Photo of Yangshuo County, China courtesy of adrileb via Flickr
Over the holidays, I read Tom Friedman’s excellent book on the convergence of climate change, globalization and overpopulation, “Hot, Flat and Crowded“. It was particularly impactful to read while visiting my wife’s parents in the UK, where fuel-efficient cars and homes are, as Friedman says, “the norm, not the news”. But the part of the book that got me thinking about the future of public relations had to do with the greening of China.
For China, mitigating climate change while continuing to grow the economy at a steady clip is a challenge not unlike trying to change the engine in a speeding bus, Friedman says, referencing the movie Speed.
Similarly, the evolution going on in PR over the past few years requires a balancing act. Social technologies like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook have reintroduced an emphasis on relationship-building between communications professionals and journalists. That presents PR pros with a massive opportunity to move away from distributing large quantities of news releases to many journalists (the “spray and pray approach”) and instead using tools like Cision’s media database to target their releases to the very most relevant contacts.
But how quickly will that shift take place? Perhaps a bit like changing the engine in a speeding bus, it’s a transition that must occur while we’re juggling the daily pressures of our duties. Will PR pros use this evolution to establish the level of authenticity that has been professed to us in recent leading books like Trust Agents by Chris Brogan, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge, and The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott? Or will business as usual prevail?
After several years of social Web hype, 2010 could be the year we find out.
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Tags: Brian Solis, Chris Brogan, David Meerman Scott, Deirdre Breakenridge, Hot Flat and Crowded, Speed
You’re on a roll that stops too short, Jay. Look at what’s around the next bend:
SM does something arguably more game-changing than force “an emphasis on relationship-building between communications professionals and journalists,” significant as that is. Tools for direct, interactive marketplace engagement decrease the value of media relations via ANY platforms.
User reviews, tweets, posts, fan pages/community building, e-promotions, mobile apps, discussion forums and other SM activities now help shape — perhaps even determine — visibility, image, news coverage, market share, recruiting success and other public relations.
Our challenge is to show every client why starting or expanding a social media presence is a vital priority — regardless of enterprise size or industry niche, even if they’re B2B.
Engaging directly and interactively with customers, prospects, suppliers, potential applicants AND MEDIA via social media platforms is essential, as you know and have said.
In fact, I hear a low-level buzz that PR shops should rebrand as COMMUNITY RELATIONS agencies to reflect the shift toward a new kind of “earned media” in the social sphere.
Thanks for another timely discussion-starter.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by jaykrall: How quickly will PR evolve in 2010? http://budurl.com/6l4k...
Alan, thanks for your comment!