I’m giving a talk tomorrow AM for a local (Westchester County) PR agency. Some random notes follow:
the premise
1. The present media landscape might seem new but it is actually something very much older than the mass media we grew up with
2. People are growing more and more cynical every day. They can sniff out a marketing message a mile away. “There is no market for messages” – Doc Searls
3. Noone is sitting around passively anymore. The Internet demands participation and people (not consumers or customers or targets) are participating through blogs, podcasts, online review sites, etc.
3. The Intnernet has already changed the way we buy cars, books, music, watch TV, chose vacation destinations, buy homes, get credit and read news. It’s only a matter of time before it gets around to changing whatever business your clients are in.
4. People no longer want to be told when to watch a certain TV show, where to listen to music, which device they can watch a DVD on, etc. They aren’t interested in keeping your failed business model afloat. They are only interested whatever is easiest and most convenient for them.
5. Blogs and social media are not sales channels, they are conversation channels. This Internet is not another medium like TV or radio – it’s a fundamental shift in the way we relate to each other and communicate. It’s a place, like the marketplace of old (see #1).
what’s left for PR people to do
1. Start listening – do the obvious – subscribe to RSS feeds for your clients and their competition as well as any other search terms you can think of. but also watch places like Amazon, Epinions, TripAdvisor as well as Yahoo and Google Groups.
2. Think in terms of connections not content – if you view blogs as 50 million teenagers writing about the cats, you are missing the point.
3. Think of youselves as conversationalists. Most PR people are good at talking but not at listening. Learn that skill and you will succeed in this brave new world.
4. Stop chasing the next big thing – there is no such thing. The next big thing has already sown the seeds of its own disintermediation.
5. Stop thinking in terms of mass audiences. Reaching the largest audience is a losing game. Instead think of reaching the RIGHT audience.
6. After all, this is the best, most exciting time to be in the PR business.
some examples
SUN
Twitter
English Cut
Stormhoek
Boeing
Flickr
Wikipedia
MySpace
parting thoughts
Imagine a world where everyone has their own printing press with global reach and you get an idea of the environment we’re working in right now. This isn’t a fad, it’s a fact. And it’s not going to change. But overall this is the best time to be in the PR business. So embrace the change and enjoy the ride.
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