NEWS: Survey shows business chiefs are relying more on Internet

More than half of corporate PR directors are now using the Internet for

business communication, according to a recent survey conducted by US-

based consulting firm Manning, Selvage and Lee.

The survey, of 512 European and US executives, found that 56 per cent of

businesses now use the Net for corporate communication. Supporting this

high ratio, 23 per cent of canvassed executives said the Internet was

already an important tool for communicating with the media, while almost

four times that number, 81.5 per cent, predicted that the Net will be

either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important to media relations by the end of

the decade.

Supporting this trend, the Manning, Selvage and Lee survey found that 74

per cent of businesses approached either have a web site, or are

planning to develop one.

Serafina Espie, head of MS&L’s UK technology group, said increasing

reliance on interactive technology presented challenges for both in-

house and agency PR people.

‘Corporate communicators need to plan who they are trying to reach,

whether they wish to reach them by e-mail or the Internet, what they are

going to say and how they are going to set themselves apart,’ she said.

‘Agencies will need to be able to help corporate communicators feel more

comfortable with this new medium: to do this they will obviously have to

feel assured with it themselves,’ she added.