Earlier today, we were all excited about a longish article in the "R" (Special Reports) section of today's Wall Street Journal, which in a word, validates everything we've been saying here (and doing for our clients) for the last six months.

Whoohoo! we thought. Even though nobody we know in the blog and podcasting communities reads the R, we thought the reporter got a lot of the basics right…down to pointing out our favorite truths: there's a community online for everything. And you better be authentic before you venture into them.

Still, calling the WSJ hip to the music is a stretch: you can't link to the article (it's subscription only) and the only bloggers they talked to were the usual crowd.

OK they're not quite with it yet, but it was nice to know they think we're…uh…mainstream.

But then…BUT THEN…I decided to check out the podcast mentioned in a side bar in the article. The first five seconds MADE ME WANNA SCREAM.

I quote: "It doesn’t get much sweeter…getting coverage for your small business in the WALL STREET JOURNAL." If you think my emphasis on their name is wrong, just listen to the intro yourself. It sounds triumphant, celebratory, victorious.

In other words…go ahead and do all those things we talked about, but at the end of the day, we're still want you want, what you need, what you gotta have to be validated in the real world. If we don't write about you, but your blog is crashing from traffic, you don't exist. Sure, communities are fine, but we're all that matters. Sure, blogs can give you equalized media, but we control what's important in the real world.

I am shocked — SHOCKED! – at the profound tone deafness of this podcast.

—–

Share This

A former colleague of mine at Sterling Hager, Inc. is due a great deal of credit for his dogged persistence. In the establishment PR world, persistence is worth its weight in gold. In support of my view that Todd Defren is the human PR equivalent of bullion, I draw your attention to his post a couple days ago entitled, Wanna See What the Media 2.0 Pitch" Looks Like?

In this post, Mr. Defren leads with this statement: I've written before (here and here) about how PR pros could use a combination of del.icio.us and RSS to keep reporters in-the-loop, in a highly contextual way, about clients' news and views on industry events. He continues by noting the variety of ways we can make client news easier, more complete, richer and so forth for media contacts.

…what if you could make it really, really easy?  What if you could simply point the reporter down a trail, knowing that your efforts to construct a story for them will be fully understood (and maybe even appreciated)?

Working together and separately. Todd Defren and I, on behalf of new, visionary companies, have hand delivered news to media contacts. We have prepared FAQs, backgrounders, case studies, polished pitches, precis, overviews, roundups, tutorials, and extracts. We have made a million outbound calls. We have delivered thoroughly prepared clients to the media's door. We've developed competitive analysis and market research reports. He knows that in spite of all this, for every 1000 outbound press calls an agency makes, it might, on a good day, get from three to seven inbound calls from the establishment media. He knows this. And yet, his solution to all of this is focused on how we all can make the process easier for the media.  Todd… the establishment media isn't neglecting to pay attention because we've made the news obtuse. They're simply not paying attention. They don't have to; they don't want to; they aren't rewarded on the basis of shining a light on upstarts, some of which actually will change the world.

For years, the establishment media paid no price for this exclusion. Your approach — give them more, deliver it better — implies the problem is with us, with you. We need to change. I disagree. But, you're not alone in your view…

Here for example is how Schwartz Communications, a leading Boston-area-based firm with which Todd competes, sees the world today: In their "About Us' section, Schwartz asserts the following in sentence two of their pitch: In a media-driven world, Schwartz helps companies translate technical innovation into market advantage.

In a media-driven world? Really? Surely Schwartz's world is media-driven. In the real world, however, while the media still has a role, a balanced focus is on communications to decision makers. They are all online. They are reading, contributing to, commenting about, and engaging communities of peers wholly external to the traditional world of establishment media.

Persistence is to be applauded. Stubborn is a good thing when you're right and ahead of your time. But this loyalty to an old world long since changed makes establishment people, good people like Mr. Defren, look, well… I don't want to say. It makes good people look less capable than they really are. Let's leave it at that, with the emphasis, of course, on the word "leave."

Share This

"The three main elements of public relations are practically as old as society: informing people, persuading people, or integrating people with people. Of course, the means and methods of accomplishing these ends have changed as society has changed." - Edward Bernays

That’s a quote from a movie I was watching this past weekend which referenced Edward Bernays – considered by many to be the “father of modern public relations.” A nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays pioneered the PR industry's use of psychology and other social sciences to design public persuasion campaigns.

In his day, Bernays and his ideas were considered radical. Toward that end, at times I’m sure many dismissed him, dubbed him crazy and snickered both behind his back and to his face. It’s no surprise, innovators are often sculpted from a different mold – they have the ability to think outside-the-box, an endowment the “average” person simply lacks, and therefore is incapable of understanding. Incredulousness and unwanted change are two things that cause most people to engage their natural defense mechanisms – allowing them to retreat to the traditional, safe processes they’ve always used. The fact is Bernays was right. And now, I believe PR is overdue to endure another such renovation. The future is now. More and more people are becoming increasingly dependent on receiving their news from personally selected RSS feeds which appear effortlessly in their inbox each and every morning. The days of reading the morning paper while enjoying a cup of coffee and a muffin are slowly fading. Unrelated side note – How big are muffins going to get before we all join hands across America? Seriously, standard-size muffins have vanished, I must have missed the memo. It’s either the giant mega-muffin wrapped in enough cellophane to cover your pool, or a bag of mini-muffins. It’s ridiculous.

But that’s neither here nor there. In the end, I’m extremely excited to be involved with an agency that will lead the next generation of marcom – not by dismissing the techniques of Bernays, but rather by integrating those tactics with new, more-focused strategies. Mr. Bernays's promotion efforts became legendary despite the fact that his approach was oblique. Here at AgencyNext, we’re not trying to re-invent the wheel; we’re just facilitating superior rotation. Oh yea, we’re also relentlessly searching for a place that serves a good muffin.

Share This