Communication consultancies in Catalonia: 25 years creation spaces for dialogue

Abstract

Public relations (PR) consultancies first appeared in Spain half a century ago. The first PR agency, Sociedad Anónima Española de Relaciones Públicas (S.A.E. de RP), was set up in November 1960 in Barcelona. However, due to the economic and political situation, consultancies could not fully develop the services offered until the 1990’s, when they started their exponential growth in Catalonia and Spain. Over the last years, the Spanish economic crisis has disrupted the sector’s rate of growth. Therefore, this study focuses on the evolution of PR agencies in Catalonia over the last 25 years in order to gain a deeper and wider knowledge of the history and nature of PR and a real picture of consultancies in Catalonia, where consultancies started half a century ago. With this aim in mind, a 10-question survey was developed and sent to almost 60 agencies from May 2014 to May 2015. Our conclusions show that new agencies have appeared in the last years and new ones are still emerging despite the crisis. Results also suggest development in new areas such as digital PR and preferences for terms such as “communication” instead of “public relations”.

Keywords

• Public relations
• communication consultancies
• history of public relations
• strategic communication
• Catalonia.