What is PR’s Elevator Pitch?
I participated in a more fascinating than usual Blogtalkradio interview today, hosted by Al Kreuger and featuring Keith O’Brien of PRWeek, Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) and Nicole Jordan of The Rubicon Project (a client, though that was merely a coincidence).
It was a far-ranging conversation about the opportunities (and travails) of the PR industry. Among the questions raised: “What is PR’s elevator pitch?”
In the interview, my fellow participants sagely discussed the need for PR pros to rise above the “publicist” role to become more strategic business consultants.
That’s all well and good – I don’t disagree – but we must all also acknowledge the need to “get ink,” as that’s the primary reason we’re tapped by clients in the first place. And, as smart as PR consultants may be behind-the-scenes, it’s in that “public” realm of Media Relations where our industry’s reputation gets its bad name.
So what do we do for a living? What would you tell a college student who’s considering PR as a career choice about what they’re getting into? (Keeping in mind that you only have an “elevator ride” to make your pitch!)
Here’s my attempt. Long-time readers will not be surprised.
“Public Relations used to be about Publicity – and to some extent that will always be true. But the rise of Social Media not only created a huge population of civilian bloggers but also led many mainstream media outlets to open themselves up to outside content, so, PR pros are now much more focused on the ‘Relations’ side of ‘Public Relations.’
“We have relationships with all sorts of content creators, and our clients are able to tap into PR professionals’ knowledge and networks to make sure that their stories are told in a relevant way, to the right people.
“Just as importantly, the PR industry is taking a lead in helping companies use Social Media principles and technologies to form better relationships not just with the media but with customers, prospects, even their own employees.
“Whoops – this is your stop? Let me hold the door for you. Hope to see you on Twitter!”
What is PR’s “elevator pitch?” What would you say?
Note: if you choose to listen to the archived Blogtalkradio interview, be warned that the audio quality is patchy.
Posted on: September 10, 2008 at 2:37 pm By Todd Defren
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Todd, great post! And I think you hit the nail on the head…
PR pros are now much more focused on the ‘Relations’ side of ‘Public Relations’
As PR pros, it’s important for us to remind ourselves of this point on a daily basis. While building relationships and reaching out to the media (both traditional and non), we need to remember that it is our job to make the connections, to actually read what the editors we are pitching are writing, to pitch only when appropriate. We need to revert back to the days of face-to-face meetings, before the iPhone and Twitter and blogging and really build relationships.
And Jeff, how true you are…
While the tactics may have changed, the strategy and end goals haven’t and that’s all clients need to worry about.
At the end of the day, our end game is still RESULTS.
I’m not sure that the elevator pitch has changed so much – its just that the world around us has changed.
I think a bigger change than social media was the introduction of email in the workplace. At that point, PR pros were able to “hide” behind their computer and not build the relationships in the same way that they could previously.
Obviously as people become more and more dependent on email – that too changes. But there are still many people out there that prefer a phone call or good old fashion face to face meetings/lunches.
At the end of the day, results are key – and you have to find the best way to do that based on your audiences. What works for one client, may not work for another.
My elevator speech for PR is probably the same as it would have been 20-30 years ago:
“Effective PR can shape and manage how the public and your most cherished stakeholders view your company, but it only works if PR is integrated into your business model. If it is an afterthought, you will be too.”
While the tactics may have changed, the strategy and end goals haven’t and that’s all clients need to worry about.
Not to be crass, or to understate the importance of relationship building, but it’s still just fishing, really. Where once there was but an ocean filled with a certain type of fish, today there are channels leading to different bodies of water, where the fish exhibit unusual behaviors and don’t respond to the old bait. It’s PR’s job to find out what these new fish in these unusual waters like to eat – before ever casting the first line.
My elevator pitch of PR is: train the empathy of targeted recipents to match the idea of helpful information; in my opinion choice of media is second floor (hardware)
I don’t claim to speak for the entire industry, but for my job at least, the “elevator speech” is really just a sentence:
“I find relevant and influential opinion leaders whose online discussions shape opinion everywhere, and I help you build relationships with them.”
Buildings where I live & work aren’t very tall, so you typically only have a few floors to travel in an elevator. I prefer the stairs, anyway…
Brands risk losing relevance in a networked world – if they continue to apply broadcast, one-size-fits-all thinking to it.
But, by listening, responding and adapting to its group-forming nature, brands can become more relevant than ever.
PR (P2PR – peer-to-peer-relations, more specifically) can take them on that journey.
Interesting pitch and it latches on to some of the current thinking around the role of PR. I suppose I take issue with PR leading the Social Media charge. It’s still debatable as to who own social media in an organization. Is it PR, Marketing, Customer Support, or the champion of blogging (who might come from the mail room).
I find that Social Media pulls PR more in the direction of Marketing than any other direction. Sure, monitoring and analyzing conversations are one thing, but aren’t our clients asking for more tangible results? Don’t they want to increase traffic, register more users, sell more product. It’s when you use social media to energize prospects in the middle of the marketing funnel that our work can shine. And what’s shining seems to be action oriented results (marketing) rather than a shift in perception (pr).
Todd: Great pitch!
In your paragraph about:
“Just as importantly, the PR industry is taking a lead in helping companies use Social Media principles and technologies to form better relationships not just with the media but with customers, prospects, even their own employees.”
…I would add about the value of social media principles being used for form better relationships with those various audiences — offline (as well as online). Learning from how we treat, deal with and relate to people online can have a deeper impact on how we treat them offline.
Of course, you probably meant that in your thinking and writing. But, if by chance not, thought I’d toss it out there for consumption.
Take care,
Mike
As long as…
Getting Ink = delivering messages to pre-determined, target audiences by means of the most pertinent vehicle to that audience,
and that…
the Ink = the key messages which can be anything from marketing communication to issues/reputation/crisis management to corporate social responsibility.