You know where he's coming from: the digital revolution is in high gear, so it's high time for PR to amend its practices and become participatory pitchers, not smile-and-dial pitchers.
You should read it. Steve is as close to the headwaters of our business as anyone.
While I agree with the gist of his analysis, I do take issue with one of his assertions:
Further, the lines between old and new media are blurring. Community is becoming a river that flows through virtually every web site, The media is adding social networking features while also embedding itself into big horizontal hubs like Facebook or Twitter. They have embraced changed faster than we have.
I simply do not believe this to be the case. Yes, most major media have grudgingly made the move online, and have begun to add social media features to their sites, largely, I believe, out of stone-cold fear that they will wake up one morning and find themselves completely irrelevant.
But from my vantage point, the major media remain largely locked into their pre-Internet business models and are hanging on to them for as long as possible. And furthermore, the journalists who populate these outlets are of the same mindset.
Which is why, in the end, we need to continue to pitch them the "old way," because that's what they are comfortable with. Not that we can't also generate awareness and placements using social media. But we're nowhere near the tipping point.
I think you're right. Steve is on to something, but he's taking a stand for the sake of standing out and overstating reality a bit. "Old," regular pitching ain't going anywhere anytime soon. Still, there's a place in PR for "participation," and that place will only grow.
ReplyDeleteI was telling Steve that "Participation is Marketing" at last year's Gnomedex in Seattle, so I am glad to see he agrees finally - at the time, he didn't. My experience working with the PR industry over the past 2 years is that most agencies and practitioners really don't understand this fundamental shift - like Mike, most are still clinging onto the notion that pitching (ie, selling a press release for the purpose of getting media mentions) is still alive and kicking and will be for a long time. Truth is, older journalists will always want to be pitched and it will still be used for a time, but a genuine return to a focus on the PUBLIC in Public Relations is not about trying to sell anyone anything, but rather a story well told. Brian Solis has written some great pieces on this over the past year that is really worth a read regularly. http://www.briansolis.com/
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, I do understand this shift you speak of, Chris. I'm 24 years old, and the only PR I know is PR in the world of podcasting, blogs, RSS feeds and YouTube. That context was missing from my above comment, so I understand the perception that I'm clinging to "the old way."
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just not bold enough to go head-first into "participation marketing" and abandon everything traditional -- call it "clinging" if you must. But I realize that much of this new participation marketing is based in the same old traditional marketing tactics that have been abused and beaten beyond recognition over the past however many years. New media and new tools -- that enable blogging and participation and such -- have, more than anything, simply breathed new life into traditional marketing principles.
I love that now it's perhaps easier than ever to actually relate to the public. The only thing I cling to is stuff that works. Some of that happens to be called "traditional PR."
And I agree -- Brian Solis does do a lot of good writing on this and similar subjects.