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Workinpr.com PR Executive Insights
November 2002

Judy Wilks
President
Bite

Q: What changes do you predict for the PR industry in the coming year?
A: Our current post-bubble hangover days are the perfect time for a healthy dose of reflection and self-analysis. (Believe me, I'm a Brit, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to hangovers.) We all need to learn from the events and excesses of the last few years and adapt to the present climes. In 2003 I hope we will see the fruits of some of this analysis in the form of innovative new PR approaches and services.

I also fervently hope that, in our new world of corporate responsibility, the word 'buzz' will be struck from the PR vocabulary forever.

Q: What industry do you think will be fastest growing in 2003?
A: Bite has just established a global mobile technology practice because we believe this to be a major growth area in the coming years. Wireless is not just another technology; it's a whole new medium, just like the Internet was a decade ago.

Q: Personally, what is the biggest challenge you will face as a PR leader in 2003?
A: Keeping the faith, and helping those around me to do the same. Despite the pressures of budget squeezes and the demand for instant gratification, we can't afford to give in to short-termism. While demonstrating the tangible return that PR can bring immediately, we must continue to keep one eye on the future and start investing in it right now.

Q: In the recessive economy, what innovations are necessary to succeed?
A: Innovation is more important now than ever. It will no longer be good enough - if it ever was - to trot out the same old tactics. Our audiences are increasingly hardened and harder to reach. PR people need to take more time understanding what makes their audiences tick and dreaming up new ways of reaching them. I think we'll see PR borrowing from other marketing disciplines and melding tactics together in ways that get the message across in unexpected places.

Q: What skill or characteristic do you deem the most critical for a new PR hire at your company?
A: I'm a great believer in out-thinking rather than out-spending the competition. Creativity cannot be manufactured, only refined, so it's the first thing I look for in potential recruits.

Q. Do you prefer working on the corporate or PR agency side? Why?
A: I have always preferred the cut and thrust of agency life. I love being surrounded by people who are as passionate about PR as I am, and I thrive on the energy, variety and constant challenge of an agency environment.

Q. What leader do you most admire?
A: President Bartlett of the West Wing. I aspire to have his compassion, courage, intelligence and humility.

Founded in 1995, Bite is dedicated to creating innovative and exciting communications campaigns for the leading technology brands of today and the upcoming brands of tomorrow. With offices in San Francisco, London and Stockholm, and a network of partner agencies worldwide, the company combines local expertise with a global view. Its clients include Apple, Conxion, Etagon, Ilford, Iomega, Openwave Systems, Sherwood International, Sun Microsystems and Toshiba. Bite Communications is part of NextFifteen Communications Group plc.