This article is closely related to the continuation of the research project ‘Market analysis of PR agency services’ relevant to the pioneering and nationwide study of the entire public relations (PR) agency sector in our country. The project is conducted by Exacto’s research team in cooperation with the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Bibliology at University of Warsaw, Maria Sklodowska-Curie University in Lublin, and the Association of Public Relations Agencies. In the first part of the project (from November 2020 to July 2021), we have prepared a research operative that provides the opportunity for further analysis of the different methodological approaches.

The 934-entity operative was based on the compilation of the many available data sources along with their cross-checking and processing. During the desk research work, ‘a categorization key dedicated to the agency database was developed, which made it possible to systematize knowledge about the PR agency market in Poland. The survey was population-based among all PR agencies in Poland, and one of its results was the preparation of the country’s first complete list of such entities based on the definition criteria developed’ (Tworzydło & Szuba, 2022). The research shows that the statistical agency has been in the market for nearly 10 years. Nevertheless, in the surveyed population, as many as 200 entities have been in operation for less than 5 years. An interesting conclusion drawn from the project is that 7% of the agencies are affiliated with a domestic sector organization for PR firms (the Association of Public Relations Agencies and The Polish Public Relations Consultancies Association). In the surveyed group, 85% of all agencies have the number 70.21.Z listed within their Polish Classification of Activities (PKD) codes, meaning human relations (PR) and communications. However, 532 companies (57%) indicate them as the main ones. These results formed the basis not only for an extensive analysis of the sector, but also for identifying other distinguishing parameters (Polish Press Agency, 2022).

Thus, for the first time in the history of the Polish PR industry, we made an analysis to identify the key areas from the industry’s point of view, with a special focus on one sector, which is PR agencies. The sector has not been diagnosed before in such scope as was undertaken by the researchers who coauthored this article. This research has become the basis not only for drawing conclusions in the above area, but also for guiding further research that can be undertaken by scientific research teams.

The premise of the next stages of the ongoing research is to further analyse the collected data and use them, among other things, in the context of ways of communicating and perceiving the essence of PR in relation to the theory of the linguistic picture of the world (LPW¹). Such formulated assumptions also became the main goal of the activities carried out in the creation of this article.

Methodology of the Study

In this study, the quantitative-corpus analysis methodology was used. The fundamental theoretical assumption behind both quantitative-corpus analysis and all discourse analysis (using both quantitative and qualitative methods) is the belief that a relatively uniform distinguishable image of a given social object/fact/phenomenon is deposited in the language used by representatives of a given social group (speakers of a given language, or, as in the research presented here, a narrower group, such as a professional group) (Berger & Luckmann, 2020) in the communication strategies, metaphors, and more broadly, the discursive strategies this group uses. In this case, the analysed group is PR professionals and, more specifically, pertaining to selected communication strategies implemented by them in the context of self-description² of their professional activities.

Thus, the basis of the present research is the assumption that the language of a given social group (in this case, PR professionals) is a specific way of organizing social reality by the representatives of this group; it expresses a certain attitude to this reality, experience, a set of judgments and norms, and even a worldview (Mańczyk, 1982).

The basis of the methodology used here is, as mentioned, the methodological achievements of corpus linguistics and the lexicometric approach to language and discourse analysis (corpus-assisted discourse studies). The essence of this approach is the use of quantitative methods and computer tools (in this case, the Provalis software package) to reconstruct the linguistic worldview of the studied objects, the carriers and manifestations of which form a dedicated corpus of verbal expressions. Trying to explicitly define corpus linguistics is problematic; it basically deals with the principles and practice of using corpora in the study of language (Pawłowski, 2003; Stefanowitsch, 2020) with the tools of information technology (Sinclair, 1991). Corpus linguistics uses large collections of texts (corpora), which are selected according to established analytical principles and categories. Thus, actual language patterns are analysed. This approach draws on the apparatus of mathematical and statistical research, while the assignment of statistical analysis and the use of quantitative methods to study linguistic phenomena make it possible to isolate statistical groups in this matter for further analysis. According to Pawlowski (2001, 2003), the empirical and quantitative nature of the regularities under study implies the measurability and/or quantification of certain features of language.

The extracted corpora were subjected to quantitative-corpus analysis (Gries, 2014)³, conducted with the use of the Provalis tool⁴. In addition to the references to the LPW and the analysis of the frequency of lexemes, in the presentation of the methodological concept, it is worth noting the specificity of the agencies that were included in the two isolated text corpora (K1, name targeting the area of communication/PR and K2, no targeting in the name) (Stasiuk-Krajewska & Ulidis, 2018). For this purpose, statistical analysis was carried out in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software based on cross-tabulations and the procedure for comparing averages. The results were tested for statistical significance (using nonparametric Mann–Whitney U tests for the two comparison groups and chi-square cross-tabulations). This provided a statistical picture of the research sample (Apanowicz, 2002) of 415 agencies, which were classified into the K1 and K2 corpora (a significant differentiating factor from the perspective of the entire article).

Profile of the Surveyed PR Agencies

The initial assumption of significant communication differences between K1 corpus agencies and K2 corpus agencies was confirmed by the data presented below. Agencies classified as K1 corpus are characterized by:

• a greater number of tabs on the website (the main menu is more fragmented, the internet user has more choices), as the average for K1 was 5.80 versus 5.40 in K2 (p = 0.049);
• a more detailed offer, as 82% of the websites include additional information beyond indicating just the name of the service/area of operation. In contrast, for K2, the above percentage was 73%, which suggests the generality of the offer (p = 0.040);
• a more PR–oriented self-description. The content on websites significantly more often includes terms indicating that the company sees itself through the prism of PR, for example, ‘we are a public relations agency’, ‘we have been operating in the PR services market since’. In the K1 corpus, 87% of such cases were observed, while in K2, the percentage for such positioning was twice as low (p < 0.001);

The activities in the possession of other communication tools (in addition to the website), through which the company can present content to the wider environment, are shown in Figure 1. In general, it can be seen that agencies from the K2 corpus are slightly more likely to have profiles on the analysed sites, although the results of statistical tests were not significant (p > 0.05).

In addition to the communication factors listed above, it is also worth noting the selected factors of a demographic-market nature. Agencies from the K1 corpus are almost twice as likely to operate as sole proprietorships. This legal form is found among 43% of agencies from K1 and 25% from K2 (p = 0.005). Also, agencies with lexemes related to communication and/or PR in their name are significantly more likely to have the PKD code 70.21.Z—meaning interpersonal relations (PR) and communication—86% versus 75% in K2, indicating logical consistency in the way the company is organized and named. There are also significant differences in accessibility to financial statements (which correlates with legal form), as it is easier to find this type of information for agencies in the K2 corpus (p < 0.001), for example, 52% of K2 companies have posted information for 2019, while in the K1 corpus, it was 38%. Meanwhile, the two compared corpora obtained similar statistics when it came to duration of operation in the market, frequency of membership in a sector organization, and location of the company’s headquarters in a given province (the lack of significant differences is evidenced by p > 0.05).

The above data indicate that companies in the K1 corpus, therefore, those that refer in their name to communications/PR conduct more elaborate and detailed communications as well as consistently and unambiguously locate their self-description in the area of PR—not only in the name, but also in the more elaborate self-presentation texts on websites and even in the PKD codes.

Analysis of Text Corpora

We analysed text corpora, created from textual materials taken from the websites of PR agencies. These were texts posted in the ‘About Us’ tab or in tabs with similar specificity and communication function, where PR companies put information about their business profile and what they consider to be their strengths, specificity, and differentiator in the market. The similar function of the texts determines the similarities in the way communication is carried out on the agency–environment line and methodologically legitimizes the comparison of these texts. For the purposes of the study, we used the database of the Exacto agency, which owns a systematically updated database of PR companies and conducts periodic research projects on the environment of PR professionals in Poland (Polish Press Agency, 2022).

The motivation for such constructed corpora (based on tabs containing references to the identity, mission, vision, or profile of the companies) was the assumption that such texts most fully represent the self-construction (self-description) of the agency in the context of offering PR services (Stasiuk-Krajewska, 2012). As mentioned, these are texts that present both the agency’s offerings (thus indicating the defining framework, scope of categories, and PR competencies) and also name what distinguishes the agency, by its own declaration, in the market. It is also important to indicate why its offerings are attractive and/or of high quality (thus, agencies point to the qualities constructed as desirable characteristics of professional PR).

The analysis included two text corpora of these agencies that met the input criteria. First, at the time of the study, they had a functioning company website, and second, the site had an ‘about us’ or functionally related tab. Agencies that only have a social media profile were not included, as it was considered that the medium of communication (in this case, Facebook) models the content posted there in a specific way, so texts from there cannot be considered equivalent to those from websites. The final unit of analysis was 415 companies—or 44% of the total PR agency database in Poland. The stated assumptions imply the need to infer only within agencies with higher information potential. This is an important observation, which also points to the underdeveloped communications background of a significant number of Polish PR firms, since as many as 56% of such entities do not meet the two above-mentioned input criteria—that is, they do not have the final basic tool for acquiring potential clients online⁵.

Following this, the corpus was divided into two distinct segments (Table 1). The first was created based on texts that come from the websites of agencies that have the word communication or PR in their names (K1). The other—on the basis of texts from the websites of agencies that do not have the above-mentioned words in their names (K2). Since the study focused on communicative reality (the construction of social reality or the LPW), it was assumed that the communicative factor of the agency’s name was also worth considering as a differentiating criterion. It was assumed that the decision to include the terms communication or public relations in the name could correlate with the different self-description and linguistic construction of PR, as well as condition differences in the way the agency was organized. These assumptions have been partially confirmed.

The K1 corpus was based on texts from 167 functioning websites. The K2 corpus, on the other hand, was based on texts present on 248 eligible websites. Among the texts that made it into the corpus⁶, those appearing in the tab under the name ‘About Us’ dominated, although such a tab name was more often present in the K1 corpus (as much as 24% points of difference). As can be clearly seen, PR agencies that directly include the lexeme communication/PR in their name are more likely to pay attention to self-construction in the context of offering PR services, and thus provide a greater volume of knowledge through the company’s website to the environment. This conclusion supports earlier statements about greater communication commitment and greater awareness of the importance of rich and relevant communication among agencies in the K1 corpus.

In addition, K2 proved to be a less informative corpus, as evidenced by a lower average of words (six fewer words) and characters (25 fewer on average). On the other hand, the more common corpus was by far K2 (60%), meaning that fewer specialized lexemes appeared in this corpus, or those explicitly targeting the agency’s communications and PR area, although it would seem that such an arrangement could be an element of competitive advantage and a nod to the classical approach to PR. Meanwhile, research has confirmed that emphasizing, using linguistic means, a particular specialization is not a dominant phenomenon. Presumably, it will increasingly disappear over time, bearing in mind, for example, the tendency of PR companies to build the image of a full-service agency. Following this, the corpus was divided into two distinct segments (Table 1).

No title⁷ – from table 1
function⁸ – from table 1

The data already presented above show significant differences in the linguistic construction of PR in the two groups of agencies. As it seems, K2 included texts that can be considered a bit more diverse, individualized, and ‘creative’. Despite the fact that the percentage of texts with titles classified in the ‘other’ category (the last row of the table) is comparable for both corpora, the very collection that these texts form is more homogeneous in the case of K1. In addition, the K1 corpus is characterized by the occurrence of more standard titles like ‘About Us’, as well as duplication of the company’s own name. In the case of K2, on average one in five texts did not have a title, although this group of companies compensates for this lack most often with visual communication (photos, graphics, or videos). It is also worth noting that in this corpus (K2), as soon as the user enters the site, short texts appear to attract the attention of the internet user, often correlated with the image. This type of feature should also be considered as a manifestation of the desire for a certain unconventionality in communication, and therefore, a kind of ambiguity in terms of self-description, avoiding placement within a particular professional field, in this case, the field of PR.

The lexical structure of the K1 corpus—which included texts from the websites of agencies that use the term public relations, PR, or communications in their names—made it possible to observe a more strongly developed pro-client approach. It is also visible in the K2 body, but occurs at a lower intensity (Figure 2).

Lexical structure of K1 and K2 – most frequent lexemes (in %)⁹

As can be seen, the lexeme with the highest frequency in K1 is the lexeme client (1.39%). This clearly indicates communication in relation to the needs of the recipient, to the client, and the client’s expectations of the agency. Therefore, this is communication based on relationship building, which is further reinforced by the high frequency of the lexeme our (our company, our agency, our services, our offer)—communication of the offer is therefore based on building a relationship between ‘us’ (the agency) and ‘you’ (clients)—0.95%. In addition, PR is seen here as a team activity, with the agencies signalling at the same time a high level of involvement in the activities carried out, identifying with them (this is also the function of the pronoun our). PR is therefore defined by a kind of activism (action and involvement), rather than, for example, analysis or research (high frequency of the lexemes action—1.01% and work—0.83%).

The lexeme company (0.96%) also ranks high in the K1 corpus. Combined with the position of the lexeme client, this indicates that PR activities are rather located in the arena of narrowly defined market activities. To put it another way—it refers to PR as an activity aimed primarily at commercial clients—lexemes that could indicate a different approach, such as organization (0.49%), group (0.18%) or institution (0.13%), are placed low. PR agencies are companies that work for other companies constructed in the market paradigm as clients. All this is clearly located in the field of business (a lexeme, by the way, also with a relatively high frequency—0.51%).

The data presented above also clearly indicate that PR is understood essentially as communication, which is strategic in nature and implemented in a project model. This communication should be effective, while the most significant competitive advantage in the self-description of agencies from the K1 corpus is, as most often emphasized, experience—0.68% (note that this is not, for example, innovation, which, after all, one could easily imagine). This makes the PR industry appear rather reserved, not to say conservative. On the other hand, it is not surprising that experience is an important value for professionals working, generally speaking, on credibility and trust.

It is worth noting the high frequency of the set of adjectives in the highest grade (most—0.82%); agencies like to brag directly, incorporating the language of (self) promotion and direct persuasion into their self-descriptions. In the context of the expected competencies of PR industry professionals, this conclusion may be somewhat disturbing. Categories such as media (0.75%) and marketing (0.51%) also ranked high. Overall, the 20 most frequent lexemes account for 15.21% of the total K1 corpus, while for K2, the rate was slightly lower—13.35%. In addition, in both corpora, the most frequently occurring lexemes were comparable, for example, places 1–4 were distributed in the same way.

In the case of the K2 corpus (generated from texts posted on the websites of agencies that do not have the terms PR, PR, or communication in their names), some of the observations that were made about the K1 corpus remain valid. An essential part of the linguistic worldview is the construction of the relationship between the agency and the client, it is still important to act and work for clients. Looking for common denominators, it can be seen that agencies continue to communicate themselves as teams that identify strongly with what they do (here, additionally, there is a high frequency of the form we are—0.51%¹⁰), aiming to establish a close relationship with the client. We still find a lot of direct self-presentation and a lot of declarativeness in the texts. PR activities also at K2 are clearly located in the market sector, defined as a project and strategic activity, the quality of which is guaranteed by the experience of those who carry them out (in this case, the agency and/or its employees).

Besides the many similarities between the K1 and K2, there are also noteworthy differences. The table 2 shows a comparison of the results of the analysis of the two corpora. It includes a summary of only those lexemes for which the frequency clearly—by the terms of the presented study—differs by at least ± 0.15% points in the intergroup cross-section. The gradation used (in order from the largest to the smallest difference) allowed us to observe more than a dozen interesting cases (Table 2).

First of all, it is worth noting that the data presented confirm the assumption made as the basis for separating the corpora according to the criteria of presence (K1) or absence (K2) of the public relations/PR and/or communication categories in the name. It is clear that agencies from the K1 corpus consistently, in their self-description, refer to the above-mentioned categories. In particular, the frequency of the terms public relations and PR is significantly higher here (both if we treat them as separate categories and when we decide to add up their frequency value). In the latter aspect, the results are 1.60% for K1 versus 0.95% in K2. In addition, with regard to the K1 corpus, a link to media relations—still a key sphere of PR agency activity (Tworzydło et al., 2020)—is more strongly outlined. This is confirmed by frequency differences occurring with the lexeme effect (in the context of measuring PR effectiveness), journalism (in the context of a professional group and the role of the media in the work of PR professionals), effective (in the context of communication activities carried out or crisis management), or communication (in the context of the exchange and flow of information on the agency–media line). It is also necessary to emphasize the high frequency of lexemes media (analogy: with the media, in the media, media relations, etc.) in the K1 corpus. It is evident that defining PR by building and maintaining relationships with the media (journalists) and carrying out activities of a journalistic nature are still a very strong trend in the industry. Similarly, the presence of the lexeme event should be interpreted as indicating an important area of PR activity/competence.

At the same time, the frequency of the lexemes marketing and advertising is noticeably lower for agencies in the first corpus, which may indicate a higher degree of specialization in the field of PR and a higher awareness regarding the differences between PR and marketing or advertising (or, more precisely, the lack of validity of equating these concepts). The category of image, traditionally used in defining or specifying (including colloquially) the concept of PR, also appears somewhat more frequently in K1. As it seems, the higher presence in this corpus of the lexeme relations (deviation 0.12) should be similarly interpreted. Also absent from the K1 corpus (among the first 20 ‘frequency leaders’) is the lexeme brand, which already appears in the 12th place in the K2 corpus.

Interestingly, agencies from the K1 corpus—that is, let us recall, those more clearly located in the PR field—communicate themselves in a more ‘marketing’ way, so to speak: persuasively, through far-reaching promises, while being less specific. Here we can clearly see a higher frequency of lexemes from the most- group (0.32% points higher value), but also other lexemes such as all (0.11), wide (0.12), or possible (0.22) on the one hand; good (0.14) or excellent (0.10) on the other¹¹. What emerges from this type of communication is, first, the construction of PR as a field that is very broad and imprecisely defined, and second, PR agencies and professionals as such, who tend to raise great expectations among their clients by making many ambitious but unspecific promises. Needless to say, such a linguistic construction is not beneficial to the field of PR¹².

Agencies more strongly attributed to the field of PR (K1 corpus) also communicate more clearly through the promise of the effectiveness of their actions (lexemes effect, effective, and success). It is worth noting that this very effectiveness (for the three aforementioned lexemes, there is a difference of 0.5% points of advantage in favour of K1), as opposed, for example, to creativity or creation/creator (present, after all, in the K2 corpus), also says a lot about how ‘good’ PR is perceived. In the K1 corpus, the tendency to refer to commitment (the lexeme work) is also slightly stronger. You can also see a shift away from the (still obviously very important) customer category towards the organization category¹³.

The comparative analysis presented above also indicates that the narratives from the K1 corpus make more reference to authority and professional knowledge (obviously the lexemes knowledge/we know, but also the aforementioned specialist). It is also worth noting the slightly higher frequency of the lexeme ethics (0.09 points), which is practically absent in K2 (0.01%).

Summary

Separating the two text corpora according to the criterion of naming PR agencies, followed by a quantitative-corpus analysis, allowed us to observe differences in the communication self-description of PR agencies in Poland. Differences were also revealed in the website communication techniques used by agencies whose names belong to separate corpus (such as the number of tabs on the website or the detailing of the offer). The lexical analysis of the corpora also made it possible to identify those elements that—in the eyes of market practitioners—are considered important for professional PR.

Corpus one is formed by agency names that contain the word communication and/or public relations/PR. Agencies whose names have entered this corpus are characterized by a greater number of tabs on their websites and more detailed communication of their offerings. However, from the point of view of self-description, it seems more significant that these agencies, in line with the assumption of locating themselves more clearly and unambiguously in the professional PR field, communicate in a more standardized and at the same time elaborate way—they use more words for less images. Their communication more often refers directly to the category of PR and to those areas traditionally considered constitutive for PR (media relations or event organization). It is therefore, so to speak, a more conservative communication, referring to the traditionally indicated techniques and areas of PR.

Agencies that do not have communication and/or public relations/PR elements in their name create their self-description as more diverse and creative, less textual, and more visual. Much more often, they refer to the categories of marketing and advertising or brand. In this corpus, there is a slightly greater tendency to ‘experiment’ in terms of titles, as indicated by the presence of the ‘other’ category with completely nonstandard ideas for titles of the texts of the type analysed. The above conclusion is also confirmed by some difference in the length of the texts depending on the corpus—in K2, the texts are slightly shorter. In addition, the K2 corpus more strongly aggregates solutions from scopes traditionally not included in PR, such as marketing and branding.

The lexical analysis of the two corpora also indicated some similarities between them, which can be considered relevant to the self-description of the PR industry in Poland. The self-description constructs the company mainly in relation to the customer and considers efficiency and strategic thinking as the essential qualities of good PR and experience and teamwork as competitive advantages in the industry.

The quantitative-corpus analysis thus identified two, significantly different, self-constructions of PR companies operating on the Polish market.

Given the number of websites (and therefore market entities) whose content constituted both corpora (167 for K1 and 248 for K2), there is a reasonable assumption that, over time, PR agencies will increasingly move away from the use of the lexemes communication and public relations in their name, as such a tendency definitely dominates the analysed material. This is related to the challenges currently being faced by the entire PR industry in Poland. The key is the competition from other disciplines/areas, such as the aforementioned marketing, advertising, or branding, as well as the increasing tendency to carry out PR activities with a company’s own resources rather than by external specialized agencies or, finally, the growing importance of new communication technologies (Tworzydło et al., 2022). In addition, the agency market is changing rapidly, resulting, among other things, in the desire to be a full-service agency, or at least to present its activities in this way (on a self-declaration basis), and regardless of its competence, human resources, as well as the proportion in the implementation of projects with its own resources and those where it becomes necessary to rely on outsourcing (Szuba, 2022). Therefore, the authors speculate that the K1 corpus will fade in the agency sector structure, mainly by the fact that new companies will not want to position themselves exclusively as agencies strictly dedicated to the PR field, and will be more interested in building a 360 agency image. Therefore, it is necessary to repeat the study and see what the structural arrangement of the corpora will be, such as at the end of the second decade of the 21st century. It is also worth considering how this change translates into the colloquial understanding and scientific definition of PR as a professional community¹⁴, and consequently, what will be the key competencies of the PR professional of the future.

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Public relation (PR) agencies1 are professional entities that provide consulting services, support clients and help them influence the opinions, attitudes and behaviours of the addressees of these activities. This entails taking responsibility for one’s actions towards customers, employees, the profession and society as a whole (Barlik, Hope, Olędzki & Wojcik, 2020). The tasks that are most often commissioned to PR agencies include the analysis of the initial state of the studied entity’s image, a critical assessment of its communication strategy, the control of conducted PR activities and, finally, the strengthening of these activities (Wojcik, 2005). Besides, agencies often take over some of the tasks that are within the scope of interest of economic entities, but which cannot be carried out due to, for example, limited human resources. They are able to flexibly respond to the market changes and to take immediate reactions, which is particularly important in the context of anti-crisis measures. For many companies, they are a beneficial form of support for ongoing activities. Particularly in the context of human resources, which, in case you hire your own team, make it necessary to manage the entire process, from hiring to leaves, working hours, etc. In the case of hiring a PR agency, the problems indicated above are basically non-existent, and the company is held accountable for the tasks it performs. Hence, the arguments above can influence the intense beneficial changes in the PR market, especially in the context of the agency sector. It is obvious, however, that although there are benefits in hiring a PR agency, there are also problems, such as the inability to access significant, confidential data that companies possess and thus limited knowledge of the topics that are then needed to be discussed and advised to clients. However, despite the significant drawbacks, the benefits arising from cooperation between the identified groups of entities seem to outweigh the problems.

PR agencies offer two categories of services. First, there are less complicated, even technical tasks, dedicated to achieving goals of mainly operational nature, such as digital PR, media relations, organisation of press conferences, briefings and other events, as well as production of information materials. Secondly, there are highly specialised services, i.e. services that require very broad knowledge, experience and adequate qualifications from employees. In this case, we are talking, for example, about services related to crisis preparation and management, research and broadly understood analytics, as well as investor relations. Research using cluster analysis indicates that an agency’s service offering may be based on, among other things, digital or crisis specialisation (where strategic consulting plays a key role) (Szuba, 2022). Especially in the latter case, PR agencies are required to have knowledge resources and staff that can meet requirements that not only are specific but, above all, are based on multidisciplinary knowledge in areas, such as, for example, economics, psychology, finance, marketing or management.

PR agencies are entities that are based on two key values: trust and ethics. In both cases, we are talking about the specific DNA of a PR agency. Only when they occur simultaneously can we talk about building the expected relationships. Trust and ethics are strongly correlated.

Trust, truth and transparency are in fact fundamental values in PR activities (Hope, 2013). Without trust, it is unlikely that one will have a positive opinion of the entity and a good relationship with it. Neither is trust possible without credibility (Wojcik, 2005). Ethics itself, on the other hand, is the quintessence of the activities undertaken by PR agencies, their foundation. However, some of them seem to ignore the value that comes from taking action based on ethical behaviour, which has been confirmed by research in the industry conducted over the years (Raport, 2020). Ultimately, lack of ethics, or being too loose on the subject, amplifies the risks and causes crises (Tworzydło, 2020). The consequence is image perturbation and even total reputation discredit. Crises can disrupt or destroy reputation and therefore require actions related to professional guidance through these events (Kończak & Bylicki, 2018).

The issues considered in the article concern the PR agency sector, which is clearly changing or, more precisely, professionalising. Although it is still noticeable that young, inexperienced people, seeing their chance in PR , enter the industry, the relationship between the agency and the client is based more and more on the experience of the people. It also results from the cycle of life and development of the industry, as >3 decades have passed since the first PR agency in Poland was established2 and a statistical agency can boast a 10-year history of functioning on the Polish PR market (as of 2022).

In times of crises that have affected the global economy, caused firstly by coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and secondly as a consequence of the war initiated by Russia in Ukraine, cost-cutting is and will be noticeable. Times of crises always cause companies to undertake changes in their operations, including cost optimisation. Looking for savings in difficult times, companies reduce expenses particularly on communication with the environment — promotion and PR (Żbikowska, 2009). Reduction strategies are therefore a component that has become a permanent feature of the service provided to clients who seek support from PR agencies. Consequently, cost reduction is a constantly increasing challenge that is faced by agency managers (Tworzydło, Szuba & Życzyński, 2020).

Methodology of the Study

The PR agencies sector in Poland is a special research area, as it has not been fully examined so far. So far, there have been no research projects that provide even a rough picture of the sector more broadly than a presentation of the performance of the largest players in the market. There was no attempt to holistically look at the industry through the perspective of just agencies. Even in previous years, any action in this area was limited to labour market issues or presentation of numbers without real, accurate research supported by correct methodology (Żbikowska, 2009). It was not until a team led by the authors of this publication undertook deep analyses and calculations that ultimately it became possible to describe the market and identify the variables that particularly differentiate it.3 The research conducted from 2020 to 2021 has not only determined the size of the market but also indicated the directions of change that can realistically occur. PR agencies are a specific category of entities that significantly stand out on the PR market, not only in Poland. It is a fundamental part of the communication-advisory ecosystem (Tworzydło, Szuba & Życzyński, 2019). Setting up such an entity is not too complicated. It can be considered that the entry threshold in terms of knowledge and financial resources causes a number of people to set up entities, calling them PR agencies. It is only when they collide with economic reality that some of these entities are shut down (especially sole proprietorships).

The key purpose of the study was to evaluate the market of PR agencies in Poland, including the determination of its potential according to key parameters. such as the number of entities, the type of activity, the legal form, the territorial distribution and the financial indicators. The research was conducted using desk research4 based on available operators and own datasets, such as lists of PR agencies (e.g. Association of Public Relations Agencies, the Polish Public Relations Consultancies Association, PRoto, Newsline, publicrelations.pl), industry reports, data from the Central Statistical Office, data commercially shared by entities specialising in providing business information in a digital form (e.g. Bisnode), financial statements available in the financial documents viewer (https://ekrs.ms.gov.pl), data from PR agencies’ websites, own data of the Exacto research and strategic analysis team. Desk research as research conducted ‘from behind the desk’ is based on reviewing and verifying secondary data, which classifies the technique within non-reactive research (Makowska, 2013). Babbie (2004) points out that its use has a number of benefits, including that long-term processes can be analysed and there is no influence of the researcher on the object of study.

An important part of the whole process was the compilation of sources, their peer review and processing. Based on the above, a categorisation key dedicated to the agency database was developed, which allowed to systematise knowledge about the PR agencies market in Poland. The study had a population-based character among all PR agencies in Poland, and one of its results was the creation of the first-in-the-country complete list of such entities on the basis of the developed definition criteria. Among the selected research problems posed at the stage of conceptualisation and development of research methodology were the following:

• to determine the approximate number of PR agencies operating in Poland
• analysis of the intensity of occurrence of PR service providers in specific regions
• evaluation of the correctness of the entity’s identification as an agency in the context of the attributes assigned to itself, e.g. Polish Classification of Activities (Polish: Polska Klasyfikacja Działalności or PKD) number 70.21Z (interpersonal relations, PR and communications)
• defining the scope of tasks undertaken by PR agencies located in Poland, e.g. leading task specialisation
• analysis of PR agencies’ names in terms of frequency of key phrases appearing, i.e. communication, PR, public relations
• developing Poland’s first sampling frame of PR agencies, which includes the most up-to-date data on the agencies market based on established criteria for the PR agencies segment
• evaluation of PR agencies’ potential in selected areas related to their functioning, e.g. in the context of their membership in industry organisations or the value of their share capital
• comparison of available Central Statistical Office (CSO) (Polish: GUS) data within the entities assigned to PKD 70.21Z with the developed sampling frame (only PR agencies).

The method applied in the study allowed the development of a sampling frame, based on which statistical calculations and further data mining were conducted. Analysis of records of available data sources on PR agencies in Poland was performed. The purpose of the analysis was, among others, to determine the exact number of PR agencies, to check what is the dominant type of their activity, their history, legal form, territorial distribution and the way they present their service offer to trace the financial indicators of PR companies and to determine what percentage of agencies directly position themselves as companies based on PR services. The collected data also include an extensive package of contact indicators, allowing quick communication with particular agencies. Collecting the agency database itself was a long-term process, divided into several stages, as follows:

• collecting and aggregating available market data from companies that provide services directly related to PR activities or declare such task specialisation (mainly by PKD codes);
• verifying the logical consistency and completeness of the data and verifying that the data are up to date. In cases where it could not be determined in any way whether the companies were actually operating in the market were rejected at this stage. This is why companies without any contact details, such as phone number, website, e-mail, entry in the National Court Register, no mention on the Internet about their functioning or representation by specific PR specialists (mainly leaders), were removed from the database.
• assigning agencies to achieved 2019 financial indicators from reports (e.g. assets, earnings, revenues, current liquidity, equity, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) or return on capital).

Based on the three steps above, 934 companies were selected, which can be analysed in different configurations, such as selecting agencies that have websites and further reviewing how they communicate with the public.

Sampling Frame

A PR agency is described by several key parameters. First of all, it should be noted that these entities conduct activities classified as taskrelated PR, assuming that this is the main area of the entities’ activity. Second, a PR agency operates within an organised structure that allows it to conduct projects of different levels of complexity while using a range of techniques and tools in response to clients’ communication needs. Finally, a PR agency is an entity that employs permanent staff and conducts advisory and expert activities in image and relationship building at the management level and operational activities at lower levels of corporate management (Tworzydło, Szuba & Życzyński, 2019, p. 9-10). Staff size is also an important factor, as it is unreasonable to consider a strictly oneperson operation as a PR agency.

For the purposes of the research used in this publication, this definition was expanded to include practical, measurable and easily assessed elements. Due to the fact that a modern PR agency must be present in the virtual space, it was decided that having a website where it is possible to verify the profile of the entity’s activity, e.g. on the basis of an offer of services, realisations and experts, is indispensable. It was concluded that the element that allows to include a given entity in the database forming the research frame is the possession of the PKD 70.21.Z entry or the prefix in the name of the company indicating PR, e.g. communication (communication)/PR/public relations. Another helpful element in defining the type of entity is information concerning the agency’s leader (one can check its professional status), membership in international PR network groups or the duration of its operation on the market. It was assumed that all companies that function within the framework of industry organisations such as the Association of Public Relations Agencies or the Polish Public Relations Consultancies Association are considered PR agencies, as they are a kind of ‘top players’ of the whole industry. For the preliminary analysis, we also used analytical documents such as the 2019 financial statements.

There is no universal methodology to determine whether a company can be considered a PR agency. With this in mind, a case-by-case verification approach was required in the analysis. The PR sector is dispersed in terms of the quality of its services, and thus its constituent entities have different business profiles. For the authors of the study, the key sources of information were websites, social media profiles and available data from industry organisations, as well as experience gained from many years of research on the agencies sector in Poland. Based on this, it is possible to verify whether we are dealing with a PR agency and what are the specialisations of this entity. Furthermore, other sources were taken into account, including data generated by the companies themselves and made available to the public, i.e. type of business activity in terms of PKD and company name.

PR Agencies — Initial Situation in Numbers

On the basis of the conducted research, it was shown that 934 companies in Poland (as of 2021) can be called PR agencies. More than half of them are from Masovia, and almost every fourth is a one-person company (in terms of legal form). In the authors’ opinion, 212 entities (23% of the total) can be called an experienced agency, as they meet all the criteria adopted by the researchers as differentiating elements. These included an active website, positioning of the company as a PR agency, the PKD number 70.21.Z, meaning interpersonal relations (PR and communications), positioning and visibility of the agency’s leader on the web and a duration of no less than 5 years of active operation on the market (Figure 1).

The research shows that >58% of the entities defined as PR agencies operate in Mazowsze (region of Poland) and that is where the centre of advisory and communication services is located, which results, for example, from the number of large companies and corporations. Quite a large group of entities providing specialised communication consulting services is also located in the Małopolska (77), Dolnośląskie (71) and Wielkopolska (65) regions of Poland. The smallest number of PR agencies is located in Lubelskie (5) and Lubuskie (4) (regions of Poland).

Source: Own elaboration based on research

The research found that there are 934 PR agencies on the Polish market. The vast majority of them are limited liability companies (62%). On average, every fourth agency operates as a sole proprietorship, and the remaining 13% of entities establish other forms of partnerships (e.g. civil, general and, the most numerous in this group, limited partnerships). It is worth mentioning that 69% of the agencies in the sampling frame have a company website (Table 1).

The statistical agency from the survey frame has been operating in the market for nearly 10 years (average: 9.8 years). However, as many as 200 entities have been in the industry for <5 years. Only 7% of agencies are affiliated with one of the industry organisations such as the Association of Public Relations Agencies (SAPR) or the Polish Public Relations Consultancies Association (ZFPR). This may result from a lack of need for involvement, a lack of desire to engage in social activities or a lack of familiarity with the activities undertaken by the mentioned associations of entities that form the PR industry. The criteria for becoming a member of Polish associations (SAPR or ZFPR) are also gaining in importance (Table 2).

On the basis of the conducted analysis, it was found out that 85% of all the agencies have the number 70.21.Z entered within their PKD codes, meaning interpersonal relations (PR) and communication. However, ‘only’ 532 companies (57%) indicate this code as the main PKD. The research confirmed the scale of the problem faced by Polish PR, namely the lack of a clear distinction between a factual PR agency and entities providing various quality services qualified as PR activities. This is indicated by the difference between the two previously discussed rates (and we are talking about almost 28 percentage points). It is also noteworthy that only onethird of the agencies send a message via their website that they are a PR agency (in 32.9% of cases, the phrase ‘we are a PR agency’ etc. appears) (Table 3).

The optionality in defining activity codes is also a problem. On average, one in eight agencies does not provide this information. Another challenge is the influence of competing disciplines and their intermingling. This is evidenced by the fact that as many as 15% of agencies — defined by the researchers as PR agencies — position themselves more as an advertising agency (code: 73.11.Z). The surveyed entities less frequently emphasise the connection with the event-and-technology industry.

Based on the analysis of available financial reports for 2019, we can determine the potential and dynamics of changes occurring in the agency market. An in-depth analysis of financial data from nearly 400 PR agencies revealed, among other things, the following:

• Actual net revenue from the services of the indicated 400 agencies (which report their financial data) in the pre-COVID year (2019) amounted to nearly 846 million net.
• The profit generated by these agencies was 54 million, with one in three companies (on average) reporting a loss for 2019 (120 out of 386 companies).
• The total value of equity capital of all PR agencies (for which financial data were available) amounted to PLN 188 million, and their estimated market value ranged from PLN 400-500 million.

Subsequently, we used the obtained data and, based on statistical methods, we were able to estimate the values of financial ratios of the entire PR agencies sector in 2019. The strategic purpose of the research project was to develop Poland’s first PR agency sampling frame, which would include the most up-to-date data regarding their characteristics and market condition. Besides this, the net revenue from the services sale for 2019 was also estimated. Calculations were based on actual data obtained for 384 agencies, which in their reports declared a total revenue of PLN 846 million. For the remaining 550 agencies, which either do not have a National Court Register (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy or KRS) number or their financial statements are not available for inspection, we used estimation based on the median value of revenue (calculated on the basis of financial data of entities reporting their revenue — the median amounted to PLN 503,000). Then, the median value was multiplied by the number of ‘non-reporting’ agencies and summed with the data extracted from the financial reports. The estimate equals PLN1 billion 123 million. This is the approximate value of the PR market in Poland in 2019. This is mainly due to the fact that 2020 (the year in which the study was conducted) was a pandemic (COVID-19) year and agencies did not post up-to-date financial reports in time or they were ‘impaired’ by the global crisis. Estimated net profit of the surveyed agencies amounted to PLN 63 million, while the estimated market value of PR agencies in Poland counted as total assets amounted in the examined year to PLN 563 million.

In this research, it was assumed that the company website is the communication showcase of the agency. In this context, it is worth noting that more than two-thirds of the surveyed entities have their own website (69%), while its correct operation was found in 59% of cases. The difference is due to the fact that at some of the companies, the website was not working or was under reconstruction. An analysis of the websites’ content showed that the vast majority of companies present their services in detail. On the websites, there is a description of each activity along with a portfolio presentation and a list and visualisation of completed projects. Less often do agencies choose to introduce their staff (if they do, there is a bio of the leader/key experts on the site). The communication portrait of PR agencies should be complemented with the information that 28% of the surveyed entities maintain an official profile on LinkedIn and 32.8% on Facebook. In the meantime, 202 agencies have each of the discussed communication channels (their own website and company accounts — LinkedIn and Facebook).

Prospects for Change in the Market of PR Agencies

At this point, it is worth noting the specific nature of work in PR agencies. Data in this area are provided by other research projects conducted by the authors of this article. The research shows that professionals working in PR agencies significantly more often carry out tasks related to media relations (79% versus 66%), lobbying and public affairs (15% versus 8%) and cooperate with influencers (20% versus 2%)5 . Specialists working in PR outside the agency activities declared a stronger focus on crisis management, internal communications, investor relations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Tworzydło, Szuba & Życzyński, 2020) (Figure 2).

Research conducted by a team led by the authors of the publication showed that COVID-19 caused a number of changes not only in the PR market but also in the area of the range of services offered to clients. First, it is important to note that there has been a smooth shift towards remote working. Many companies and their employees have realised that it is possible to get work done and there is no need for employees and managers to be physically present at the company headquarters or branches. The shift, initially planned as temporary, turned out to be a permanent change that has affected PR firms. It is amplified and commonly used even today. Another lasting change that has taken place in the analysed industry is the shift of focus to highly specialised services, such as crisis management or internal communications (see Table 4). In the first case, the situation is reasonable since COVID-19 caused a series of micro-crises and — events that permanently and heavily burdened the image of some entities. Crises, therefore, are becoming an increasingly desirable speciality, as more and more projects for clients include such activities. In a significant portion of the solicitations, crisis support becomes a permanently included element in the scope of tasks expected from the entity that is to perform the contract.

The same is for the internal communication issue. Respondents indicate that this area, along with crisis management and digital PR, is what may become increasingly important in the future. Internal communication has become crucial especially because of the following reasons:

• decreasing attachment of employees to the headquarters of individual companies, excluding production workers;
• increased employee turnover and a still-functioning employee market;
• increased expectations of employees towards their employers, especially in terms of flexible approach to their duties.

The changes that are occurring in the PR industry will affect, on the one hand, the functioning of PR agencies, which flexibly adapt to client requirements and emerging trends. On the other hand, it will also have an impact on employees, who will have to acquire knowledge not only in the field of psychology, but also in analytical areas, in order to skilfully and accurately respond to the needs reported by the clients of PR agencies. However, these changes will certainly contribute to the professionalisation of the industry and the profession. In the near future, mainly those agencies that employ versatile specialists or skilfully use the benefits of outsourcing will be competitive on the market.

Summary

The results of the research presented in this paper have allowed us to gain unique knowledge about the Polish PR services sector. By consolidating information obtained directly from agencies, a huge number of databases and other sources, we have obtained knowledge that shows the potential of the PR market, with particular emphasis on the role of PR agencies. The available estimates show that, on average, every fourth professional dealing with issues related to PR and communication in Poland is an employee of a PR agency (Szuba, 2022). As a result, agencies are the glue that holds the entire industry together, have a real impact on shaping its condition (especially those affiliated with industry-oriented organisations) and serve as the primary service provider. Experience shows that working in an agency is often a starting point or a stage in the career development process of PR specialists.

It should be emphasised that, in Poland, there are 18 network agencies, meaning agencies based outside of Poland or belonging to international networks. The entry of international network agencies was a result of market evaluation and its potential noticed in foreign reports that estimated the value of the PR sector in Poland (Rydzak, 2009). Networking is usually a guarantee of quality for customers who represent socially known brands. It is also a strongly developed aspect of procedures and standards of international importance (Hejnowski, 2016). During the analysis, it turned out that agencies associated in one of the two leading industry organisations (SAPR and ZFPR) in Poland generate significantly higher revenue (an affiliated agency is nearly four times the average), generate significantly higher profit (affiliated agency is 3.6 times higher on average) and also have a longer history of functioning in the market (they operate, on average, 1 year longer) than entities remaining outside the indicated associations.

The analysis provides a picture of the Polish PR service centre located in Warsaw and in the Mazowsze region. Warsaw is a city where 55% of the surveyed agencies are located. The following regions, in terms of the number of PR agencies, are as follows: Małopolskie (8%), Dolnośląskie (8%), Wielkopolskie (7%) and Śląskie (6%). It can be concluded that there is increased competition among PR firms in the above regions. The results of the research confirm, first of all, the fact that PR must be near the decision-making centres. It is in Warsaw where most of the large corporations and entities that use such services are based. Secondly, it confirms the fact that PR must be close to the national media, because still one of the key areas of PR activities is media relations, including modern media (Tworzydło, Gawroński & Szuba, 2020). The research allowed us to observe that in the surveyed population, 42% of entities have been operating for more than 1 decade, which only confirms that the industry has consolidated its position and strengthened its role in the Polish economy. However, there is still no reliable comparative analysis with other countries, e.g. with the British Isles — the largest European market of PR services.

From all the analyses that have been conducted, there also emerges a picture of a statistical PR agency in Poland. It is an entity functioning as a limited liability company, with rich experience, which can be expressed by the period of functioning on the market, as well as the way it communicates with the market environment. However, it is an entity that sporadically cooperates with industry organisations and selectively shares detailed information on the specifics of its operations and performance, e.g., the minimalism of its financial statements confirms this. PR agencies — as the authors of this article aimed to prove — constitute a key element of the PR industry and, more broadly, of communication consultations in Poland. According to estimates, Polish PR agencies employ >11,000 consultants using various forms of cooperation. For comparison, about 14,500 PR specialists work in private companies (which are not PR agencies), forming the so-called in-house PR services of the organisation. This group is the largest part of the PR market structure in our country (Szuba, 2022).

Endnotes

¹ In this article, to avoid repetition, the terms PR agencies and PR firms are used interchangeably.

² It is assumed that the first PR agency, First Public Relations — headed by Piotr Czarnowski, was created in 1990; https://www.firstpr.pl/o-first-pr, accessed 02.05.2022.

³ This article presents the results of the study ‘Analysis of the market of PR agencies’ services’, which was conducted between November 2020 and July 2021 under the supervision of the authors of the publication. The institutional partners of the project were Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Bibliology at Uniwersytet Warszawski and the Think Tank operating within the Public Relations Agencies Association (SAPR).

⁴ The possibility of using desk research as a separate and independent research technique is indicated, among others, by Zofia Bednarowska-Michaiel (after: Bednarowska-Michaiel, Z. (2015). Desk research — wykorzystanie potencjału danych zastanych w prowadzeniu badań marketingowych i społecznych, Marketing i Rynek, nr 7, p. 19).

⁵ Professionals working in PR agencies versus other places

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In these times of universal access to media and instant information circulation, maintaining a good reputation or image has become one of the most important issues in many aspects of life. The success of a project hinges to a large extent on how it is perceived by the environment — be it introducing a new product to the market, waging a political campaign or attempting to establish cooperation. This is the main reason why so many company resources are currently being allocated to departments responsible for image management. This is fully justified, given the risk that such a crisis can entail.

These days crisis situations are much worse for representatives of given industries than just a few years ago, because the news about troubles travels very quickly, and public trust or a good reputation, once lost, are much more difficult to regain. Today, having a “plan B” as a limited strategy in the event of unforeseen situations is not enough — rather, one needs to know how to quickly and effectively avert the danger and be able to actually do so. This means having a good command of all channels that can almost instantly allow for the maximum reduction of negative consequences and complications. Public Relations specialists make use of various methods in crisis situations, but the fastest and immediate effect can nowadays be achieved with Internet communication. Tools such as programs, portals and applications give entities a chance to emerge virtually unscathed even from the most difficult moments, and often bring them even more benefits than losses. The Internet, however, should be treated as a double-edged sword — what yields a positive effect today may lead to a tragic end tomorrow. A strategy that works excellently for small businesses might be disastrous for large corporations. The powerful marketing weapon of virtual communication should be treated with due caution, because if used in an inconsistent way, it may be counterproductive (Helman, 2014).

The present paper, after first reviewing the literature on company image management, crisis management, and public relations, examines the case of the Polish computer game studio CD Projekt, which has been on quite a whirlwind ride in terms of PR over the last 2 years. We analyze the actions taken by CD Projekt in 2020–2021 and its approach to various crisis situations, especially examining the organization’s Internet messaging. We describe the solutions and strategies the company undertook to minimize the effects of the crisis, mainly losses of reputation. The most significant events in the company’s media environment are analyzed, selected on the basis of the greatest total number of reactions, comments and articles related to the given events. These examples are juxtaposed against the corresponding strategies and concepts from the literature. Attention is also paid to factors such as stock prices and prestigious rankings, which sometimes offer evidence in support of the claims made in the analysis. Next, we report the results of a survey carried out on a sample of 354 individuals among the broader environment of the company’s stakeholders, in order to gauge people’s opinions about changes in the company’s perception, and then present some conclusions.

Theoretical aspects and literature review

Before considering specific events, let us first review some of the theoretical fundamentals of crisis management. The word “crisis” in its original meaning has been defined as “a period of breakdown, a turning point, or a potential breakthrough in the functioning of a given social or political system” (Kaczmarek-Śliwińska, 2015). This statement is quite broad and general, whereas the “crises” described by the literature on specific industries are much narrower and more detailed. A crisis at an organization, which is the subject of research in this article, has been described by Barton as “a major unpredictable event that has potentially negative results. The event and its aftermath may significantly damage an organization and its employees, products, services, financial condition and reputation” (Barton, 1993). Lesly, on the other hand, highlights the role of crisis as a determinant of future actions and decisions. In his opinion, a crisis is “a major turning point resulting in permanent drastic change. If is far more critical than most issues or emergencies. Crises are of great importance, but they are rare” (cited after Coombs, 2011). In terms of frequency, situations of “crisis” status occur quite rarely and rather irregularly. Considering the crisis phenomenon from the aspect of an organization’s image, it brings about consequences that are magnified by the degree of interest it attracts from the company’s environment — such conditions may constitute a potential risk factor in the future (Falecki, 2013). Summarizing the various accounts cited above, we can identify certain features and fragments that generally characterize the crisis process in an organization, which include:

• Disruption in the normal course of business;
• Financial or reputational risk;
• Involuntarily arousing interest from the environment;
• Changes in the organization;
• Need for a quick response;
• Suddenness of occurrence.

The various phases that a crisis may proceed through are summed up in Table 1.

Crisis management is considered an element of strategic management in enterprises, which embraces actions and decisions not only during a crisis situation, but also before and after the event (Surowicz, 2011). Crisis management efforts strive to maximally reduce risk and uncertainty, as well as to control of the course of a crisis situation. In practice, this includes all operations undertaken by the team that are aimed at maintaining a favorable image of the company despite negative events related to it in some way. It should be noted that it is not uncommon to for negative effects to affect an entire industry, triggered by a crisis on the part of one of its participants. Crisis management is also included in socalled “business continuity planning”, which is designed to prepare comprehensive operational activities that must be performed for the company to function properly (as in the pre-crisis state) (Fulmer, 2007).

The most important task in this concept is to maintain the critical functions of the organization so that it is able to keep running continuously.

The various sources of crisis situations are summed up in Table 2. The sources listed there may of course be interrelated — almost never is a crisis composed of only one factor. It sometimes happens that a given crisis factor is only the source of further problems that begin to accumulate in an uncontrolled way (Michalik, 2004).

Crisis management, apart from knowledge, strategies and a background of theoretical information, also requires tools to apply them in a practical way. Currently, these primarily include the organization’s own media channels, through which it can reach out to its recipients. Such media support is not only useful at the time of intervention in the face of an active crisis, but also after its end or even as part of preventive actions (Rydzak, 2007). In order to be able to harness the potential of such media channels to the maximum, specific tasks may be assigned to each channel (in the context of crisis situations), the performance of which in the specific conditions of a given medium will bring the best results. Crisis management processes offer some real reflection of how a brand builds its image. This is especially true in the Internet environment, where any attempts to change or turn back from the paths chosen by the company are immediately verified by observers, journalists or customers. A company’s image reflects how it is perceived by its surroundings — it can be described as the result of subjective assessments by other market entities (Chmielewski, Tworzydło, Ochmański, 2012). Therefore, the basis for maintaining a coherent and beneficial “portrait” of an organization lies in preparing a crisis management procedure in line with the company’s long-term policy. When preparing such a procedure, attention should be paid to the aforementioned stages (pre-crisis, crisis, post-crisis), which will determine the measures and actions taken (Tworzydło, 2017). The more prepared the crisis management team is before a crisis occurs, the less serious its consequences will be. Preparation is also the stage that requires the most “abstract” work. The team is prepared under certain specific assumptions that do not necessarily have to actually occur, but some mechanisms will remain the same for most problems, which allows for shorter reaction times (Tworzydło, 2019).

CD Projekt — A Profile

The computer game studio CD Projekt was set up by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński in 2002, although these two founders of Poland’s computer games industry had already been active a decade earlier. The market activity of CD Projekt has truly followed a “from rags to a riches” path, from selling games imported from abroad at outdoor computer fairs in Warsaw all the way to launching a new development team in Canada. Favorable economic conditions (the political changes in 1989, economic development, high market demand) and many innovative decisions on a national scale have allowed the company to become one of the leaders in the Polish video game market. This success was largely due to the series of computer games from the “The Witcher” series, based on the motifs of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy books. The last part of the trilogy, with the subtitle “Wild Hunt”, brought the studio over 300 awards and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, bringing the overall total of copies of the series of games about the valiant Geralt’s adventures to 50 million (Gram.pl, 22/04/2021).

The studio’s continued successes resulted in the appearance of the CD Projekt capital group on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. However, the company was not initially sought after by investors, with fluctuations in the prices around 21.22 PLN per share remaining minimal — until the release of the 2nd expansion pack for the game “The Witcher 3”, when the shares began to gradually rise. The financial success of the studio’s first independent production allowed for the commencement of work on another game, set on a futuristic Earth. “Cyberpunk 2077” (CP2077) was officially announced at the 2018 trade fair. This production became a turning point for the company’s stock quotations. Several aspects have contributed to strong interest among the community:

1. CD Projekt created a highly recognizable brand in the gaming world as well as in culture. Modern solutions, player orientation, a strong emphasis on storytelling in its games and interesting references to pop culture — these are just a few factors behind the studio’s success.

2. A comprehensive and global marketing strategy — the company put a lot of emphasis on diverse and engaging forms of advertising and promoting ira games, which translated into a strong interest in their latest production. The studio cooperated with such companies as Coca Cola, Sony, Adidas and Porsche.

3. Precise target groups and accurate demand research — the series of The Witcher games was very well received in Poland and other Slavic countries due to numerous references to the Slavic culture. Cyberpunk 2077, in turn, was a response to the growing interest in science fiction and to the ambiance of the 1980s returning to fashion.

Regular fresh news about the game and the development of the studio, promotional campaigns and cooperation with many partners contributed to a significant increase in the value of the company’s shares, which culminated in December 2020, reaching 464.20 PLN per share. Prior to then, any significant price drops were mainly dictated by shifts in release dates, but starting in the fall of 2020, the mood gradually began to decline, despite the game’s successes even before its release (Gry-online.pl, 2020a). A serious crisis began for the CD Projekt group in December, during the time of its major premiere of Cyberpunk 2077.

Crisis situations and remedial actions by CD Projekt in 2020–2021

A. Continually receding release date

The vast majority of the studio’s image problems were generated by internal bad organizational decisions. Initially, the product was slated to be released in April 2020, but in January it was postponed for the first time to 17 September 2020. The vast majority of the community received this information with understanding, counting on a better gaming experience at the cost of waiting a few more months. However, the situation became worrying when in June, amidst a very “hot” period from the marketing point of view, the company announced another pushback of the release date to 19 November 2020. Among the community of players and journalists, uncomfortable questions and comments began to appear, the common denominator of which was doubt about whether the actual state of production complied with the assurances of the creators. However, the real “straw that broke the camel’s back” came in October, when there was a third postponement, this time by a further 21 days. Thousands of players once again felt led town by the company. There was anger, irritation and mockery, which were expressed in comments on the manufacturer’s website and on industry press websites. Memes (pictures intended to comment on reality in a funny way) dealing with Cyberpunk began to circulate on the web — in a normal situation this could be a useful phenomenon, but at the time of a marketing “fire” they came as additional “fuel” for it. The post, in Polish, contains the announcement of the 21-day postponement as well as some attempts at justification and offering reassurances about the state of the game’s development. Large numbers of Facebook users reacted to the letter with sarcasm and ridicule, as is evident on the image shown here in the numbers of “thumbs-up” “tear-shedding” and “laughter” reactions that the letter signed by representatives of the CD Projekt management board received. In the comments section, the community was divided, and a hate-fest and attacks against those responsible for this state of affairs intensified. While postponing the deadlines by practically 9 months, the studio continually had to adopt defensive strategies. Its messages published primarily on the Internet bore the characteristics of a “genuine apology” strategy. This type of strategy is adopted in a situation where the fault is entirely on the side of the organization, the crisis being solely the result of its incorrect decisions. Similar phrases appeared in subsequent statements, which somewhat softened the dispute between the players and the studio. PR specialists tried to distract the audience with engaging materials that appeared on the developer’s channels.

Announcements about elements of the soundtrack, technical innovations or high-profile collaborations, apart from promoting the game, could be treated as attempts to cover up unfavorable comments and negative attitude. In all, these efforts contributed to the sale of 8 million pre-orders of the game prior to its release — a result that should be treated as a great success for the company, and therefore for the team responsible for projecting its image (CD-Action.pl, December 2020).

B. 6-day working week

In corporate language, a “crunch” is a time of very hard work, forced overtime, usually shortly before the deadline for completing an important task. Three months prior to the Cyberpunk premiere, official information appeared on the web about compulsory crunch at the company — about the working week at CD Projekt being extended to 6 working days for the majority of employees. Disgust in the gaming environment was all the greater that a year earlier, in one of the interviews, the CEO of the studio declared that he’d take action to avoid such a crunch time. Thus yet another promise was broken in a short time, despite quite attractive financial conditions being promised to employees in exchange (additional earnings + bonus from the company’s profit in 2020).

This time, the CD Projekt executives in their statement adopted a justification strategy, the application of which is associated with relatively small losses caused by the crisis. Strengthening the message of the issue of financial benefits for the “victims” of the decision and drawing attention to the desire to ensure fulfillment of another promise (meeting the premiere on time) contributed to the justification, which was accepted by some of the community, although it continued to cast a bad light on the working culture at the company (Spidersweb.pl, 2020).

C. Bad PR of the company’s own making: criticism of the company after the release of CP2077

Cyberpunk was a project that the studio had worked on for 8 years until its premiere. In the end, this proved to be too short a period, because after the game’s release, it turned out to be full of technological flaws, known as bugs or glitches in programming jargon. No wonder, then, that the disappointment felt by thousands of players was almost in proportion to the time that had been spent creating the game. All the bad decisions that were made at the company (especially in 2020) found their consequences in the first few weeks. The most unfavorable phenomena for CD Projekt at that time are described in the Table 3.

The company’s negligence made successive problems an almost natural process. At times, the atmosphere was close to that of a scandal, which is why the period of late 2020 and early 2021 was not much easier for the group than in the previous months. CD Projekt executives had to look for new solutions so that long years of work would not go to waste. At the beginning of probably the greatest crisis in the company’s history, the management board had to apologize once again and admit to having made mistakes. The first step in regaining the trust of its customers was for the studio to allow product returns directly through their platform. This approach did not diminish customer anger, but it did somewhat suppress their anguish and demonstrated the company’s good intentions despite its failure. Some players expressed their approval for this approach, claiming that despite exercising their right of return, they would support developers in repairing the product. Being in a losing position, CD Projekt decided to focus on honesty: customers would not be lied to once again, so this approach definitely had a positive impact on contact with contractors. The satisfied portion of customers showed special support, which in turn allowed the studio to base its rhetoric on the “coaxing” strategy. This concept is effective in situations where the organization has a good reputation and a crisis of this scale is very rare for them.

Another statement made by Adam Badowski, who referred to the alleged “employee rebellion” regarding the management’s lies about the state of the game on the day of the premiere, helped a lot in cleaning up the situation. The head of the studio firmly denied some of the allegations, which is a good tactic in the case of information based on gossip or slander. People following the development of the situation pointed out Badowski’s failure to addresss the remaining accusations, concerning unrealistic deadlines and other issues. Nevertheless, the post received 6,000 positive reactions.

Unfortunately, no statements or announcements were able to definitively end the crisis. With problems on such a large scale, it was necessary to undertake a strategy of remedial action. In practice, this meant changing not only communication plans, but also operational ones. The announcement of that the game would be fixed was made a few days after the premiere, but the subsequent effects in the form of a sharp drop in the stock listing, agitation among investors and the generally negative image of the Polish company forced the studio to take additional measures.

The response came in the form of a statement by Marcin Iwiński on 14 January 2021. The CD Projekt co-founder once again asked the players to accept an apology, revealing the behind-the-scenes story of pre-release work on the game. More positive news emerged later in the statement. The most important element of the video published on the web was the presentation of the Cyberpunk recovery plan. This time, the producers opted not to give specific dates, but instead named approximate periods for subsequent updates. Iwiński presented on the timeline the assumed schedule of hotfixes and announced the release of free DLCs to the game. Owners of new generation consoles could be pleased with this, as they would receive an update patch for free, which is not a standard in the gaming industry. In his statement, the company’s co-founder also referred to similar situations with previous productions, which may have somehow reassured players. Ultimately, Iwiński’s film received 270,000 positive reactions on YouTube.

To date, CD Projekt has not finally rid itself of its problems, but the change in management approach, taking a very effective and honest approach to marketing and image building, has created a certain chance for a positive conclusion to this story.

Opinion of the environment on image changes

To gain further insight into the impact of CD Projekt’s efforts to salvage or improve its image, we carried out a questionnaire survey among individuals in the gaming community or broader environment of stakeholders. The survey was made available on various thematic groups from the computer game industry, and in industry and investor media. Over 354 people voluntarily participated in the study. Of these, over 60% were aged up to 24 years old, about 22% were aged 25-30, and less than 15% were over 30. About 80% of respondents said they were interested in the Polish company’s fate because they identified as a member of the gaming community. The remaining 20% of the respondents were divided into persons interested in the company due to the profile of their work or from the standpoint of stock exchange investments. On a 5-point scale, the vast majority (almost 70% of responses) of the respondents assessed the company’s image before the premiere of Cyberpunk 2077 at a rating of 5. Another 23% gave a rating of 4, which in total means over 93% of votes positively evaluating the brand’s earlier image.

The sample was much more divided on the question regarding the evaluation of the efforts to fix the game. The dominant rating was 3 (over 40%), meaning the view that “correct action” was taken, while the remaining answers were divided almost symmetrically — over 24% of
respondents gave a rating of 2 or 4, the lowest rating of 1 was chosen by approx. 8%, while less than 4% gave 5, or “very good”.

The questionnaire also included a question addressed strictly to investors, asking for opinions on the credibility of CD Projekt as a partner or investment target in the stock market. Among respondents who answered this question, less than 17% said that they had lost confidence in the studio, 24% felt that the brand was still trustworthy, while more than half said this still depended on the developers’ subsequent actions. It can therefore be concluded that this exploratory test of the investor community seems to indicate that people have become more cautious in contact with the company.

Such a partial loss of trust may also be evidenced by the responses to the penultimate question. As many as 63% of respondents admitted that after such a situation they would not decide to pre-order a game ever in the future, 22% would continue to do so in the case of AAA games, while others were not sure of their decision. This is a good example that a crisis a one company in an industry may cause ripple effects to the business of other market entities.

As of 1 July 2021, CD Projekt started to emerge from the crisis of the previous winter. A new quality in the approach to the customer, less aggressive marketing and attempts at displaying the company’s best side have yielded tangible results. The promised updates were released as scheduled, and the game returned to the Playstation Store on June 21. Players appreciated the efforts of the developers, because within 9 days of CP2077’s return to the store for people with a console, it gained the status of the “game of the month”, ahead of other very popular productions. FandomSpot research has shown that Cyberpunk has the 6th largest community on the web. Moderate optimism is also confirmed by the distribution of responses to the final question on the questionnaire, concerning the opinions of the respondents on the current image of CD Projekt.

The results show that the current perception of the studio by the environment is not as exemplary as it seems to have been back in 2020.

Nevertheless, executive efforts focused on fighting for the client and appropriate targeting of marketing activities have allowed the company to maintain a certain level of trust, which is still quite high given the number of crises the company underwent in the period in question.

Summary

Investing in crisis management is often likened to buying an insurance policy — certain resources are allocated to it, without knowing if it will ever prove useful. However, as shown by the example of the CD Projekt group, it is better to future plans to make contingencies for strategies in the event of failure, both external and internal. The lack of any concept for how to rescue the company’s image in the face of potential threats may in just a short time cause the company to lose everything it has worked for, for so long. The example of the gaming industry demonstrates the great importance of marketing based on long-term prospects and including virtual communication in it. Dialogue between an organization and its broader community on the Internet can quickly bring great popularity, but also huge losses. The examples cited in the empirical part prove that it is enough, however, to take care of a few important elements in the message that will allow you to build a healthy relationship with the environment and maintain a good image. First, the speed of reaction and taking action are important — the more swift the response to a crisis, the lower the risk of its further development. Another issue is taking an honest and truthful approach to recipients — an exposed lie or fraud will plunge the company into an even deeper crisis. The messages that are communicated should be official from the outset, and their language should be simple and understandable, so that there is no room for misunderstandings or distortions. In the moment of a crisis, the actions taken by the company should be coordinated and consistent, so that in the event of subsequent problems it doesn’t turn out that there are different versions of this event (recipients in such a moment very quickly and often lose their trust irretrievably). The last element, which was also noticeable in CD Projekt’s messages, was the selection of appropriate people for the statements made. If criticism falls on any element of the company, the board member or appointed representative should speak first. Following these few rules is a good starting point to end the crisis and defend your image to some extent. The examples described in the work show that mutual respect and an honest approach to the client will always defend themselves, if only you don’t make big mistakes along the way and use the appropriate techniques.

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