The Best and the Worst in PR (And Other PR Blog Jots)
Big in '06: Developments in PR
PR Squared
Todd Deferen offers his list of noteworthy public relations developments of 2006. According to Deferen, the Social Media News Release marked the most significant PR development of the year, followed closely by the Wal-Mart/Edelman “flog” scandal, which brought into specific relief the need for total transparency when conducting public relations online. “In the old Command-and-Control world in which PR was bred, all of these developments would have been considered heretical. But each is a shining example of how PR needs to think about its long-term relevance in an uncertain future.”
Communications Overtones
Kami Huyse joins Todd Deferen in selecting her top five trends of 2006, focusing entirely on trends in social media and their influence on public relations. She noted YouTube viral videos and virtual community Second Life among the biggest online developments. Huyse also points to the trend of social media websites publicly rejecting attempts by PR firms to use social media to their clients’ advantage. “I predict that in 2007, there will be more bad PR for public relations, but I also predict that many people, who take time to know these communities will operate quite well within them. Just like PR today in the real world, PR in the Social Media world will live on, albeit with something to prove.”
The Flack
Peter Himler links to PR Week’s “Top Ten PR Blunders for 2006.” Among the biggest goofs named were political missteps from Vice President Cheney (who accidentally shot a friend on a hunting trip) and Sen. George Allen (who used a racial slur on camera during his re-election campaign). In the corporate world, PR Week put the HP pretexting scandal at number one on their list, and the Wal-Mart/Edelman fake blog scandal at number five. “The retail giant can ill afford bad press these days. Meanwhile, Edelman had made much of its rivals' ethical slights and of its dominance in navigating the new-media market. One improperly disclosed blog later, funded by Wal-Mart's own Astroturf organization, and both companies look bad.”
Online Public Relations Thoughts
Jim Horton examines the currently media love-fest surrounding potential 2008 presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama. Horton speculates that Obama will be in for a rude awakening when he realizes that it takes more than good press to last in a presidential campaign, and suggests that he follow Sen. Hillary Clinton’s lead, and campaign more quietly. “In other words, real PR is not press clips but votes in one's pocket. Press clips help but at the right time. Now is not the right time for one to be leading in straw polls.”
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