The Future - What's next? (Ashleigh Smith)

Continuing on from Ash M’s great comments – the future – what’s next?

Ash M has just explained how social media works, the definition and how public relations seems to be coming dependent on this medium to express a dialogue with publics.

Fill et al (2009) states that Interactive marketing communications systems enable customers and marketers to engage in commercial dialogue. That now these days’ traditional media are converging with new media to fulfil the current needs of audiences and organisations. In 2006, to enable marketers to ‘engage’ with their consumers and potential consumers 3 general strategies were proposed when using new media.

1. Interactive media must capture the audience’s imagination with a good story
2. Participatory media must focus on the target audience
3. Organisations have to know how to behave when involved in the conversation

How else is this achieved? Social Media! It captures audiences imagination through its creativeness from online sites/layouts/links/animations(online); it is directly placed in front of where audiences are sourcing their information/entertainment (online), and lastly, through researching and understand behaviours and attitudes of their publics, can identify the best way to communicate with them.

PRP’s have to master social media and use it strategically to be effective.

In the above graph, it displays PR Trends in 2010 – aka The Future of PR. (Falkow)

Falkow (2010) points out that searches for public relations have been declining since 2004. Interest in social media and social networking started to pick up in 2006, grew slowly through 2007 and 2008 and gained ground in 2009. In December 2009 searches for social media and social networking passed the number of searches for public relations. It appears social media and social networking are neck and neck in news volume, and although the reason for these searches are unknown – it does give us an insight on what people are interested in – social media.

As well, as a recent survey “Enconsultancy report on social media and PR” found that only 13% of respondents were ‘very satisfied’ of their agency’s level of social media and online PR knowledge.

From this – it reveals to us, that PRP’s need to shape up and become comfortable with the online realm. This means not only writing for traditional media, but also including in their daily tasks social media releases, video news releases, twitter feeds, rss feeds to name a few. Transparency is one of the core elements that drives online public relations (Phillips & Young, 2009), the others; internet agency, internet porosity, richness in content and reach. These are also mediated by 3 other components: the platforms/devices we use to access the internet, the growing channels of communication and the context in which all these elements come together for people to enjoy. Transparency, as it implies, suggests openness, communication and can be seen through – this is in the sense of both the media and public. How both can be receptive to the message at the same time and involved and encouraged in the communication process.

I think that new media does not kill off old media, but rather influences how to change it for PR. In an instance of a crisis, I would think the quickest method of action is social media as a proactive response. It is quick, easily accessible and coming from a credible source and cuts straight to the point. There are no journalists to twist a story in print; it is information direct from an organisation reaching out to its stakeholders and publics about the issue.

To end on a side note – an example of social media (twitter) and PR and just how involved and reputational and important to know how to use it, is a recent case between Kevin Smith (Hollywood actor and Director) and Southwest Airlines. In summary, Mr Smith was told he was “too fat” for his seat and was told to get off the plane from air staff. At the time they did not know who he was until minutes later he posted this on his twitter "Dear @SouthwestAir - I know I'm fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?" Smith posted several follow up tweets, and as result Southwest Airlines responded back directly apologising. They did this through a blog on their site. I find it quite interesting that no formal means of media (e.g. press release) was used when this situation is quite damaging to the airlines reputation seeing Smith’s status and influence power. McCarthy (2010) stated that “This may be the best example we’ve seen yet of how Twitter and other forms of new-media mass communication are shaping that old industry known as public relations....PR and customer service are two different divisions of a company. But this incident shows how, in the Digital Age, the two are increasingly overlapping. With Twitter, many companies are conducting customer relations in the public eye, and a company’s response to a high-profile disgruntled customer may require dispatching the PR team. Good communication between the two is obviously key.”

-Ashleigh Smith

References

Falkow, S. (2010). PR Trends in 2010: The Future of PR. Retrieved online 12 April, 2010 from http://www.proactivereport.com/c/pr/pr-trends-in-2010-the-future-of-pr/

Fill, C., Wells, W., Russell, T., Clow, K. E., Miller, R., & University of Sydney. (2009). New and Fragmented Media. In The Media and Marketing Communications. (2nd ed. pp. 243-259). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia.

McCarthy, C. (2010). What Kevin Smith means for the future of PR. Retrieved online 12 April, 2010 from, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10454328-36.html