OPEN

Edelman ups the PR 2.0 stakes

Regular
readers will know that I see research and development as being important
for PR firms that want to thrive in the online era. You will also know that
when it comes to claiming leadership in the emerging discipline of online
corporate communications one company is currently out in front: Edelman.

Now the PR giant has taken things one stage further by announcing an investment
in Technorati, the best known of the
dedicated blog search engines, to help it develop German, Korean, Italian,
French and Chinese versions faster.

Edelman’s eponymous President and CEO, Richard Edelman added that the
deal was driven by the company’s conviction that "every company is or can
be a media company…". He added that "This requires the companies
participating in the conversation, to listen first, then to offer a view, then
listen again and modify behavior or product as necessary. The new tools we’re
offering gives companies world-wide reach for finding that content."

Edelman also appears to be staying true to the spirit of social computing by
showing restraint in exercising its exclusive rights to use of the new
services: they will be used by Edelman staffers and clients only while in
development but are to be free to use for everyone by "the first quarter
of next year".

H&K LG Chocolate blog: an open case study in progress

A UK PR team that is certainly keeping pace with Edelman is the one running the
LG Chocolate mobile phone campaign at Hill
& Knowlton. Following on from the launch of its blogger relations
campaign and dedicated blog, Niall Cook and his
colleagues have been sharing their early lessons on their his
blog.

Highlights so far include 2,250 referrals to the blog by one high profile blogger who was given
the phone to review. Another
reviewer/blogger – an 18 year old A Level student from the West Country –
posted a video made with the phone to YouTube
where it has been viewed about 22,000 times in about one week alone.  he
also posted his review on community news site Digg
where it attracted over 1,300 votes (making it a high profile story on this,
one of the most popular sites on the internet).

Not only is this progress report fascinating, but it shows once again
commitment by PRs to the brave new media world we are all learning to live in.
Even a couple of years ago who would seriously have contemplated publishing online
or offline the interim results of a campaign just a few weeks after starting?

With the pace of change in online media seemingly only to increase with each
passing week, PR must adapt its approach quickly if it is retain its relevance
and influence in organisations. The best way for the industry to evolve is to
share knowledge and experience as it discovers new approaches and models that
work well.

The opportunity for the PR industry presented by social computing is massive;
not just in business terms, but in the opportunity to re-define itself and
leave behind the baggage of negative associations that it has acquired. Last
words to Richard Edelman this week (from his blog, naturally):

"…we will have the ability to improve our work
product; specifically, to make PR people valued contributors to the discussion,
not the often-reviled spinmeister or hype artist lampooned in the media.
Participation in this world cannot be on the basis of ‘pitch a story, hope it
appears.’ It will be based on an articulate, visual, factual presentation, with
both positives and negatives acknowledged. We have to raise our game and we
will."