The PR business is changing from an industry that once relied on traditional content producers, into a field that is leveraging new tools and crafting unique audio and video content itself.
Prior to the internet boom, if you had a story you wanted to tell you had a variety of options from local & network television, to radio, newspapers, and a wide variety of periodicals. So, your best bet was to craft a news release and start pitching to the respective outlets that you were targeting. Along the way you would find a number of different reactions from the standard “We’ll get back to you…” to the “That’s not something we would be interested in,” or “Send me more information.” Ultimately, if your story was accepted by an editor or a reporter, the final message was in their hands. You could only provide them with the information and coordinate an interview - from there it was up to them what would make the final cut.
While those were the rules of the game, for professionals who pride ourselves on helping our clients to tell their stories that created a pretty vulnerable and uncontrolled situation. Now, before I go on, of course I recognize that that type of situation still exists and that there are many talented individuals that still pitch and provide great results for their clients. However, with the advancement of the internet, the ubiquity of an internet connection from the PC to the cell phone and new gadgets such as the iPod and the iPad, a new channel to reach audiences has emerged.
It is this new channel, via the internet, that has ushered in the winds of change for the PR profession. Certainly, many have dealt with the client’s website, and added outreach efforts such as e-newsletters, and promotional e-mails for campaigns. But today, with the plethora of digital devices that allow consumers to easily download & tap into content, new avenues have emerged that allow us to directly distribute unique audio and video content that tells our stories.
In the process, PR professionals have gone through the shift from pitching & booking to creating & producing. The result is that our industry has become revitalized & exciting new opportunities have presented themselves to help tell our stories and reach niche markets. From iTunes, to YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, PR pros are the ones that are navigating the new online space and making sense of it for organizations and their initiatives.
Both leading up to, and of course, after Apple’s January 27th iPad announcement the interwebs were, and have been, a buzz about the tablet device that will now debut in less than a week. It’s certainly been an interesting development to observe, and follow, as the implications could potentially run far and wide - both for the computing industry, as well as those in the content creation business.
Personally, I think the iPad taps into the power of the iPhone platform but serves it up in an even more tangible size and for that matter a size that will likely in time become more palatable to a wider breath of audiences. The iPad unlike the iPhone will have no expensive cellular contract or service usage agreements, it will simply work on any WiFi connection, or those users that wish can opt in to a month-to-month data service with AT&T. In terms of the interaction, since the web’s introduction it has been a point & click type of world, but the iPad will change that it, and it will morph into a hands-on environment. We’ll be able to look past the device and become fully consumed with our music, movies, and of course text-based content - or more poignantly those delineations are going to continue to become harder to make. We’ll see magazines with embeded Podcasts, and electronic books that offer videos about their subject matter, and newspapers that will strike us more as the local television channel than the traditional paper.
In the process, this iPad-ization of content is going to further drive consumption, alter the media landscape, and change the dynamics of how we navigate and interact with this mass of content that is now before us on the internet. This change is also going to have a profound effect on how, and where, ad dollars are spent…adding bonafide and beautiful digital versions to popular publications such as Wired, ESPN The Magazine, GQ among others. Already, there has been some discussion as to the number of adverstisers that have signed on with the likes of Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal to take out full-page ads in the upcoming digital editions. So, effectively what this means is that advertisers will now have a broader spectrum to choose from when building their marketing mix; now the options will include outdoor & event-based, traditional broadcast & print (national, regional, & local), web (banner & text), and now graphical digital editions of mainstream publications.
Beyond advertising, more importantly for communications professionals this move toward tablet computing continues to break down the traditional barriers to sharing and distributing a story, a spokesperson, or a campaign message. Further, as the computer shifts from weighty laptop or stagnant desktop, the power shift for content distribution and consumption continues as platforms like the iPad will make accessing content easier, more intimate, and ubiquitous. The iPad and its successors will ultimately become yet another powerful avenue for our clients to consider when planning their campaigns, to target their message and showcase their unique content. For instance, this is an avenue whereby a client can develop and publish an App that showcases their brand and messaging, or simply develop their own unique audio and video content that the consumer can access from their device.
Of course, as this trend continues we’ll be monitoring it here at The Media Backpage. The question, however that remains, is how will you leverage The iPadization of Content for your clients?
Tear down those walls.In today’s social media infused PR & Marketing environment it’s no longer to your benefit to only publish content to your campaign website.No, in fact in today’s iPhone wielding, Twitter, & Facebook obsessed world it’s to your advantage to Syndicate your content to as many platforms as possible.
Such a concept of sharing content used to be a dirty thought, as you wanted to control your content and simply drive audiences directly to your website.However, while that is still true today, the strategy for obtaining and reaching consumers of your content has shifted; and the focus is now on spreading your message as widely as possible and having the audience further disseminate your content and propel new eyeballs in your direction. As audiences become more and more fragmented it is increasingly important to share your content and extend its reach in order to help meet the increased diversity with which content is consumed.
Sharing your content and syndicating it benefits your campaign in a number of innovative ways:
By increasing the availability of the content, creating more pipes that lead back to your website & allowing you to reach broader audiences.
Engaged audiences take ownership and will proactively share your news, and spread the message on their own to their own friends and contacts.
Allows target audiences to opt-in and manage both when & where they interact with your information.
Beyond these aspects, there are other advantages, not the least of which is having the opportunity to syndicate any type of content from the latest news release, to a Podcast interview with your spokesperson, or simply a link to a related article via Twiter.The benefits are endless and will allow you to maximize coverage for your efforts.
iTunes Celebrity Playlist Become Podcasts…with Tom Jones | Cult of Mac - Looks like iTunes has taken the next step with their “celebrity playlists” and brought them to life with a new Podcast series… at the very least this provides a unique way to gain some perspective on music maybe you haven’t thought about previously, and offers a chance to get some insight from your favorite artists…
NBC Is Buoyed by a Matrix of Winners - NYTimes.com - In a time of increasingly diverse audience segments - can an hour long news cast survive? Or does it in fact help the network to reach an even broader audience and extend its brand?
Lately, there have been reports about the fact that many people – especially given the economic times – are abandoning subscription television services. Instead with the advances made on the web, and increase availability of high-speed internet, coupled with new online sites that allow audiences access to a wide variety of programming, today’s audiences can, for the most part, access anything their TV would have conventionally brought into their living room through their laptop. That said, one area that still hasn’t completely matured is the area of live news and sports. There are some minor advances in this arena, CNN has a 24/7 online stream but it is not the same on-air product, and for most major sporting events legalities prevent most games from being available online at the moment. That said, this is an interesting trend to be aware of and yet another example of how powerful the web is to alter our communications paradigm.
While the first State of the Union Address broadcast on the web was President Clinton’s 1997 speech, not nearly as many were on the web, or had the appropriate bandwidth to see the video. Tonight however, we invite you to tune in right here as we see another example of that platonic shift as Hulu bring’s the President’s address to the mainstream social web.
Tear down those walls.