It’s odd, after so many fits of anger and bouts of frustration by bloggers over PR tactics, particularly pitching, my own recent anecdotal evidence indicates there’s a growing air of surrender – or maybe it’s collective ambivalence – toward the very tactics that were once so illicit. I can’t decide if this is just my own random observation or if there’s really some sort of shift afoot.
I think there’s a group of pro bloggers that long ago sought the privilege of corporate access and when they got it, smartly used it to amplify their own credibility and influence.
I can’t help but think that there’s a growing pool of bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, and the like, out there today, each having witnessed the meteoric rise of these first movers, and each hoping in their own way to achieve the same levels of success. Because of this, maybe the desire for company access and info is beginning to outweigh the cost of all the PR cruft that comes with this – be it the industry-leading press releases, the auto-personalized emails or the super valuable pseudo-executive briefing invites.
Sadly, if this is really the case, it also means the incentive for change in the PR industry is diminishing. Why adapt to new tactics of engagement when you can simply force people into submission with the old ones?
Technorati Tags: pr, puppy, socialmedia
September 21, 2007 at 2:32 pm
You’re right, but it can’t be too long before clients see through it.
First, they’re blinded by the new the new technology – but after a while, people will only buy it when they see a benefit of buying it. Fashion will soon give way to function I reckon – or maybe in the UK it has done already…