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BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
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Corporations' need for communications drives PRN Asia's expansion
By Song Hongmei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-09 10:56 Although PRN has been in operation for more than 50 years and the service has been well received by many global organizations, it was initially challenging to introduce the concept to the Chinese market, said Chen. For firms who found the wire concept confusing, the company organized training sessions, coffee meetings with the media and investor relations seminars to help improve understanding. "The education of our customers, including those who retain us (public relations and investor relations clients) and those who receive us (the media) at no charge, was and remains a daily goal," said Chen. The company's major obstacle in expansion is explaining the importance of overcoming the "do-it-yourself" approach of potential customers. Despite the obstacles, Chen and Williams said that China will continue to grow and could even challenge other PRN markets in term of volume and revenue. Setting its sights on its business development in the China market, PRN acquired full rights of the joint operation from Xinhua Finance last November. As a result, it changed its name to PRN Asia and now has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Through years of persistence and patience, PRN Asia is quickly becoming the standard for most corporate press release distribution in China but it will require continued investment in human resources as well as technology, Williams emphasized. Helping Firms Go Global "In addition to having gained a competitive advantage and achieved rapid business growth in China, we are also proud of advocating the concept of corporate communication's importance to a company's development and having helped some Chinese enterprises polish their brands at home and abroad through our services," said the two executives. PRN Asia has helped several brands become recognized outside China and has assisted more than 1,000 Chinese companies, listed and non-listed, to extend their influence around the world. Many Chinese multinational companies, such as CNOOC, China Mobile, Haier, Hisense and Baidu have benefited from PRN Asia's services in their globalization process. Additionally, with the world's largest corporate news release distribution network covering 170 countries and regions, reaching over 24,000 media outlets, PRN Asia has helped Chinese trade organizations and governmental organizations, such as the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, the Shanghai Baoshan People's Government, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, to connect with the overseas market. The service provider was thus awarded the 2008 "Chinese Enterprises Going Global" National Contribution Award as the Most Influential Intermediate Service Agency. It was presented by Nanfang Daily Press Group, the Policy Research Office of China's Ministry of Commerce and the China-Europe International Business School. It is the first award in China to praise enterprises for their significant achievements in globalization as well as service agencies that greatly contribute to helping Chinese companies go global. While the financial crisis is far from over, it may also be an opportunity for some Chinese companies to buy overseas assets. But they have experienced a series of setbacks in the past several years for various reasons including CNOOC's failed Unocal bid. One of the reasons Chen believes is that their brands and products are still not well understood by the outside world. However, he says today's Chinese companies have a much greater desire to communicate their message to the Chinese audience, and they also display an increasing need to send their stories to the rest of the world where they either trade or are keen to expand their brand. PRN Asia will continue to be a partner for Chinese companies to communicate with overseas media, investors and the general public, make them better understood and adopted by the outside world and help more Chinese companies thrive in the increasingly integrated though turbulent global economy. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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