Everywhere in the world there is a need to define and better understand the public relations industry, identify trends and highlight emerging key issues. After going through an interview, several books, and websites and blogs written by some of the best public relations practitioners around the world about our future, I discovered this hype about using Social Media, a term coined by Chris Shipley, Co-founder and Global Research Director for Guidewire Group. I would like to share an experience I had this vacation, which is also a reason for me to choose social media as my topic on current trends in public relations. I have been looking for a job in the PR sector for a long time, I finally got a call and had a telephone interview with Mr. Kerman Kasad, Head Corporate Communications at Symantec Enterprise – the conversation started off pleasantly, and after enquiring about my basic details, he asked me if I was social media savvy, I replied I was - aren’t we learning how to write blogs for our assignment! After the phone interview, I thought to myself, “Is social media an important criterion for PR practitioners in today’s world to excel?” I wasn’t sure, so I decided to call back Mr. Kasad and ask him what were his views on social media as a tool for public relations, and he was polite enough to speak with me again. After a long discussion, I agreed with him when he said, “PR professionals are trend setters, and we always need to be ahead of time and early adopters of the technology will benefit from the opportunities and a whole new array of communication platforms”. Although, from my perspective it is not only important to adopt a new technology but what is most significant is to know how to optimize its effectiveness. Social media such as blogging, podcasting, video blogging, photo blogging, and viral videos are so frequently used by PR practitioners, for consumer sectors, corporate sectors and regularly for the entertainment industry. I understand that social media is one of the easiest and fastest means to reach a large number of audiences; however it might not be efficient enough to address the desired target audience, which is most likely achievable by traditional public relations techniques, such as press releases, newsletters, events and conferences. And my concern as an aspiring PR practitioner is that as more and more PR agencies use social media extensively and rigorously, for example a social media service such as MySpace has got popular celebrities such as, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Simpson, and Tom Cruise to set up spaces on MySpace. It is not only restricted to actors and singers but even some big corporations like the energy drink Red Bull and Aquafina have set up their company profiles on MySpace in order to promote and connect with their clients, buyers and chiefly the consumers.
As we can see, PR agencies are rapidly making use of social media services, would this in turn minimize the use of traditional PR techniques?
10 comments:
Hey Kerzina…
It’s quite interesting to read about new emerging trend in the field of Public Relations and Communication.
After reading your blog, it just hit me that ‘Yes, social media is the next best thing.’
You mentioned in your post how ‘social media is one of the easiest and fastest means to reach a large number of audiences’. It’s so true. I am an international student and to stay connected with all my friend and family back home, I rely completely on the internet and the growth of interactive networking sites and websites like YouTube have only helped me enrich my interaction with them. There are million of people like me doing the same. That is the reach of social media. It reaches out to a global audience.
I remember posting my journalism class video on YouTube for my friend and family back home. I have at least two different accounts on two different networking websites, like MySpace and Facebook. I often blog and constantly update my pictures for friends to see.
There was this one time when my laptop crashed on me and trust me, I have never felt more handicapped. New media is seriously big.
Dear Kerzina,
Let me first admit..I didn't know what the term 'social media' meant although I use it at times. I will agree with you, that social media has become quite an effective tool in th corporate world.In India, its still in its nascent stage but in a couple of years, most companies will promote their products thru social media. Its a really fun way to interact too and it has made the world a really small place.
Best Regards,
Bazyan
I think that as long as traditional media exists and continues to have high reader/viewer ratings I don’t think that PR will stop using traditional PR techniques such as press releases, events etc. Although more and more PRPs will probably use social media in the future, I doubt that the whole practice of PR will change that radically. In my view, it is very typical that when a new type of media is invented, a lot of people think that the “old media” will disappear and that everything will change. When the TV came, everyone thought that radio would disappear, when the internet came, people thought that this was the end of newspapers and books, that people would read books on the net…. However, it turns out that traditional media finds a way to adapt to new media, and that people do not stop using traditional media even though something new and exciting comes along. I think this will be the case with PR as well; PRPs will increasingly use social media, however, I am certain they will still use traditional PR techniques as long as traditional media exists.
In places in the UK and USA, social media is increasingly being used by PR practitioners simply because the public are using them. My opinion is that the public have set this trend and PR is playing catch up!
In the Pacific, social media (MySpace, blogging, podcasts) is rarely used by practitioners. In time, I believe that this will change as internet charges are lowerd and accessibility and bandwidths increased.
hi kerzina,
thanks for enhancing my knowledge about social media. I think its has yet to pick up in India. Its still very much in its nascent stage. Don't think too many PR agencies use it here but the scope is there for the future. At the moment not more than 5% of Indians use internet so promoting a product through it would be difficult...may be for a niche market, it would be ok.
best wishes...meher
I would like to correct a fact in one of the earlier comments. It is true that using social media as a PR tool in India is still in its nascent stage. But that’s predominantly because the PR industry in India is relatively new and developing. Not because very few people use the internet. The fact that only 5 per cent of people in India use the internet is not true. In fact, India is on the list of the top 10 countries in the world which have the maximum online population, according to a survey by ComScore Networks, March 2006, and this is excluding traffic from public computers such as internet cafes and mobile phone access.
Hi, Danesh here. I have put some thoughts together below.
I have a business of organic foods in India(www.eaternal.com) and it is crucial for me to generate maximum awareness about my brand and products, even though my PR agency has made a web page for me on MySpace, somehow I feel interactive media is not helpful for business unless you are well established as Redbull and Aquafina as mentioned in your examples. I am in the initial stages of my business and social media could be helpful once I have created enough awareness about my brand in the market. I also think social media is mainly for the entertain sectors and not business. I think PR's are only experimenting and for some people it works and for some it doesn't, hence in my opinion the traditional PR techniques would always be more effective.
As times are progressing social media is being used more and more. However this trend is more followed in the west then in developing nations. There is still a long way for developing nations to go before they reach the level the US and the UK has in terms of usage of social media. But the trend has started catching on, slowly more and more
People in developing nations are turning to social media. Yet I do not think that social media will completely erase traditional techniques like press releases any time soon. Some things are traditions and it takes a lot for a tradition to be changed.
Dear Kerzina,
Your article on Social Media was quite interesting and your question is truly thought provoking.
In my opinion, today is the age of brands.... and with so many brands competing in the market,it's all a fight for the ONE slot in the consumer's mind i.e what most marketeers call "TOP OF MIND RECALL".
Social Media hence can be used very effectively by well established brands with whom people can connect almost immediately but i'm not sure of it's effectiveness for a nouveau brand.
However, today Social media is in it's very nascent stages but I'm sure that it has a HUGE scope and potential in the years to come.
As an MBA, currently working as a Retail professional in India's largest Retail Chain, your article sure has given me an avenue in reaching out to my customers effectively by the means of Social Media.
Good post.
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