PROI Worldwide increased its 2018 net fee income by 10% to almost US$ one billion, making it the largest global communications company compared to other multi-national agencies and the fifth largest compared to the world’s leading communications holding companies according to a recent report released by The Holmes Report.
PROI's Global Management Board discussing the future in the annual board meeting
PROI Worldwide’s 75 integrated independent Agencies, serving a total of 8,173 clients with 6,417 staff scattered among its 165+ offices around the world, continue the trend of outgrowing their competitors. Compared to PROI’s growth of 10%, the world’s other largest public relations firms grew by just 4.9%.
Among its ranking of global holding companies, PROI Worldwide’s 75 agencies rank as 5th in the world, larger than holding groups Publicis, Blue Focus, Huntsworth, Next 15, IPREX, and Havas. Compared to centrally owned multi-national public relations firms, PROI Worldwide is in first place, larger than Edelman, Weber Shandwick, Burson Cohn & Wolfe, FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, MSL Group, H + K Strategies, Ogilvy PR Worldwide, Blue Focus, Brunswick, and Golin.
Knowledge Sharing and Flexibility are Key to Strong Performance
According to Clare Parsons, PROI Worldwide’s Global Chair and Chair of London-based reputation management consultancy, Lansons, PROI’s ability to share knowledge globally and its flexibility contributes to independently held PR agencies outperforming their publicly owned peers in growth. She added that PROI Worldwide continues to lead not just in business outcomes, but also by assisting its agencies to grow.
PROI members share experiences, challenges, and plans for 2020 at annual summit
This sentiment is echoed by Doy Roque, head of PROI Worldwide’s partner agency in the Philippines, who believes that access to the collective expertise of the top agencies across all markets is what gives PROI its edge. “We've been with PROI for 3 years now, and we've been able to learn from some of the best-in-class agencies all over the world. This allows us to elevate our work to global standards, benefitting both our staff and our clients,” he said.