PR Squared: The 2.0 Cocktail Party Challenge

IStock_000004055879XSmall I was shootin’ the breeze with a good friend the other day; a “been there, done that” kind of conversation about how the PR world has changed in the past 18 months.

On the one hand, the changes have been good: there are more clients, with more money to spend on PR, than have existed since You-Know-When (a.k.a. The Bubble That Shall Not Be Named).

Also good: so many more companies are availing themselves of the “tools of conversation.” The clients are showing a keen interest in engaging with people. The best of the bunch are less concerned with “creating a viral video” than they are with “what can we learn from these folks, now that the door is open?”

But, there’s always a flip side.

The clients are more demanding than ever. I ascribe this to the fact that they are more FEARFUL than ever.

When you know that EVERYONE could be talking about you (in a trackable way), it’s ever-more important to make sure that EVERYONE is talking about you.

And everyone needs to be saying nice things, to boot – since any negative chatter is just as likely to be picked up as any “aren’t they lovely” meme.

I compared this challenge to squiring a pretty girl to a HUGE cocktail party, filled with supermodels – while assuring her all the while that before the evening was done, she’d be the belle of the ball.

The “cocktail party” = the blogosphere. The “supermodels” = every other company vying for buzz.

A tough challenge.

Bu then again, at least it’s a cool party.