Frank and Brown

Public relations as an industry and as a profession is meant to be very adaptable, but if you spent some time with PR people, particularly those in medium sized and large firms, you might think you had entered a dusty corporate, almost Dickensian world. So when I read Richard Susskind’s column about the legal profession in the Times last week it struck a chord.

He states that lawyers need to wake up. Their charging structure, the nature of the work, the level of service is all being questioned by clients and challenged by the potential for outsourcing to India and advances in technology. The big issue was to much emphasis being placed on fees and costs. I think that is true of many PR firms. (more…)

Making sure the press attend an announcement, photo call or unveiling used to be one of the core functions of the PR team. It is still high up on the list of ways to appease the customer, but media stunts are not what they used to be. Whilst clients love the media coming to see them and PR professionals gain some kudos and pride in juggling the priorities of the photographers and fielding questions none of it is a guarantee of press coverage.

One key reason for that is that the media simply do not have the resources available. The PR team has to secure editorial coverage regardless – that is the core function that counts. (more…)

Blogging is not a craze.  It is a fact of modern communications.  Already important in terms of breaking news stories and generating healthy debate it is going to become even more important as people and particularly businesses grasp the opportunities it and other forms of social media can provide.  Witness the success of Mary Beard’s blog promoted by The Times or George Monbiot via The Guardian. Whilst these different pieces are backed by national media, it is their content that drives online browsers to read their copy.  Because, pull away the exciting fact this is all happening online and you are left with the good old fashioned journalism. It is not who you are that counts the most, it is what you are saying and how relevant it is to your audience.

Nowadays a communications strategy must include the use of blogs and social media.  This week (30 November ’09) Media Guardian reported on how student journalists at Goldsmiths, University of London, have started an online newspaper and promotes the stories and articles on Twitter.  Tweets drive people to the site where they can enjoy features, listings, video and audio.  The principle they have embraced can equally be applied to the selling and promotion of a product or service just as much as it can to an idea, a story or an issue that needs debating.  (more…)