Like every profession or discipline, public relations is subject to a wide spectrum of views and the odd civilized (we hope) skirmish. We have witnessed precisely this over the past week.
Using social media as his reference point, Brian Solis writes that public relations is something more than issuing the standard press release. When working on behalf of a client, the PR practitioner must now contend with an expanded media landscape. This entails “thinking more intelligently, differently and personally.”
Solis asserts that a new business, if it’s to survive and prosper, must cultivate relationships with bloggers, reporters and key influencers: actors that can help make or break a brand.
Loic Le Meur, entrepreneur extraordinaire, begs to differ. PR is not rocket science, he implies. A start-up CEO need not concern him/herself with journalists and bloggers; a quality product will generate its own publicity without any help from this fickle community. Build your own community and they (customers) will come.
So, who’s right?
I’m going to play fence-sitter and suggest that both are. Reading these conflicting points of view, I’m reminded of the time when President Franklin Roosevelt, the greatest statesman of the twentieth century (had to get that in somewhere), was presented with two wholly divergent drafts of the same speech. Without skipping a beat, FDR instructed his bewildered aide to “weave the two together.”
There’s much to recommend this approach in this context.
Rapid advances in technology and communications have created unparalleled opportunities for economic expansion. These same forces, however, have exposed companies to a “rumour mill” the likes of which we’ve never seen. Tech savvy consumers demand access to information and participation in the market. They’re receptive to an influential blogger, much like the reader to a reputable columnist or the viewer to a famous television personality. These voices reach audiences and can damage reputations.
Welcome to the new world.
In this sense, Le Meur strikes me as much too complacent. A PR professional should not advise a client to ignore opinion-shapers.
It’s hard to deny, however, his argument about the centrality of the product. All the relationship-building and public relations in the world won’t keep a sinking ship afloat.
