Seat at the Table

Too often I see PR versus blogging debated. It’s the wrong debate. It should refocus on blogging, PR and how the two tie into each other (as people like Richard Edelman often blog).

There is, however, a great irony that I enjoy with the “blogging vs. PR” debate. It pushes a one-size-fits-all approach communications strategy (blog-centric). It’s the same attitude approach that bad PR agencies into so much trouble (”hey we got a new biz pitch, change the company name from last week’s pitch”).

I posted on the Naked Couch blog in response to some of Shel Israel’s blogging that implies blogging can replace PR. It can’t. Ever. It can sometimes be the main means of communications, but that simply means it’s the core PR program (and if you are not using an agency or PR person to help, it’s still PR by defintion).

Addition: I would also suggest people look at what Kami Watson Huyse has to say about this topic. Her comments about how blogging does not change the basic approach of good PR researchm, planning, execution and measurement is right on target. It supports the point that this debate focuses too much on the core approaches to communicating and missing the larger picture. It’s like saying that Toyota’s success is that it has great cars. It does. But it’s success is also do to great management, financial planning, market research, vision, etc.

Here are some other points from my post:

- PR profession hasn’t “served” it’s purpose as this de. It “serves” a purpose. The challenge is not making PR relevant, it is. The challenge is finding qualified candidates that can do the serving. For example, how many professionals have learned how to use search engines in appropriate PR programs.

- Blogging is a type of program, tactic, strategy, approach to communications (whatever you want to call it) that is sometimes appropriate to be the centerpiece of a PR strategy. However, it is obviously not a command and control one, as Shel rightly points out in a post that otherwise serves as an example of what I believe to be the wrong debate. Other times it may be appropriate to blog as one of many ways to have a dialogue with an audience, and yet other times it may simply be a waste of time (such as if you’re targeting people like my parents…maybe in a few years).

Why not have a discussion around when blogging is appropriate, the role PR professionals play in blogging and the blogosphere and how blogging fits in with other still popular types of communications (yes, there are many others)?