Is social media just a form of PR?

10/22/2009

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Chris Brogan’s blog post, “How to Market an Offline Event Online” got me thinking. Aside from the great tactical insight that Chris gives us on using social media for promoting an online event, the post reminds us that social media is just another set of tools in our PR garage.  Like the printed page, or telephone call, social media will just be something else we use to promote our brand, sell our product, and get our message out.  If you look closely, all folks that are being recognized for their social media acumen are also masters of traditional media PR. Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba, Gary Vaynerchuk and the like are doing live events, appearing on TV shows, being quoted by the traditional press, writing books, and giving lectures that help build their brand as much as the social media work that they do.  All of these elements, be they ancient or recently invented, use the magic of “Out of Control Marketing” where your message is handed over to connectors who, in turn, pass your message along via media mentions or word-of-mouth.  Those who practice this are risk takers because they let their message be reshaped by those who pass it on, but, wow, does it pack credibility.  So, this is your cue to look beyond the hot topic and to dig deeper in to all aspects of marketing public relations.

The answer to the question is yes, of course social media is just a form of PR.  The delivery method is different, but the purpose and the skills need to execute both forms of promotion are the same.

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Is it marketing if it is political?

08/14/2009

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It is not uncommon for me to be accosted by my colleagues who teach PR from a journalism or communications studies perspective arguing that I don’t take a three hundred and sixty degree view of public relations in my work.  Obviously, I have to agree with this observation, and then I remind them that I call what I do marketing public relations.  It is with great respect that I tip my hat to those who engage in government relations, investor relations, employee relations, community relations and the like.  All of these disciplines use a similar set of tools and tactics to do what they do, but have different purposes within the organizations that they serve.  The above terms are linked to some interesting resources if you’d like to explore them further.  I’ve also posted some more to the Reading box of the blog.

Which one of the above categories is at work when politicians try to sell the voting public on a piece of legislation?  Yep, it’s marketing. (Email me if you’d like to argue this point.) I bring this up because we are seeing some remarkable things happen as the Obama administration and the congressional majority attempt to gain public support for their healthcare legislation.  What I find most fascinating is the fact that politicos have been forgoing press conferences for “town hall meetings.”  They do this, presumably, to make their efforts look more authentic to the public at-large, and to remove themselves from the hard questions and potential bias of the media.  This is a great idea, but we are seeing this strategy start to unravel as the opposition is making a concerted effort to crash the town hall meeting is a very vocal manner.  These “disrupters” are starting to receive more press than the event or legislation itself.  To illustrate, I’ve linked to related articles from CNN and Fox News.  NPR’s On the Media radio show produced a story recently that discusses how right-of-center activists are co-opting tactics historically used by those left-of- center to “influence the political conversation” and get some publicity in doing so.

 

Reflections:

Is there a way that companies can use town hall style meetings to their benefit? How would they differ from a press conference or a focus group? What are the pros and cons of such an approach?

Can companies act as “disrupters” at political or commercial events to the benefit of their brands and sales? What companies might have better luck using this tactic?  What are the potential positives and negatives of such an approach?

PLEASE SHARE YOUR TAKE ON THE REFLECTIONS IN THE COMMENT SECTION
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