A PR Fix for Two Troubled Industries? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Can PR Help the Music Industry?

Online Public Relations Thoughts

Noting that the music industry, particularly CD sales, has been in advanced decline for some time, Jim Horton wonders what, if anything, public relations can do when an entire industry is threatened. Horton rightly points out that the entire basis of the music business is inextricably linked to the sale of “something,” that is, a record, a CD, some physical medium for the music, but that aspect has been threatened by the advent of digital music in recent years. “The industry is spending enormous amounts of energy to combat piracy and to persuade youth that it is bad, but it clearly isn't working. The question is what concept will work and how would PR go about helping the industry sell it? This challenge almost certainly will not involve sales of something physical and sales are likely to be lower margin than before.”

More Trouble for Pet Food Company

BL Ochman’s What’s Next Blog

BL Ochman lists a good rundown of PR industry coverage of the Menu Foods pet food recall, noting that the perception problem for the company is going to be scrutiny of their quality control practices. Ochman questions the company’s crisis communications strategy, and wonders why they do not seem to be trying to put a “human face” to the public by using a blog and issuing more informational updates via their website, which frequently goes down in the wake of the crisis. “The issue is going to turn out to be the lack of quality control in the pet food industry. Royal Cainin, another huge supplier of branded pet foods, issued a statement yesterday saying that, after having their own recall. Menu has yet to say anything about how they plan to prevent similar problems in the future. They claim they don't even know what went wrong.”

Thunderdome: Advertising vs. PR

Bulldog Reporter Daily Dog

In a lengthy, interesting post that supports the idea that the line between marketing/advertising/public relations has been come increasingly blurred, Matt Shaw, vice president of the Council of Public Relations, argues that advertising firms are borrowing liberally from tactics traditionally used by PR firms. Shaw claims that the changing face of public relations in recent years, particularly within social media, has lent itself to such copycat tactics.  Shaw offers advice to firms looking to stay ahead of the game amidst new competition. “The public relations firms that are excelling, and there are many, have several key things in common: forward-thinking management, motivated staff and extremely grateful clients. They are all inextricably linked, but the first point is the engine. Firms that are bold and not afraid to take chances, and that provide their employees with the knowledge and tools that will create those breakthrough ideas … those firms will win more than their share of turf battles.”