Saturday, July 5, 2008

Saturday, July 05, 2008 / 12:15 PM (EST)/ New Media Academic Summit 2008 – Proving Integrated Marketing Communications is Not Just an Industry BUZZ wo

Richard Edelman’s introduction to the 2008 New Media Academic Summit emphasizes that for Public Relations practitioners, “It’s just not about having a journalism degree anymore.” Consider Edelman’s introductory highlights from the state of the communication industry:

• Sales of newspapers and news weekly magazines are in a decline compared to last year
• Ad sales of weekly magazines are in a “terminal” decline
• Advertisers are going directly to the passionate consumers and moving away from traditional media (i.e., using user-generated media)
• Companies are moving toward creating social network eco-systems (example being the Obama campaign which has a strong online presence through a variety of networks: Twitter, MySpace and Web.) The Obama campaign is creating a “surround sound” effect for voters, which guarantees that people see his content and reinforces the notions of his speeches and campaigns and allows users to easily share content
• Global Revolution in sharing messages (i.e. China). Changing the messages to being a shortened form, with the voice of new coming from a “average person”
• Changing nature of the big corporation
• Wal-Mart is changing the conversation about them toward its sustainability and commitment to “green” products. An example of companies realizing and exhibiting their power in the market place and not being a passive recipient of government action
Do any of these issues sound familiar to IMC practitioners? In fact, I’m somewhat amazed that some “old school” PR professionals are just now realizing that maybe they should stop thinking of themselves as “preachers of the Clinton spin room.” In fact, listen to the advice Edelman provides his audience:

“PR is moving toward a new way of communication where they share an “informed view” with their consumers and constantly update their messages and engage in a conversation with them rather than dictate the conversation. PR professionals have to listen, learn and adapt to the way they communicate with their audience and with their messages. And PR professionals have to earn their consumers trust by yielding control and allowing the messages they have to share to be communicated from representatives from all levels of the company and be communicated from the bottom up.”

Integrated Marketing Communications means combining the synergies of New Media, Public Relations, Marketing and other related disciplines (Market Research, Consumer Behavior, Sales Promotion, Brand Management, etc.) into one process for planning, executing, and monitoring messages that create long-term, customer relationships. I commend Edelman for suggesting that current PR students “must be comfortable cross platform”. Maybe next year, Edelman will acknowledge the power of IMC and universities like West Virginia University and NorthWestern University who are ahead of the curve in preparing students for challenges and expectations the industry has for the professional marketer/communicator.

To watch Richard Edelman’s introduction on video, click on the following link (http://www.edelman.com/Summit08/Videos/NMAS_2008_RWE_Intro.html).

Also, although not related to the subject above, Check out some new exciting New Media opportunities Microsoft has developed (Microsoft Surface – The Possibilities):




Once again, thanks for joining me this week and as always, I welcome your feedback or comments. Please feel free to visit me online at http://segment-specific-media.blogspot.com/

~Dan

1 comment:

April said...

Hey Dan,

I was really interested in Edelman's comments. Thanks for sharing! Did you actually attend the New Media Summit?
How cool!
I love to check out MyBarackObama.com, and I really think Edelman hit the nail on the head with his explanation of Obama's community-building as "surround sound." How true! When Obama says or does something, he tells his community (via e-mail listserv, blog) and we tell each other and our friends. The result is often 3x to 5x reinforcement of what he said or did.
I'm not sure if I'm getting more informed about "the issues," but I feel pretty informed about Obama's PR message! It's fascinating to think that this is the direction PR is now going to - it requires so much knowledge from practitioners!