PR-activity of the IT companies in Runet

Market size

From April to July, 2009 the Sokur and Partners agency carried out studying of PR-activity of the companies in the field of information technologies to the period. According to a research, total expenses on PR of the companies of the IT sector in 2009 will make about 95 million dollars. PR-managers and heads of marketing departments of the companies of software makers, computer components, desktop and portable computers, peripheral equipment, Internet platforms and also advertizing, BTL and the marketing agencies participated in poll.

"By our estimates, in 2009 giants of the industry will increase investments in network PR by 20-30%, the company has less – for 60-80%", – Dmitry Sokur, the CEO of the Sokur and Partners PR-agency considers.

Structure of the market

The companies of the IT sector can be separated conditionally into four big segments on volumes of budgets. So, the first group has the PR-budget of 3-5 million dollars a year, the second – from 1 to 3 million, the third group promotes products for the budget account in 0.5-1 million dollars, the fourth, most numerous group, its promotional budget makes up to 500 thousand dollars a year. The PR-budget in the IT sector depends on product category, the amount of business and market sizes. For example, equal on turnovers in terms of money of the company from consumer and B2B of segments can operate with the budgets differing by 10 times.

Today large producers employ up to five agencies which advance separate categories of products. In addition contractors on start of a new product or dealer actions are attracted. A basis of cooperation with specialists PR "from outside" for a year – development of strategy and full-time employment with media and communities on the Internet. A number of the companies shift a routine part of PR-work to the agencies, preferring to communicate with media independently. Also the agencies are used for technical translations, monitoring and drawing up reports.

PR-tools in the IT sector

In the IT sector press releases, announcements of products and tizerny campaigns, testing of products, a press conference, product press tours, dealer conferences, industry conferences, seminars for clients and media, round tables on key/new technologies are considered as the most traditional PR-tools.

The activity on the Internet belongs to new tools. Among them there are web press releases, blogs of the companies and on products, work with communities, the content projects, the short video presentations, podcasts, the user forums, quasivirus projects.

Comments of market participants

Despite recession in economy, PR-budgets suffer much less, because of the small size in relation to other promotional budgets. "Now the PR-agencies should feel better than the others, - Olga Manannikova says, the Marketing director and PR of the Russian representative office of Adobe Systems Inc., - at the smaller cost of PR yields big results, than other instruments of marketing".

Each company selects tool kit and the amount of funds for promotion of products individually. At good integration of all media and promo channels the simple rule works – the volume of investments is proportional to result. "Specifics of our product such is that it is difficult to advance it only advertizing media. In general, for hi-tech products and PR technologies it is crucial, - Irina Shekhovtsova says, the PR-manager of NVIDIA in Russia and the CIS, - Through a word is much easier to inform the consumer of an opportunity and advantage of the innovative solutions".

"The continuous flow of information is very important", - Ekaterina Krymova, the Marketing director of Fujitsu Technologies Solutions in Russia and the CIS notes. All specialists agree with it: according to a research, the companies of IT market issue on average 10 press releases a month. Not less important representatives of the companies consider personal contacts with journalists and also holding actions. Summing up the research results, It should be noted that during the difficult economic period expenses of the IT companies on PR were cut down slightly. Moreover, fight for the consumer escalated, and PR-tools in it play an important role. It allows to say that the companies conduct quite high PR activity, and the market of PR-services saves relative stability.