Through more than 69,000 press releases distributed in APAC in 2021, PR Newswire shares press release trends that will shape the new year.
PR Newswire, the leading global provider of news distribution and earned media software and services, saw a significant rebound in its business in 2021, reflecting robust growth in various industries, from food and beverage to logistics.
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Last year, more than 69,000 press releases were distributed in the APAC region – a 36 percent increase from 2020. “Over the past year, we are pleased to see our business activity in major APAC markets rise above pre-pandemic levels,” said Lynn Liu, Head of Audience Development and Distribution Services at PR Newswire in APAC. “PR Newswire has also furthered the expansion of its news distribution network in key markets by strengthening its partnerships with media outlets across the region.”
Bolstering Partnerships with Media Outlets in APAC
In 2021, 5,650 journalists and influencers in APAC signed up to receive press releases from PR Newswire, which serves as a main source of information for news reporting. They are part of PR Newswire’s extensive media database that comprises more than 85,000 journalists and influencers from 35,000 media outlets.
The company also broadened its collaboration with the addition of 248 major news agencies and media outlets, bringing the total number to over 1,700 in the region.
Key Highlights of PR Newswire’s Content Partnerships in APAC
- Across Southeast Asia, 64 partnerships were developed, including news portals such as Singapore News Live, Energy Asia and Wego Travel Blog, which has nearly one million visitors. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian markets, PR Newswire expanded its English and local-language media partner network to 540 members, including news portals such as AsiaOne and Yahoo! Finance.
- In Hong Kong and Taiwan, PR Newswire brought 18 new partners on board, including The Taiwan Times, one of Taiwan’s most influential English news portals and ETtoday, the island’s most visited news portal that reaches 88 percent of local internet users. PR Newswire has collaborated with 180 partners across the two markets to date. Notable partners include Yahoo! Taiwan, sina.com.tw, HiNet, PCHome, Yam, ET Net, investor.com.tw, Morningstar Asia, China Financial Services Holdings Limited and Societe Generale’s Hong Kong office.
- In South Korea, PR Newswire established new partnerships with 9 local media outlets, including The Korea Herald, the country’s most comprehensive English newspaper that was founded in 1953, and The Herald Business, the nation’s leading business and finance daily. PR Newswire also expanded its local media partner network to 70 members and now distributes news releases to several local mainstream media outlets and news portals, including Yonhap, South Korea’s leading news agency, Naver, the country’s top search engine and news portal with a market share of more than 90 percent, and Daum, one of the country’s most popular web portals, as well as The Korea Economic Daily, a major business newspaper.
- In mainland China, PR Newswire increased the number of its content partners by 124 while deepening collaborations with local media outlets specializing in business, technology and healthcare news as well as updates from public companies. New partners include China Trade News, Gelonghui, ZOL and Qianzhan Business Information. To date, PR Newswire has built a partner network of over 980 members in mainland China, including key state-administrated media outlets and trade publishers like China Daily, National Business Daily, Science and Technology Daily, China Business Network, TMTPost, China.org.cn and Huanqiu.com.
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Connecting Businesses with the Media
In 2021, PR Newswire held a dozen online and in-person events and media tours in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei. Senior journalists and editors-in-chief were invited to participate in those events, where they met with corporate communications professionals and discussed how to better facilitate communications between businesses and the media. PR Newswire also launched the APAC Media Landscape series, which covers trends and developments in 9 markets across the region.
2021 Press Release Trends
In 2021, PR Newswire distributed nearly 70,000 news releases in APAC, covering business milestones and significant achievements of thousands of companies and organizations worldwide. They include Facebook, Huawei, Microsoft, Amazon, the International Olympic Committee, The China International Import Expo (CIIE) Organizing Committee, China Global Television Network (CGTN) and several United Nations agencies.
Through the press releases distributed, some noteworthy industry trends in 2021 are:
- In 2021, more than 1,900 releases touched on carbon neutrality and environmental, social, and governance (ESG), demonstrating that businesses are attaching greater importance to corporate social responsibility.
- More than 5,200 releases were related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), a 35 percent increase from 2020. The application of AI across various sectors was also a popular topic.
- Since June 2021, 180 companies have mentioned “metaverse” in their press releases distributed in the APAC region. They include Baidu, Huawei, Samsung and Amazon.
- The food and beverage, mining/metals, logistics/transportation, environmental products and service sectors showed an average of over 50 percent increase in the number of releases distributed. Notably, the food and beverage sector recorded the highest growth at 80 percent.
- 880 releases announcing mergers and acquisitions were distributed in 2021 – a year-on-year increase of 60 percent; the number of releases on investment and finance surged by 70 percent.
- Nearly 9,000 releases featuring new products and services were distributed, of which product launches in the computer/electronics sectors made up half of the number.
- With the gradual recovery of the events industry in APAC, releases on in-person exhibitions and events showed a year-on-year increase of over 40 percent. Most notably, the number of releases related to China International Import Expo (CIIE), China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and other international exhibitions nearly doubled for each event compared to in 2020.
- The number of news releases on clinical trials and medical research grew by 60 percent, with the increase expected to continue this year.
- Driven by the travel sector‘s gradual recovery, the number of releases on corporate expansion within the sector more than doubled. The tenacity of industry players to make a complete recovery has been apparent.
“Despite the expected global challenges caused by COVID-19 in 2022, we firmly believe that companies that have survived the pandemic are well-positioned to become more resilient and leverage new opportunities brought about by the changing market conditions,” added Mr. Liu. “PR Newswire looks forward to working with businesses and media outlets in the APAC region this year to address future challenges in the market together.”
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