BORDER LINES: VIENNA - Poll reveals high status of PR

Eighty per cent of 165 Central and Eastern European companies and public sector organisations polled in a recent survey by Vienna-based agency Hauska and Partner use public relations agencies and in-house staff for internal communications, while only 41 per cent do so for product PR and 43 per cent for broadcast media relations. The majority of those polled said PR played a significant part in their markets, while only 41 per cent said that its role was increasing. The organisations surveyed across the region included Coca-Cola, Shell, Procter and Gamble, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.