| 15
| Charles Barker
| BSMG/TN
| Public Relations
| 15
| |
Source: Odwyerpr.com.
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Automation
Automation is concerned with the application of machines to tasks once performed by humans or, increasingly, to tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Although the term mechanization is often used to refer to the simple replacement of human labor by machines,  automation generally implies the integration of machines into a self-governing system. Automation has revolutionized those areas in which it has been introduced, and there is scarcely an aspect of modern life that has been unaffected by it. Nearly all industrial installations of automation, and in particular robotics, involve a replacement of human labor by an automated system. Therefore, one of the direct effects of automation in factory operations is the dislocation of human labor from the workplace. The long-term effects of automation on employment and unemployment rates are debatable. Most studies in this area have been controversial and inconclusive. As of the early 1990s, there were fewer than 100,000 robots installed in American factories, compared with a total work force of more than 100 million persons, about 20 million of whom work in factories.
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