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Social media are already part of the communicative routines of most organizations, including communication agencies. Nevertheless, given their duty to serve other companies, these agencies should have an advanced understanding of these platforms, not only in their most profound sense but also in a time-advanced one. In other words, agencies should test emerging social media with the aim of knowing them in-depth and determining whether they serve their communicative purpose. It should be noticed that investment in digital advertising and actions with influencers are greater and greater. Besides, they are platforms that not necessarily remain unalterable, but some of them achieve their life cycle, even disappearing. On this matter, it is necessary to check if agencies really are working on the most recent social networks or only on those which are already consolidated. For such a research, the quantitative method, based on the content analysis, was adopted within a descriptive study. It was used on a sample of the ten communication agencies with the highest billing which operate in Spain. As secondary research objectives, it was considered to analyze the use that agencies do of social media which they are present in, to determine the existence of online content strategies, as well as to value the interaction level of these companies on online channels. The results show that most of analyzed agencies offer web 2.0-related services, such as digital strategy, online content management, monitoring and influencers relations. Social media talking, except for a few cases, communication agencies prefer to maintain a presence on the most consolidated social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube). Furthermore, those are the ones that usually have links on their websites. This does not mean that agencies do not use the more recent applications, but that, mostly, they do not do this for their benefit as a brand. Otherwise they keep them in the background. In fact, some agencies use current platforms, such as Twitch or TikTok, publishing suitable content to their characteristics, which means that agencies know their possibilities, although their use is not still usual among them. Among the commonly used social networks, the activity of these agencies remains along the lines of what has already been concluded in previous academic papers: the purpose of information dissemination prevails with a self-promoting role. Communication agencies keep their social profiles updated and, during the month of research, they constantly published content, especially, information about themselves or about the communication sector, followed by news of common interest, clients news and projects carried out. Finally, although they published content frequently, the interaction with other users is low and, when it happens, it usually has, as mentioned, a self-promoting intention. In conclusion, communication agencies, as other kinds of organizations, are used to introduce social media work in their routines. However, it cannot be said that they are early adopters, at least to self-use. Probably, public relations professionals are researching and going deep in these new platforms, but in a private way, so agencies cannot, or prefer not to show their know-how by doing it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce has become a relevant opportunity of doing business for all those entrepreneurs who want to develop their activity on the Internet. Nowadays, on-line sales are one of the segments with a largest growth despite the hard economic conjuncture we are involved in. The number of sales shows this as a sector in full expansion that walks towards its consolidation, especially in the fashion sector. However, in spite of the fact that the big textile groups of our country have already incorporated virtual shops in their webs, there are a lot of small and medium textile companies that still have not made use of this new tool offered by the net. In the fashion field, e-commerce is a communication tool that goes beyond commercial transactions on Internet. It is not only the act of purchase, but it also brings along a previous activity of public relations. In spite of this evidence, it's complicated to find reports that deal with electronic commerce that analyse something more than the numbers of sales. This fact let us see a lack of dedication in the analysis of communication. As for fashion, virtual shops have meant a far-reaching change in the process of usual purchase, because it has allowed companies get rid of the limitations of the physical market and, at the same time, if a company is able to communicate properly its e-commerce, it will also profit of showing consolidated image. The research of 15 selected companies has the aim to reveal the current situation of ecommerce in the small and medium fashion companies and also to know what use they do of it. The methodology selected and the object of analysis, will allow us to explain the place that this new tool occupies inside the fashion web site and the applications it has. Only attending to e-commerce as an instrument of communication between the company and the stakeholders we will manage to take advantage of the most of the benefits that this tool provides, and that represents a new model of business still to enforce in the mature market that represents Spanish fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a comparative analysis of leadership dimensions in public relations and communication management between Spain and a group of 23 countries which have participated in the Cross-Cultural Study of Leadership in Public relations and Communication Management, conducted by the University of Alabama and financed by IBM and Heymann Associates. Following the conceptual model from Meng and Berger (2011), this paper investigates the challenges faced by public relations, as well as the prerequisites of excellent leaders. Achieved results make a breakthrough in scientific knowledge about leadership in communication management, a little developed subject in academic literature, especially in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking an exploratory and qualitative approach, this research seeks to understand journalists' perception of public relations practice in Spain. More specifically, a twofold objective is pursued: to identify the most accepted PR practices and to know what PR practitioner profiles are best valued by media professionals. To achieve both objectives, 40 journalists have been interviewed. The results obtained point to journalists tending to consider public relations activity as necessary and useful. However, some public relations practices are labelled as bad practices and, therefore, they become a potential source of conflict between both communication disciplines. Although the research conducted is not statistically representative, a clear consensus emerges in some issues. Besides the general conclusions concerning journalists' perception of PR professionals and their practices, this research has also provided - as a not less valuable sub-product - a set of recommendations. Such recommendations can help PR practitioners to optimize their work when they aim to earn media attention for their companies or institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]