Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

pr

Never Mind the P, Just Get the Relations Part Right

There have been a lot of new definitions and suggestions coming to the fore over the last 12-18 months about what PR stands for. The traditional version is Public Relations, and has been since as long as anyone can remember.

However, solid PR folks like David Mullen suggest it should be People Relations, as does online marketer and social media guy Ari Herzog in a post from earlier this year. Often it’s called Press Relations or Print Relations. I had a little look at the topic last year and there are plenty more views out there.

But you know what?

Who really cares? Let’s take the emphasis off the P, and concentrate on what’s left – the R, or relations, because this is surely the one constant out of all the PR acronyms. For, without relations (and the conversations that spring from these relations), is there any point left to any of the P, whether it’s public, press, people or similar?

S. Neil Vineberg, President of Vineberg Communications, offers his take in a series of excellent little video snippets. What’s yours?

Is There Room for Market Relations?

Two P.O.'d Peas in Two P-O-Ds!Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock recently, you’ll know there’s been a whole host of blog posts written about where next for PR and marketing (and, to a degree, advertising).

I’m guilty of discussing it, and there are some great points of view from a lot of great minds. I guess it’s only natural – we’re at a crossroads for information, after all, and the time is here to decide what path we want to take.

Yet instead of looking at how PR and marketing can evolve individually, isn’t it possible that they can evolve as a co-joined unit instead?

Both involve the art of telling stories (and when I say that, I mean attract via description and not telling stories as in lying). Both look to appeal to your want factor by providing the need solution. Both are aimed at making the potential become the possible.

You’ll have your purists that say marketing and PR are two different beasts and shouldn’t be in the same cage. But are they really that different when you strip them down to the bare essentials? I’m not too sure they are, and I say this as someone who works in both fields.

At their very simplest, both are trying to appeal to that mass market triple-A connection:

  • Awareness
  • Acknowledgment
  • Approval

Many agencies are now combining their PR and marketing efforts into one because of this. If both are looking for a similar market and they’re so interconnected with each other, should we continue to keep PR and marketing apart?

How about market relations? Could that work? Too simple? Not enough? What’s your take on PR and marketing in today’s business climate?

Creative Commons License photo credit: Harpersbizarre

Social Media is the Playground at Recess

david mullenThis is a guest post from PR professional David Mullen, whose insights into the industry always intrigue me. I read his blog often and ask why many of his suggestions on how PR can evolve aren’t standard practice yet, and I’m delighted he’s sharing his views here today.

You remember those days. You would run straight to your favorite diversion and play with reckless abandon until the bell rang. Or you?d start there and then visit two or three other amusements before heading back inside.

What drove you and others to the merry-go-round or the slides? The thrill? The butterflies in your tummy? Whatever it was, you were there because you genuinely enjoyed yourself. If your friends were there, too, great! If not, it was no big deal. You?d make new friends with kids who shared your love affair for the monkey bars.

Social media is like the playground. It has a ridiculous supply of platforms and applications and tools to enjoy. You gravitate to one or a few of those because they play to your interests and allow you to meet other fine folks who are as passionate about those same things as you are.

This is why a thoughtful communications strategy is imperative for brands to engage with others on the playground. Don?t start a Facebook page because everyone else is doing it. Don?t create a YouTube channel because you read an article in Adweek.

Take a step back from the temptation of knee-jerk reactions, identify the interests you share with your customers, find out where they go to talk about those interests together and contribute meaningfully to the ?play? going on there. Participating regularly on a niche message board may reap far more rewards for your brand than an under-used Facebook page among millions.

How do you strategically target where your brand shows up on the playground? As importantly, how do you connect with your customers once you?re there?

  • David Mullen is a PR and communications consultant with Mullen (no relation), a full-service marketing agency and an independent brand within the Interpublic Group of Companies. He has worked with brands such as The Home Depot, Coldwell Banker, Intercall and Healthtex. To learn more about David, please visit his Communications Catalyst blog or connect with David on Twitter.

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Acorns And Oak Trees

Empty Acorn on Tree
Image by Chris Campbell via Flickr

I had the good (?) fortune to sit down with the CEO of a PR agency in Toronto recently. He had been at a seminar I attended regarding converging technologies and mediums and how they fit into the role of the PR professional. We got chatting and decided to have lunch together.

Now, I’m a pretty open guy to how businesses run themselves, but this lunch was an eye-opener.

The conversation turned naturally to the economy and the effect it’s having on agencies and clients alike. My lunch partner said he was finding it tough as his clients just weren’t spending, yet he was sure both would start needing his agency’s services again soon. I asked if he’d lost a lot of clients to the credit crunch – after all, being reduced to two clients must be extra tough.

His response floored me.

“Oh, no, we never have more than two clients at any time – we just concentrate on finding the biggest and most profitable ones and stick with them.” So, no small businesses or entrepreneurs, I asked. The answer: “Why would I want to deal with the little guy? How would that enhance my reputation?”

The lunch ended, we exchanged business cards and went our separate ways. I wondered if I should have probed him more on his views about clients, but the way he emphasized the “my reputation” part made me think he was only in business for one reason – his glory. Which normally means any arguments falling on deaf ears.

Yet perhaps I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Too many businesses in too many industries have forgotten about the little guy. Too many businesses think dollars over development. Too many businesses think pre-built over building.

Just when this mindset happened escapes me – what doesn’t escape me is the narrow-minded tunnel vision behind it.

Did the CEO of the Toronto PR agency start off as a ready-made success story? Did Richard Branson jump into the business world with Virgin already a huge success? Does being a large corporation guarantee success levels?

Of course not. Yet still the belief remains in many businesses that small is a necessary evil, to tolerate while the big boys gather to put small in its place.

These are dangerous thoughts.

True success comes from the building of relationships. Of loyalties being forged. Of give and take and the combining of good ideas and openness to encourage greatness.

Aim high – there’s nothing wrong with that. But just take a minute to think what’s going to get you higher – two giants 100 feet tall who control you, or hundreds of normal sized people who respect you.

The choice is yours – I know whose company I’d prefer to keep. How about you?