ICCO World PR report: first in ESG and MI

The World PR Report is a global survey of industry executives and directors published annually by ICCO. The research provides insights into trends and practices related to growth, investments, technology, ethics, mental health, diversity, measurement processes, and social media, broken down by seven geographic regions.

The change in opinion regarding the impact of artificial intelligence is well illustrated by the rearrangement of the ranking of the three most important technologies of the future among the respondents: this year 86% ranked AI among the three most important technologies – in 2022 this proportion was only 40%. Data science fell back to second place (41%). In addition, 45% of respondents ranked “learning how to use AI tools” as one of the three most important future skills; the answer option added this year has thus overtaken strategic consulting (42%).

The most important area of application of new technologies was the improvement of operational efficiency (55%), which in 2022 only took fourth place. Building online communities came in second (47%), and employee engagement (38%) came in third.

The research also revealed that agencies expect the most investment in ESG (49%, up from 44% in 2022 and 32% in 2021). Influencer communication and strategic consulting also made it to the top three for the second year running. Based on the results, next year, customers will again prioritize sustainability and environmental protection (69%), as this year’s survey identified this as the most important social issue from the customers’ point of view for the first time in all seven regions.