In Defense of All Things Public Relations and Social Media
by Rachel Polish
Category: Best Practices, Digital Influence, Research & Insights
During the July 4th holiday weekend, two stories about Silicon Valley’s PR industry - one in The New York Times and one on TechCrunch – were published, causing a bit of a stir among PR and social media practitioners, VCs, founders of start-ups and those who follow the PR space. While both pieces take different, yet cynical perspectives, neither portray the PR industry in most positive light.
The New York Times article features one PR practitioner in particular, who places her success on the sheer number of contacts she has in her rolodex. The TechCrunch piece says it all in the title – “The Reality of PR: Smile, Dial, Name Drop, Pray.” The comments on the TechCrunch blog following the piece were mostly cynical toward PR folks and mostly painted all of us in the industry with the same, unfavorable broad brush.
While I can only imagine that Ogilvy’s newest digital strategist should be expected to write about…well…digital strategy, I could not stay quiet after these two, mostly critical articles about the PR industry. Neither piece fails to take into account those PR practitioners who do more than “smile and dial,” an incredibly outdated view of the industry in my mind. In this day in age, PR people need to employ a number of tactics in an effort to be successful.
For example:
1. Smart PR people do their homework on their clients, understand their products and services inside and out and look to leverage unique angles or trends to share with media and the blogosphere.
2. Those involved in PR and social media need to fully understand their clients’ target audiences and why those audiences are important to the clients’ success. This step is often overlooked when there is a lot of buzz about a particular company. Missing this step has also resulted in countless disconnected campaigns, product launches and PR fiascoes.
3. Good PR strategies usually employ a number of diverse tactics to reach target audiences, including incorporating social media to build online communities, thought leadership and meet influencers. Social media can be a direct way to engage in conversation with passionate consumers, as an example.
As Ogilvy’s newest addition to the talented, forward-thinking 360° Digital Influence team, my goal is to serve as a strategic guide both internally and externally when it comes to the world of social media. I also am a believer in building the most complete plans of action, including incorporating a number of tactics – both online and offline – to ensure our clients meet their objectives. We are not “smilers and dialers,” but among the best and brightest in the industry. I could not be more excited about joining the Ogilvy team and look forward to working with all of you to build the absolute best strategies for our clients.
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July 7th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Bravo Rachel on your new position at Ogilvy and your take on those two “cynical” pieces!
It seems to me that the PR Industry needs some of it’s own medicine - some good PR. There are many organizations that represent the whole or parts of the industry - PRSA, IABC, Social Media Club, American Marketing Association, NIRI, and more. I think it might be time for some of the organizations to work together and flex the muscles of a billion dollar industry. The industry has some great and very smart people in it, some who are regular contributors to both the NY Times and TechCrunch. The industry would not be as big as it is if there wasn’t some real value to it - IMHO.
Michael Pranikoff
July 7th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Great first post to the blog AND defense of PR and social media. As a former Ad Agency interactive guy, I am often struck by the lack of indignation sometimes from those in the PR industry about how PR is minimized. We definitely need more voices like yours (or mine, or Michael’s) telling the truth about PR and standing up for it.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I think the PR industry will always take some level of heat, much like lawyers, because we are placed in the middle of the fray and compensated for taking a side. TechCrunch has drawn a line in the sand the last six months because they are feeling besieged but its not the right thing to do, you would never see it from the Wall Street Journal (I suggest turning the cheek).
The NY Times article was purposely saucy. It touched (lightly) on the emerging dynamics from the last decade, but became overly dedicated to one interesting– yet non-representative– individual. It was an o.k. read but only showed a sliver of what PR actually is, thus a bit of an unjustice. I’m fine with the attention, makes good food for thought.
July 8th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Thank you Michael and Rohit for your kind words and excellent insight. We are all in this together and I think it’s important to recognize the good work and smart people who make up this profession. I look forward to working with both of you to “fight the good fight” and continue the conversation.
July 8th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Excellent comments, Rachel. Perhaps you should submit them to both pubs as an op-ed. In any case, I plan to send it to a few clients.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Greg - you have an interesting take on this. I just thought both pieces were incomplete and bordering on being outdated. You bring up some good points, however.
Christi - I did comment on TechCrunch, however, I fear my feedback was lost in the sea of 150+ comments. I appreciate your feedback, good ideas and support.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:09 am
[...] In Defense of All Things Public Relations and Social Media [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
The reality is that PR is at a difficult crossroad. The days of the media relations sensei with a Rolodex to die for are coming rapidly to an end, and the era of digital & social media influence domination is long overdue. The sad thing is that there are still too many PR people who think the changing influence space is just a fad. Friendster was a fad, as was MySpace and so are twitter and facebook; but social media, the platform which enables the Public to share ideas and opinions in a deeply interconnected manner, is not going away. Google may eventually be toppled by bing or some search engine not yet invented, but search is never, ever going away. What is going away (I really hope) is PR people operating under the mistaken illusion that they have absolute control over conversations that affect brands, products and situations. That terrifies some people to the core of their existence, and they should be scared. I think it’s a glorious opportunity.
You sort of danced around a bit with your comments about tactics and strategies. You just started, and I don’t work for Ogilvy PR, so no need for me to tiptoe. Unless you are talking about Public Affairs or Analysts Relations, PR is going to look a lot more like advertising or direct marketing in the future. There will still be Media Relations, but that will need to be expanded to Influencer Relations. For every story pitched you’ll need to consider how people will find that story via search, and be damned certain that your client’s story is discoverable amongst all of the mixed messages on the web. PR will be more accountable than ever. The ability to map conversation to actions is going to fundamentally change PR’s metrics for success and client expectations forever. That’s really, really scary!
Anyway, enjoy your new gig, and realize that you have a chance to reinvent the future of influence. I hope you are given the chance to make your mark.
Best of luck!
July 9th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
As an aspiring PR practitioner, and advocate for truth in everything that involves social media, it is refreshing to see a top-level communications professional speak on behalf of the valuable work PR specialists and social media gurus put into disseminating newsworthy messages to target audiences. Keep it going at Ogilvy!
July 9th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
[...] Web” feature about Brooke Hammerling and others in tech PR, as so many have this week. See “In Defense of All Things Public Relations and Social Media” on Ogilvy’s Fresh Influence [...]
July 10th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Well, written, Rachel. Way to come out of the gate. This article was picked up this morning: http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/ogilvy/ogilvy_adds_a_vp_to_digital_division_121147.asp
Have a great weekend.
Steve
July 10th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Doug and Herson - both of you have very interesting, yet different perspectives and are different stages in your respective careers. The exciting thing (should not be scary) is that the PR industry is constantly evolving and it is up to us to train our peers and clients on some of the newer engagement strategies. We ALL have responsibility for this if we are going to elevate our craft. Otherwise, we’ll continue to see old-world views of the industry - similar to what we saw in the NY Times piece - and a lack of understanding for what the forward-thinking, smart practitioners do to help a client/company be successful. We’ll all in this together!
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback.
July 12th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I couldn’t agree with the writer more. Successful PR practitioners engage and influence the brand’s community in many different ways of which media relations is merely one. Thank you.
July 14th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Rachel,
Nice context for the NYT piece — haven’t read the TC yet, but it’s not hard to imagine.
One of the most disappointing aspects of this PR shift with social media is the zeal with which so many practioners simply swap out their “Rolodex” with their “social graph”, their press release with their social media release, and so on. In other words, they’re changing their tools, not their thinking.
Naturally, I’m in agreement with Doug - PR, AR, in fact all the “R’s” will move toward influencer relations.
July 15th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Great post! This is a must read for all PR people. Knowing who you’re dealing with and what you work for is really every important.
“The Reality of PR: Smile, Dial, Name Drop, Pray.”
-While I found this extremely funny, I think it’s sad that that’s how they operate. I you want to succeed - in anything, you should always do it the right way, don’t you think?
July 15th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Could not agree more with all of the sentiments. It’s up to us - those who are concerned about ROI and targeted, meaningful communication strategies - to carry the touch and teach those coming up in the industry. Looking forward to continuing the dialogue!
July 25th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Very well written. Understanding your client and their needs is an important aspect to successful PR. By doing this you can tailor strategies for your client so they will be more efficient and successful, therefore, making you more profitable.