Of 111 senior professionals in 23 markets, 81 percent said governments had not been able to credibly communicate a path towards a solution of the crisis. Likewise, 87 percent said governments were failing to present a vision of how a future Europe would look after the crisis.

As a result, only about four percent of respondents think governments have been able to garner support among European publics for the measures taken so far, while about 20 percent are neutral and about 75 percent discount this view. Most credit is given to the efforts of authorities to explain the root causes of the crisis – where about 13 percent think this has been done successfully and about 23 percent are at least neutral. On these grounds, it may not come as a surprise that a majority, 65 percent, do not attribute credibility to governments' communication.

Euro-breakup no big deal – communications-wise

The survey also asked how communicators think a Euro-zone break-up might affect their own activities. Concerns seem to be limited, both in-house and on the agency side.

Only 28 percent of in-house managers consider a potential break-up of the Euro zone to be a risk for their organization’s corporate communications, as compared to 60 percent who do not. In fact, 12 percent even see it as an opportunity – for example, as a trigger to boost corporate reputation.

Yet, of those 28 percent who do see a risk, only half have taken specific precautions, while 80 percent of all respondents say they have not made any preparations.

Agency leaders display a similar attitude, with about 55 percent saying they do not consider a break-up of the Euro zone to pose a major business risk to their organization, while 28 percent view it as an opportunity, especially for enhancing customer relations.

To receive the full report, send an email to consulting@gartnercommunications.com.

AL: How did infiniteLatitude® get off the ground?

UG: Late in 2011 I used social media outlet LinkedIn to sample the level of interest among PR practitioners. LinkedIn was a natural choice given it has more than 120 million users word-wide. My initial inquiry turned up a raft of responses. It attracted senior consultants with backgrounds ranging from running multinationals’ global PR departments to advising top politicians. A qualification process reduced the network to those 24 professionals who form the core of InfiniteLatitude today. We launched in March 2012 and cover 14 markets on five continents.

AL: Why launch a virtual agency and at this time?

UG: My experience gained from both a client’s and a consultant’s perspective has been that a change in approach to servicing clients is needed. Budgets are getting tighter, forcing corporate communications people to make the best out of the situation. At the same time, it has become clear qualities like craftsmanship and personal relations are becoming even more important again. The underlying message is that in these times, PR agencies can grow by adapting to clients’ changing demands. Our approach is consistent with the genesis of our virtual society. Network members primarily collaborate by using online tools, video and file-sharing platforms from Skype, Google, LinkedIn and Facebook, so we are truly aligned with today’s social media trends.

AL: What is driving this need for change in client servicing?

UG: There are some key factors. Internationalisation of business means a company cannot communicate purely on a local basis any more if it is of a certain size. The continued focus on efficiency and dealing with back-office costs is another reality. There is a trend towards more flexible ways of companies co-operating with suppliers or consultants. Some multinationals are moving away from fixed employment towards ‘certified consultants’ – with a lot of this driven through the worldwide web.  There are also a significant group of companies with much lower staffing and budgets who do need international support – especially mid-size companies operating across several markets or subsidiaries of large global holdings They view the offer from many international agencies as oversized and costly for their own specific needs.

AL: How well equipped is your group to address the challenges facing PR today?

UG: We have extremely senior people on board with a global mind set, ready to help clients navigate through international territory that for them is often new and challenging. We are able to response quickly through our virtual network. Clients receive our full attention and we don’t operate on the basis of showing up at the pitch and clients never seeing us again. We’re not competing with the large PR networks. We are an alternative to those who do need international communications but don’t need all the weight of the big agencies.

AL: What does your group offer that other agencies may not?

UG: There is an unmet demand from clients who must communicate internationally in a strategic manner and want to pay for knowledge and expertise. We offer these clients access to top-notch strategic communications internationally, without the cost often association with retaining traditional network agencies. Each of our members has a minimum of 15 years of experience and in fact many go more towards 30 or even beyond. All operate from boutique shops and often collaborate virtually, with low overheads. It is an opportunity for international organisations to access on-the-ground expertise in each of their target markets, through people who operate internationally yet understand local needs.

AL: How has the launch been received – how much business interest has been generated so far?

UG: It is early days for new business and client commitments but there have been some interesting developments. Media coverage of our launch was global – from the New York Times and regional media in the US to national media in New Zealand, India and several European countries. We are continuously receiving requests from boutique agencies globally who are interested in joining InfiniteLatitude. In India, a member has been asked by a large Russian company to find support for their access into the UK, German and US markets. We have a global translation group approaching us to consider a strategic partnership. We are also delivering a first joint strategy paper involving three of our partners in three markets which could turn into a global assignment involving a number of other members. So the signs are encouraging.

Authors’ Details

Ulrich Gartner and Alan Lane are founding members of InfiniteLatitude.

Link to article

The purpose of the partnership is to provide companies with strategic insight, efficient creation and focused media outreach on a global scale, in each language, with minimal overhead costs. The InfiniteLatitude global network of PR agencies is present in 16 markets on five continents, and the Kontax worldwide network of translation companies – all with ISO 9001 or equivalent certification – runs offices in 165 countries.

Kontax provides translation skills in every sector of activity, available in 64 languages via the Kontax website. The PR skills of Infinite Latitude cover virtually every type of corporate communication requirement. Together the two networks provide a complete range of multilingual services, from strategic positioning through reputation management to crisis communications.

According to Ulrich Gartner, CEO of Gartner Communications and founder of InfiniteLatitude, “Infinite Latitude and Kontax share a common approach of providing clients with first-class services globally while sparing them the overhead cost associated with traditional agency networks. Professional, high-quality translation is essential in international communication. Therefore we see the strategic partnership with Kontax as an important step to further substantiate InfiniteLatitude’s offering.”

According to Malcolm Duff, CEO of HTT, the Translation Manager for Kontax France and founder of Kontax: "For clients, the partnership between Kontax and Infinite Latitude enables access to a low-cost, comprehensive range of highly professional communication services, from the drafting of press releases to their publication, translation, distribution and tracking in 64 languages, all on the same website”.

To learn more about Infinite Latitude, please visit www.infinitelatitude.com.

Infinite Latitude Media Contact:

Ulrich Gartner +49 69 56 00 58 24

To learn more about Kontax, please visit www.kontax.com.

Kontax France Media Contacts:

Morgane Bircham, +33 (0)235 599 770

Malcolm Duff +33 (0)235 599 770

"Infinite Latitude was formed as a new worldwide network of senior independent consultants in public relations, based in countries like Britain, China, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. The founder is Ulrich Gartner, who runs Gartner Communications in Frankfurt, Germany." (March 12, 2012)

Frankfurt/Main, March5^th, 2012 – A new global network of senior independent public relations consultants, InfiniteLatitude^®, is offering clients access to top-notch strategic communications internationally, without the cost often associated with retaining traditional network agencies.

Launching this week, InfiniteLatitude^® connects 24 corporate communications professionals in China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, India, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the United States, and Ecuador, with the aim to expand further over time. Each InfiniteLatitude^® professional has a minimum of 15, some up to 30 years of experience, and several of them have previously held top management in-house positions. All operate from boutique shops and often collaborate virtually, with low overheads.

The network is focused primarily on subsidiaries of major multinationals and smaller to mid-sized firms. To those, the alliance provides an efficient yet high-quality gateway to international corporate communication. This ability to deliver cross-border business communications strategically, consistently and professionally provided the foundation for the branded name InfiniteLatitude^®.

The network was initiated by Ulrich Gartner, a veteran in international PR and founder of Gartner Communications in Frankfurt/Germany.

“There is an unmet demand from clients who must communicate internationally in a strategic manner, yet are put off by the cost levels usually required to retain any of the large network agencies”, Gartner says. “By working with InfiniteLatitude^®, those companies get access to very senior professionals with outstanding skills and experience, without having to fund extensive infrastructure and administration as well.”

Mr Gartner says that the idea of InfiniteLatitude^®, launched via the social networking site LinkedIn in late 2011, immediately attracted the interest of senior consultants around the globe, with backgrounds ranging from running multinationals’ global PR departments to advising top politicians. The official launch now allows interested clients to reach out for high-quality services across continents and time zones at competitive rates.

“I believe that preparation for, and management of crises emerging from social media will be an area of significant growth in the months to come,” says Ulrich Gartner, founder of Germany consultancy Gartner Communications. “The number of such crisis actually happening is steadily increasing, and corporate communications departments are realizing they need to get prepared for such events as traditional crisis management tools don’t really do the trick.”

Holmes Report  19 Feb 2012

Ulrich Gartner, Founder and owner of Gartner Communications, is to hold a workshop on Social Media and Crisis Communication at the VMAC Corporate Communications Forum in Shanghai, taking place on September 1 and 2.

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