Some recent discussion on “generalists’ vs. “PR Nerds” in the PR blogosphere.
Marcel Goldstein describes (and Mike Manuel agrees):
the classic PR agency hire … young, energetic and highly social: someone who had the nerve, verve and interest in making a withering number of media calls. This model was already beset with problems. Far too many tales exist of PR agency professionals that auto-generate error-filled media call lists from Bacon’s or Vocus directories and then blindly make pitch calls, yielding a low success rate and a trail of peeved reporters.
Personally, while I agree that the classic agency hiring pattern has to change to meet the needs of clients and the media, I still see a future of Amanda Woodward clones screaming into their Treos (no more Blackberries for you!) and “doing lunch” on the clients’ dime. It doesn’t matter what the clients need, what matters is what they want and for most of them it’s someone screaming into a Treo at lunch – thinking of them 24/7 and with a portfolio of ‘good contacts’ with ‘top tier media.’
The irony of course is that while this may serve the needs of the clients to have someone screaming for them, in the long run it doesn’t do anything to solve the needs of journalists who need smart PR people with deep knowledge of their industry who can deliver who and what they need when they need it.
And on we go, the death spiral continues.
