PR leaders believe riots will have ‘significant impact’ on London’s reputation
PR leaders believe that the recent riots will have a significant impact on London’s reputation internationally, a survey by PRCA has found.
The survey of PR professionals found that 63% believed that London’s reputation would be significantly damaged by the riots. However, only 16% believed that the impact would be long lived.
Only 8% of respondents thought that the riots would lead to a significant impact on the Olympic Games next year, with the majority thinking that it would have no effect (40%) or only a slight decline (52%) on corporate investment.
Francis Ingham, PRCA Chief Executive, said: “The riots have been a PR disaster for London and its leaders. As we address the underlying causes of the riots, we must also invest in rebuilding this great city’s reputation with business and tourism alike. We have the most talented PR in the world, let’s use it.”
The PR professionals were mainly unimpressed by the reaction of politicians to the riots. Respondents rated the leaders on a 1-5 scale on their response to the London riots. The total scores for the leaders were as follows (multiplying the score by % of respondents, i.e. the higher the number the better the response, with a decent response equalling a 3.00):
Ken Livingstone – 1.35
David Cameron- 2.01
Ed Miliband – 2.01
Nick Clegg – 2.04
Boris Johnson – 2.33