From the panel on The Changing Face of PR at the 2006 Corante Innovative Marketing Conference:
The session started with a discussion of whether or not press releases are dead. The conclusion: Press releases are not the be-all and the end-all; they are simply channels through which information is conveyed and conversations started (though they are not really good at starting conversations, because they generally do not include a way for the recipient of the message to respond). The day press releases begain to be published on the web for all to see was the day they began to be a different kind of channel, potentially opening a conversation with a different audience.
The problem is when PR people see their jobs as simply putting out the press releases their clients want them to, and when senior management sees the function of PR as putting out press releases, which to panelist Lois Kelly is "low value," when "in today's world, the role of public relations is to be the people who create understanding. You take complex things and you make people understand."
Shel Holtz agreed: "The main problem with PR is that the] PR profession is focused on tactics, when press relations is managing relationships with various publics...any public that can present obstacles to your being in business....all of these publics are now able to talk to each other."
So it all seems to come down to the explosive increase in the channels available to distribute information and the fact that PR can't control all of the channels, much less the messages. What can PR do about that?
Be more honest and open, was the consensus. "The message that things didn't go as well as planned is a shocking statement for a company to say, but it's an honest statement...[companies should] show some humbleness but have confidence that the purity of that [humbleness] message should resonate," said panelist John Moore.
And that too would seem to depend on the channel: "You're not going to see a company say "I'm sorry" in a press release, but you can on a blog." -- Shel Holtz
The bottom line is that there's a danger that the changing face of communications is pushing PR toward irrelevancy, cautioned panelist Neville Hobson. What PR doesn't seem to get is that they can no long completely control all of the messages nor all of the channels through which the messages are communicated.
But at the same time PR people are not exerting control where they can -- over themselves and the *way* they do things. Said Shel, "The public side of public relations is changing for sure, because the public is changing...but in a lot of the organizations where the CEO is blogging in most cases it's not the public relations department that's driving that, it's the desire of the CEO, or the new media department."
So, what would a truly innovative PR department in a foward-thinking company look like?
Related Stories: | Topics:Management, marketing blogjam, Shel Holtz, Corante Innovative Marketing Conference, Media, John Moore, Neville Hobson |
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Recent Comments | 5 Total
June 11, 2006 at 11:35am by mahendrakumardash
PR is still important and changing face of public approach has never undermined the importance of PR
The methodology has changed,but PR remains the same as before.
June 12, 2006 at 7:53am by Jay
People tend to act on information that aligns with their beliefs. Want them to change? Then any new information must allow them to accept, integrate and evolve into a stronger position in their own mind.(H. Gardner) Honest, usable information is capable of that. Hype generally moves them towards the other camp. PR still has the ability to facilitate this change in the new "e-world". It is just going to take time to figure out the best way.
June 14, 2006 at 8:32pm by Amanda Chapel
Lois Kelly is absolutely right. “In today's world, the role of public relations is to be the people who create understanding. You take complex things and you make people understand."
Unfortunately, the “business” of PR doesn’t necessarily support that model. Regrettably, the business has morphed in variations of “shills.” That’s what tech has ironically made irrelevant. To fix it is to throw it out and start over.
- Amanda Chapel
June 16, 2006 at 3:37am by peter
Amanda,
What happens if people can't understand - where they lack the ability to integrate the message into their world view in a coherent way. Where every new message compounds their confusion and they retreat or react.
I wonder if as consumers become exposed to more and more messages ( often complex ideas distilled and refined to be more than mind candy) they become more and more confused - a thousand people trying to make them understand in a day is a terrifying thought.
Is the only way to engage with a confused person to make them understand ?
Just a thought.
June 16, 2006 at 11:24pm by Nick Rice
PR, like a lot of traditional marcom diciplines, is currently in flux. I believe that the future is bright for teams that combine the best of all marketing mediums to effectively start conversations w/ customers. The marketing industry is too segmented. People are hoarding their slice of the pie and slowly dying because of it. Sr execs really dont care how the right messages get customers (including the press) to act, they just want the action.
Marketing is about changing behavior. Use whichever medium & technique does that most effectively for your budget dollars. If you're not increasing revenue or at least showing an ROI, you're find yourself out of a job sooner or later.