Former ICCO president Jean-Léopold Schuybroek tells Communicate it’s time PR agencies stopped generalizing

Originally published in Communicate, May 2010

Jean-Léopold Schuybroek is the chairman of Interel, a Belgium-based PR company specializing in crisis and issues management and European public affairs. He has been president of the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO), the Belgian Association of Public Relations Consultancies, and the Public Relations Organization International (PROI), a global network of independent agencies (see “Join the PRty,” page 26, Communicate, Dec. 2009). He now heads up PROI’s international development group.

On a visit to Egypt, Schuybroek tells Communicate that as public relations develops internationally, it is becoming more important and central to the companies it services. But as agencies evolve, they can no longer afford to cover all aspects of communication. The time will come when independent PR firms must choose areas to specialize in or be forced out by international networks – if they don’t join forces first. Read the rest of this entry »