Monday, January 4, 2010

Ad Age's Examination of Today's PR Landscape

Advertising Age released an article today evaluating the impact of the year 2009 on the public relations, marketing, and advertising industries. The article also discussed the upcoming challenges those industries will face.

According to the article, the PR "industry as a whole has done a poor job of laying claim to being the authoritative voice on all things social and digital."

The article goes on to say that "the industry has stood by, similar to the way it did during the dot-com explosion, while media, direct, digital and creative shops have taken business that it should be handling." Further, it alleges that "the evolution of the media ecosystem has brought fewer traditional outlets and contacts to pitch to and a tougher task in identifying the more influential new-media players."

"Looking ahead," the article says, "most, if not all, PR shops need to put a more intense focus on navigating and understanding which outlets are having the most impact on consumer decisions and start staffing their agencies with the type of talent that understands these mediums."

Do you agree with this characterization of the public relations industry over the last few years, and on this appraisal of the outlook for the industry in the coming year? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

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