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Dubai: While local advertising agencies may have to live with reduced client budgets this year, it may not be the case for their public relations (PR) counterparts. So believes Peter Rae, a long-timer in the industry who has just taken over as managing director of MCS Action, the UAE arm of Action Global Communications.

"Based on what I have seen in the past, when ad budgets are under stress due to economic circumstances, a lot of clients will then regard PR as a better way of spending within their reduced budgets," Rae said. "They tend to spend fractionally more on PR and the return they get for a relatively smaller amount of money (compared to those on ads) is seen by many companies as being higher.

"I think there was never a point when clients had money to throw at projects, but the mood will certainly be circumspect."

2011 budgets retained

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