I was asked this week by Laura, a final year PR student, if I wouldn't mind jotting down some thoughts to a series of questions she had compiled for a PR research report she was writing.
The questions - below in blue - are all relevant for today's turbulent marketing landscape, so I thought I'd share my thoughts. Love to hear others' views too!
1. What communications tools do you primarily use in your day-to-day work? (i.e. media releases, social networking sites, publicity stunts, speeches etc)
Press packs (media releases, backgrounders etc) are tools we still use on a day-to-day (as-needs) basis, but not nearly as much as we used to.
That may be because the team (at parkyoung) tends to leverage a broad array of PR techniques to communicate with people, whereas some PR agencies prefer to focus more on media relations and therefore continue to use the tools relevant to them.
Other tools we use include social networking sites such as Twitter plus blogs and podcasts etc; however, we tend not to use them directly for clients but rather set them up first then teach them how to use the tools for themselves.
In promoting our company, we activity employ a full array of social media platforms and techniques - Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts etc.
When launching the agency earlier this year, we did so via Twitter and LinkedIn and got tremendous immediate feedback. Likewise, we recruited our first employee via Twitter as well.
2. How have communications tools evolved since you started working in the industry? What trends have you noticed?
When I first started in the PR industry (20+ years ago), I primarily used media releases and press packs as well as produced lots and lots of newsletters.
Over the past decade, a PR agency I had co-founded and managed started exploring newer channels such as street teams, events, experiential stunts etc. This differentiated us greatly from many of our competitors at the time and gave clients a much more compelling reason to use us because we took a more holistic view of the public relations discipline.
With my new company parkyoung we are currently focusing more on social media. That said, if the need calls for it, we have no hesitation in recommending media releases/packs or face-to-face activity such as stunts and events. It all depends on the client's situation, their goals and budget.
Based on the above, you could say the PR business has definitely evolved and become more and more complex given the number of communication channels at our disposal.
That said, what hasn't changed over the years is the need for clear strategic thinking, clever and creative ideas, solid writing skills and the ability to provide clarity around tricky communication challenges. Of course, being able to execute tactically is also critical.
3. Is the 'death of the newspaper' as imminent as people say?
I don't think newspapers are going to die any time soon. Melbourne's Herald-Sun, for example, still attracts something like a million readers daily and is highly influential.
That said, I saw a stat the other day, something about 24 of the world's 25 biggest newspapers have suffered readership declines in recent times. There have been plenty of other similar examples so you'd have to say this is definitely a worrying trend for newspaper proprietors.
So while the hard-copy newspaper will undoubtedly, eventually, become something of a novelty in (many) years to come, the concept of having journalists reporting on the news will continue one way or another, just that the channels used will be more digital. This has to be the case because younger adults - the future consumers of newspapers - simply aren't getting into the hard-copy habit.
Of course, adding to the complexity is the public is also contributing content in increasing numbers, citizen journalism as some call it. While I don't want to see newspapers die any time soon (I'm pretty 'old school' like that!), it never ceases to amaze me how senior executives of many major newspapers are not grasping the opportunities of the social web.
They'd rather rail against new media technologies - or worse, prefer to ignore them - rather than be all-embracing and fully into the 'new world'. I would have thought newspapers' future pretty much depended on their creative and sustained use of social media channels.
4. Where do you see this moving in the future?
I'm upbeat about the future of public relations because against a backdrop of advertising noise, media fragmentation and consumer apathy, the need for pure and authentic communications has never been greater. That's where PR comes in.
Professional PR practitioners have the ability to cut to the heart of a communications challenge or issue, and generally they're able to generate results at a fraction of the cost of your average advertising campaign.
Those agencies and practitioners that specialise in straight media relations will become niche players as companies, brands and organisations seek more innovative and holistic solutions. Face-to-face activity, or 'live media', will become increasingly important in this socially networked age.
It will be the PR people who understand and can join the dots of social media, as well as interlink other forms of communication such as events and traditional media, that thrive in these crowded, hyper-connected times.
Indeed, PR people who 'get' the importance of creating and distributing genuine, relevant content to help brands earn trust and respect will start rising to the top of the communications tree.
In their book 'Putting the Public Back in Public Relations', the authors Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge write: "The new world of public relations will focus on developing unique stories for the various groups it hopes to reach and inspire."
I'm in complete agreement with them.
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