Jkander's Blog

Mission #7: Put the Public Back in Public Relations

After reading Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge, I have one initial comment: “Duh!”

I realize that is not the most enlightened response, and probably leaves most of you pondering, “What does this girl mean?” But, in all fairness, I feel like it was only a matter of time before a book like this was written and consequently hailed as the gospel for budding Public Relations executives in the 21^st century.

Better yet, a word of wisdom for all of you students studying PR—you had better grab this book now as it is surely on track to be “required reading” in communication classes in Universities across the Nation.

Move over Strunk & White, for Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, is about as necessary in this day and age as the APA Style Guide.

Bold claim? Surely not. Simply put, this book is everything we’ve needed and more. Essentially, it details how Public Relations has changed and how the role of PR professionals will continue to adapt in a world that is shaped by social media applications.

I have taken my fair share of graduate classes in communications and I realize it was only a matter of time before a book with this message was written. In fact, I’m convinced that any one of my esteemed professors could have written the same thing.

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations shows shows a promising future for PR as opposed to the pessimistic viewpoint that people often have. According to the book, social media is drastically changing the way PR professionals work.  Coined PR 2.0, the new age of PR, the industry is borrowing some of the tenants from web 2.0 applications. Instead of PR professionals dictating exactly how the public sees a product or service, it is important to note that everyone has a voice in shaping consumer reaction to a product or service. This book builds on the ideas put forth in previous readings like Groundswell and The Long Tail.

Traditional PR techniques do not work anymore. The traditional press release doesn’t take anyone else’s comments into consideration. PR 2.0 should resemble a dialogue, not a monologue.

Along those same lines, it’s no longer the sole job of a PR professional to “create a message.” Instead, messages are constantly evolving and are shaped by the community as a whole. In fact, it’s the community and the people in that community that are the most important factor in the equation. Think how easy it is to comment on blog post or news story online? At the risk of sounding cliché, “it’s so easy my grandma can do it!” (trust me she has…many, many times).

This book emphasizes the fact that technologies may come and go, but with the proliferation of social media tools, people are engaged and conversing in new ways. PR professionals have to communicate with the public. They can’t just tell the public what they want. They have to listen to the public.

And it looks like this book is just a start. After scouring the Internet, I found that a lot of PR professionals are following ideas from the Book.

Check out this blog by PR professional Kevin Dugan.

This blog gives specific examples of how the PR profession has changed. Professionals cannot ignore web 2.0 technologies and in order to be successful in the field, they have to embrace the power of the community and cannot ignore the presence of social media. Kevin Dugan’s blog is just one example of how PR professionals are changing the way they operate.

The tenants in this book directly relate to how my company, Pixar, is beginning to approach PR. Pixar already has an active presence on Web 2.0 platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, the Company has introduced some widely successful viral marketing campaigns, including the 2008 release of Wall-E. This Web site was originally sensory-overload for Disney/Pixar fans. But it shows how Pixar is integrating many different applications in their public relation campaigns. PR 2.0 is definitely the wave-of-the-future for large corporations like Pixar. Social media applications and Web 2.0 definitely offer Pixar an unprecedented opportunity to transform they way the Company thinks, strategizes, prioritizes and delivers its PR services in the most successful way possible.