Close-Up: Should advertising agencies offer PR?(public relations)

The emergence of social media is driving the two disciplines closer together.

In the short space of a week, two ad agencies, Beattie McGuinness Bungay and VCCP, have announced plans to offer clients a PR capability.

BMB's in-house offering will be headed up by PR professionals who will only handle consumer communication-based PR like social media, online PR and events.

Icon, a joint venture between Chime Communications' VCCP Group and Resonate, is more niche. Pitching itself as a hybrid digitally led social communications agency, it aims to create social relationships with brands to encourage customer advocacy.

Both start-ups, which the owners claim have been set up on very little initial outlay, will combine the skills and knowledge of existing staff with the expertise of PR professionals. BMB will hire four PR experts while Icon, which is managed by three existing Chime employees pulled from the PR, digital and advertising disciplines, will employ consultants.

Michael Frohlich, one of the three managing directors at Icon, says: 'Icon is founded on a clear client need, recognising that advocacy and trust are at the centre of modern communications. The proliferation of media channels across digital and traditional media means that many forms of targeting the mass consumer have changed. There needs to be a new way of attacking the marketing mix.'

Social media is the catalyst for blurring the divisions between PR and advertising. However, there is still a clear difference between consumer communications through social media and the more traditional PR based on a great story that attracts media interest (and often that story might be about a high-profile, new ad campaign).