Re: Has the INTERNET killed the PR star?

From: Gil Lavie <lavie_at_incredimail.com>
Date: Mon 11 Dec 2000 15:05:58 -0500

JASON KURTENBACK <kurtenback_at_hotmail.com> WROTE:
> Wondering if anyone has seen PR types adjust their
> techiques over the past few years. My experience is
> that PR is stuck in the dark ages.
>
> A recent study completed by Integrated Marketing &
> Technology Strategies on behalf of the Council of
> Public Relations Firms offers insight into the PR
> industry's lack of appreciation of the internet and its
> sometimes negative perception of the net.
>
> >From the study:
>
> "PR industry admission: We don't understand the
> internet (but we sure want to bill our clients for
> what we don't know)"

:-) As the Budweiser guys would say, "True" :)

Sad but true. Unfortunately, a lot of PR agencies
still think their job is to pitch to reporters. Well,
frankly, with the advent of online public ations, this
is, in many cases, just a mouse click away. The end
result is a highly ineffective pitching practice,
which probably explains why reporters are inundated
with 200 emails per day.

There is a a limit to what the media can handle and
only so much press "shelf space".

There's also a Catch. In many cases, the press prefers
dealing with a company insider rather than what they
refer to as "flak". So in essence, we are paying
someone to do something that he/she can do less
effectively than ourselves. mmm...

Instead, much like in the marketing arena, PR agencies
need to focus on peer-to-peer propagation methods,
viral marketing and the like.

We recently ended our relations with the PR agency.
They were great but not very effective. I also
noticed a great discrepancy between the level of
interest among our users and the level of interest in
the press. Due to the situation in the market since
4/2000, reporters are much less interested in covering
new things or what's likely to be a new trend. They
are fearful of giving their endorsement simply because
their credibility has been "burned" too many times in
the past by gambling on the wrong things to cover.

I have always been a big proponent of PR. However, I
can tell you from recent experience, Dollar for Dollar,
creative online advertising has proven much more
effective in our case. Some of our campaigns reaped 2
to 4% clickthrough. It's all about trial and error
and finiding that right spot where your ad is not
estranged but rather finds an warm and loving home :)

Gil Lavie
VP Marketing
www.IncrediMail.com
Email Has Finally Evolved!





Received on Mon Dec 11 2000 - 14:05:58 CST