I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  There’s something about a 4–day weekend that makes me think that every weekend ought to be 4 days long.  It not only allows for DOWN time, it allows for THINK time. 

Here’s what I thought about…

There’s no question: Social Media is having an enormous, life-altering impact on the communications industry.  Everything is changing. 

• The free and ubiquitous power of online publishing has created exponential challenges in relationship management.  We must now contend with thousands of additional voices. 
• The distinct lack of editorial “professionalism” in the blogosphere has ironically forced PR agencies to increase the genuine professionalism of their outreach. Indiscriminate “e-mail blasts” are on the wane. 
• Consumers are ever more resistant to marketing messages that use the old “one-to-many” approach but are often enthused about marketing programs that are useful, empowering and inclusive.
• “Customer Service” has increasingly direct linkages to Marketing, and vice versa. 
• Web 2.0 technologies have made participation more fun, accessible, instantaneous, trackable.

In this brave new world, how should the PR industry challenge itself? 

We must always be able to “get ink” in media outlets that make sense for our clients.  And in the not so distant future, “blogger relations” will be table-stakes for even the most run-of-the-mill agency.  But what comes after that baseline level of proficiency is achieved?  It’s not just about ink anymore.  How else can we show value?  What are our industry’s stretch goals? 

Below are some current examples of SHIFT’s own work on the fringe. 

• For a consumer products company, we work with the Customer Support group to monitor and flag customer comments throughout the Web, including Amazon.com, user opinion sites, message boards, etc., so that a support rep can respond promptly, directly and publicly to user questions and complaints.
• For a start-up video application developer whose product appeals primarily to Apple users, we identified Mac User Groups (e.g., Final Cut Pro users) and introduced company executives to the administrators of these regional groups.  This often led to invitations to have client executives visit and present to the user groups themselves.
• For a Big Pharma client, we’re working directly with Facebook Groups devoted to specific disease areas, alerting FB Admins to guide their members to non-branded informational websites. 
• Along the same lines – but in a very different industry – we previewed some never-before-released video footage of a major rock music icon to a select group of Facebook Fan Groups, to create a groundswell of grassroots interest in an upcoming DVD release.  
• For another Big Pharma client, we created a YouTube channel, in which video content produced on specific disease areas is shared with the larger community.  The informational videos are embedded by other bloggers at their sites up to 15X on average.  The tags and video titles are all created to enhance SEO.  And because the disease topics change regularly, we have fresh opportunities to visit (and re-visit) the topic areas, introducing the videos to external bloggers.  Each video gets about 5,000 views.
• For a division of a major tech company, we’re in talks to create a private online community site for their Value-Added Resellers – where the VARs can interact with each other and with company representatives (via wikis, etc.).  The community site will also house all multimedia assets related to the Sales process, e.g., collateral, ROI calculators, latest product specs.
• And of course you already know about the Movember Facebook app we created for Canadian Club.  At last count, over 4,000 people had used the app.  This was our 2nd Facebook widget developed in-house.

Please note how few of these examples are about “getting ink.”  We get PLENTY of ink: I can point you to numerous, recent hits in outlets ranging from The View and Cosmopolitan to the Wall Street Journal and eWeek.  But as noted above, “it’s not just about ink anymore.”

The cynical types no doubt see this post as “blatant self promotion.”  I will cop to that because it means that the cynics agree that this is pretty cool stuff.  But the larger point is that beyond the pride is a genuine state of confusion: these assignments raise questions with which I am struggling!

You see, as a Social Media geek, I am wildly enthusiastic and excited by projects like these, but as a PR agency owner, I spent the long weekend wondering: does this type of work make us a “different” type of agency? – and if we’re no longer “just” a PR agency, what are we?  Am I fooling myself? – are these kinds of activities now run-of-the-mill? – are other PR agencies doing this type of work? – if not, why not?  Is it appropriate (or inappropriate?!) work for a PR firm? 

You tell me!   

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