Many Chinese companies have started to use international communications agencies such as PR Newswire to establish their profile domestically and globally, such as the sportswear company Li-Ning. Provided to China Daily

Press and PR company looks more to social media to deliver message

With China's fast development in information technology, one of the world's largest press release distributors has started to shift the focus of its service to social and mobile media.

"Previously if people wanted to receive press releases, we normally did it via e-mails or phones, but now with a lot of people using social media and mobile media, we have started to grow our presence in blogs, weibo (micro blogs), search engines and mobile devices," said Ninan Chacko, CEO of PR Newswire, during a recent visit to Beijing.

"We therefore invest a lot on social media such as Sina Weibo, and on mobile clients' ends such as Android and iOS."

China has 128 million iOS and Android users, as many as in the United States, according to an Internet expert.

Headquartered in New York, PR Newswire has offices in 16 countries and sends news to outlets in 135 countries. In the past 12 months, its global revenue has hit $315 million and generated around 22 percent profitability.

Currently, PR Newswire reaches 3,000 websites, including China's three leading web portals - Sina, Sohu and Tencent - and 50 major social and mobile media in the Chinese mainland.

Chen Yujie, managing director of PR Newswire's office in China, says it has an increasing number of followers, but they tend to be restricted to traditional media and local websites.

"Consumers' habits in China change rapidly, so press releases should not only be designed for websites, but also for bloggers and consumers who use search engines as well," Chen says.

PR Newswire entered the Chinese market in 2002, setting up offices in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. In May 2011 and January this year, it opened offices in second-tier cities such as Chengdu and Hangzhou, and one is planned for Xiamen at the end of the year.

"Small and medium-sized export companies are emerging in these second-tier cities, and they are making great efforts to reach people outside China," Chen says.

Chen says although more Chinese companies have started to use PR Newswire to build up brand awareness domestically or to reach an audience overseas, many local enterprises are still unaware of the sort of services it offers.

"When we first arrived in China, we did a lot of media meetings and seminars to educate people about our work," Chen says. "Also, since a lot of small companies could not write quality press releases, we provided advice or recommended people to write or to polish press releases for them."

Since the beginning of this year, PR Newswire has held four seminars in Chengdu and three in Hangzhou to educate people on better ways to reach audiences outside China.

"Traditionally, people think the best way is to attend trade shows to increase their international presence or attract investors overseas," Chen says. "Trade shows are great, but there are more channels that could help them."

In China, one of PR Newswire's key groups of clients is technology start-ups who want to publish press releases on mobile phones or the Internet. Also, there are many technology companies who use PR Newswire before an overseas listing. In 2004, a year before China's largest search engine, Baidu, went public in the US, it went to PR Newswire to distribute press releases in China and the US.

"PR Newswire works as a vehicle for Chinese companies who want to go public in the US, as we have an extensive network there," says Chacko.

Founded by Herbert Muschel in 1954, the company has almost 60 years' experience in corporate news releases and information distribution. It now covers 5,000 general media, 760 investment houses, and 4,000 online databases and websites in the US.

Many Fortune 500 enterprises in China, such as IBM, Microsoft, Honeywell and Adidas, use PR Newswire to build up domestic branding of their products, and multinationals such as Wal-Mart and Unilever use it for CSR (corporate social responsibility) campaigns in China.

"Last year we sent about 40 press releases for Honeywell and eight from Adidas to build up their brands and promote their products within the Chinese market," Chen says.

Chen says currently 45 percent of its clients are domestic companies and 55 percent are multinational. Several government agencies in China have also started to use PR Newswire to attract foreign investment. This year it helped the tourism bureaus of Shanghai and Xiamen send press releases to North America, Europe and the rest of Asia.

Wang Yuefeng, marketing director of Lushan Mountain Tourism Development Company, says PR Newswire plays a very important role in helping them reach audiences overseas.

"They place pictures of Lushan Mountain in different seasons at Times Square, and make more US people aware of it and attract them to come here," Wang says.

Guo Huimin, deputy secretary-general of the China International PR Association, says with more Chinese enterprises going public overseas, many will need an international communications service.

"The public relations industry has started to become more refined, and most companies have begun to place information spread as a very important part of their marketing strategy," Guo says.

liaoxue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/05/2012 page19)