Posts Tagged ‘imc’

Keeping up appearances

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

I am so pleased to launch a fresh look for my business after four years! It’s so rewarding to see where all this PR work has evolved into and its future potential. I am so happy with this new website that will serve not only as an integrated marketing tool, but also as a place for me to return every so often and reflect on my starting point.

Thank you to a fabulous team of web designers, the clients who I’ve had the pleasure of working with for years, and to my colleagues for their support and advice as we press on exploring the truth in PR.  The blog look will be updated shortly!

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Posted in European Destinations, Hospitality, Integrated Marketing Communications, Media Relations, PR, Top Accommodations, social media | No Comments »

For real? New rules of PR

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

I was reading a good book about the new rules of PR and Marketing last weekend, and it made me think how much the IMC field has evolved in less than five years.  It made me a little sad that the science/art/business of PR has to play by new rules in order to be strategic.  Most of all, I am sad because the lines between PR / Marketing / Advertising are once again blurred… even though we were so close to understanding their key differences.  However, reality is now, and I find that the new rules for PR success are not unreasonable.  Below are some that have stood out in my mind from my readings, and from my own experience so far:

- PR pros no longer pitch exclusively to media.  The direct-to-consumer communication takeover is fueled by social media, taking up most of PR practitioners’ time and effort.

- Press releases aren’t dead; they are completely redefined as something similar to ”consumer releases.” 

-  The one-hit PR wonder on the Today Show, Oprah, TIME is pretty much a thing of the past.  The trend of pitching to bloggers with SEO loaded text and the idea of offering up constant news in the online world is becoming more appealing for many companies.  While everyone would love to have a Newsweek editorial endorsement, companies find it more strategic to appear in multiple (albeit lesser known) outlets where SEO is key.

- PR folks are changing their lingo.  Terms such as fact sheet, media advisory, and broll are not necessarily common terms for everyone.  The language of a “consumer release” is different than the structure of a traditional press release.

- Social media etiquette.  All users should have this, but PR people should set the example as communication professionals.  Uploading high-quality content that addresses the message well, while be open to comments and feeback is important.

There are other new rules and subrules to follow as we bypass the media filter and talk directly to consumers these days.  These new rules are taking over quickly, and drastically changing the way we practiced in our field.  If you are a PR person out there, I’m interested in hearing how you think this will affect your career. 

Here’s my question:  Do you still want to be in PR now that we’re asked to essentially morph into direct marketers, who happen to possess great writing skills, just so that we can publicize SEO content to users?  Since everyone can become a journalist these days, how does that affect your practice, and will that also mean that everyone can become a self-proclaimed PR person?  Has that already happened?  Do your skills help you stand out in PR, or are you feeling the urge to reinvent yourself within the field?

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Posted in European Destinations, Hospitality, Integrated Marketing Communications, Media Relations, PR, Top Accommodations, social media | 4 Comments »

The future of online content

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Nearly 90% of my work involves some form of writing to service my clients’ business needs.  PR requires a solid writing ability and a very specific skill set of intuitively knowing who will be interested in reading your content and why.

Part of my work also involves monitoring the news environment, which has almost completely moved to online from the traditional print pubs.  It used to be where online content would supplement print.  The publishing crisis changed all of that, and now I would safely say that it’s the other way around.  In today’s world, print articles are outdated the minute they are published, and therefore they have become pretty showpieces of a nostalgic past where flipping pages was more satisfying than scrolling down to “read more” on a screen.  The need and the capability to immediately comment on articles sealed the deal for print pubs.  Period.

Clearly, the publishing crisis has impacted all of the IMC components, with a particular emphasis on PR.   Nowadays, I scan so many websites for content, I’m baffled with how many “experts” there are posting articles such as, “5 key points to…,” or ”7 trends to monitor…” and so on.  Everyone has become a reporter of some kind, but the ability and the skill to write is absent in too many of these mainstream, mislabeled, yet keyword-rich articles.  There’s so much to sift through, and absorb, it makes me wonder: what will content look like by 2020?

In 2010, we know that social media will drive content, and social networks are likely to continue dictating what is actually being read and absorbed, versus simply skimmed and shared. 

Big questions to ask:

1) Is quality of content gradually becoming more important in the face of the infinite amount of regurgitated content that just reads a little differently than the previous post?   

2) If content is closely tied to social media, what does that say about the future of the fickle three: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn?  Can we get enough quality content through these social networks so that they continue to be credible sources of information, as much as they have become marketing tools? 

3)  What is the next step once we reach the point of content saturation?  We all love informative articles that can help us shape opinions, and start conversations.  What happens when the online content world becomes too cluttered to make a real impact? 

I think that one of the issues is that too much content is free.   We’re noticing that some news sites are planning to start charging for readership in the next year or so.  If charging for content becomes mainstream, then it will be interesting to see how that will change the content world as we know it today.

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Posted in European Destinations, Hospitality, Integrated Marketing Communications, Media Relations, PR, Top Accommodations, social media | 3 Comments »

What should be the role of PR and IMC in this economy?

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

As a giant communications philosophy, IMC keeps evolving over the years. With the popularity and steep learning curve of clever social media versus traditional media relations campaigns, can PR still work well independently, or is it best practiced as part of an integrated marketing plan? With lower advertising budgets, and less exposure via paid communications, businesses have to become smarter with their marketing dollars. When planned well, PR offers better quality and longer term visibility than short term ad campaigns would for sure. But, in this economy, there’s a trend of businesses desperately trying out various components of IMC (advertising, marketing, social media, direct mail, interactive promotions, and PR) a little bit at a time, and spreading their dollars when they should be investing in what will work. That quickly turns very ineffective marketing into panic. You can’t just run 1 or 2 ads. You can’t just send out a press release without spending money to conduct follow-up. It’s therefore important to research each IMC option well and decide which vehicle will carry the message most effectively. Customize the best communications approach, and invest in it successfully. Thoughts anyone?

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Posted in Hospitality, PR | 2 Comments »