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David Phillips: PR has missed the boat

"Once again the communications industry will fragment and will make
it hard for organisations to make communications decisions because
their advisers understand a small part of the toolbox."

David Trevor Phillips response in the comments section of my post earlier about PR Business is so thought-provoking I am going to post it here so it’s not missed (bolding is mine):

Perhaps the model is changing. We
all have an emotional relationship with favoured publications (Guy
Constadine did the research).

Can one create the same sense of emotional attachment to a blog?

Print, when news controversial, up-to-date and relevant has
influence. Online, we do it all the time and so it does not have the
same effect. Many of us rant about how slow the profession is in
recognising never mind adopting more than tri-channel communication. It
is one of the things we can do but in our own space. It is a space
where most PR people do not venture.

As I pointed out on the Hobson Holtz Report this week, we have been
usurped anyway and, as with the advent of the web, the PR industry has
lost the initiative.

Had PR Business continued, there was a chance that a weekly print book could have made the right noises.

Media Guardian is not quite the right forum. I cannot imagine it
running a headline about PR watching sails in the sunset but when a
civil engineer tells me that he is using social software embedded in
virtual environments to build roads, bridges and cities and a banker
tells much the same story. One can only marvel at the reticence of the
communication trade to grasp the opportunity.

Equally, PRW has not much of a track record in looking beyond London, luvvy centric spiffing ideas.

Once again the communications industry will fragment and will make
it hard for organisations to make communications decisions because
their advisers understand a small part of the toolbox.

With luck, by this Autumn, there will be some really good courses
from academia but these are being driven by a few enthusiasts and we
have reach outside the profession to see examples of good practice.

Antony Mayfield

4 responses to “David Phillips: PR has missed the boat”

  1. Simon Collister Avatar
    Simon Collister

    I think you’re mixing up PR pioneer, David Phillips, with Commission for Racial Equality chief exec, Trevor Phillips.

    Too much of the rum ‘n’ raisin ice cream again, Antony? ;)

  2. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    Cheers Simon – I blame the heat, the damn heat (for my larger than usual rum rations). :-)

  3. Lauren Vargas Avatar
    Lauren Vargas

    While in the US, I consider myself one of the enthusiasts in acadamia. In the fall, I will be teaching my first communications course. In a way, I think of myself as a PR evangelist…with much to learn from my counterparts.

    I too am frustrated. In many cases the blogosphere is a bubble. Some PR people feel comfortable in this bubble and do not reach outside to teach others. We can’t leave it all to academia to solve the issue.

  4. David Phillips FCIPR Avatar
    David Phillips FCIPR

    Thank you Anthony.
    I am looking at how we can re-capture the initiative.
    There is an underlying problem. Technologies move very fast and new forms of relationship building and communication come at us very fast.
    This means that the underpinning theory has to be profound.
    We have a huge practice that is predicated on limited communications practice which still works but progressively to a lesser degree.
    This means we have to demonstrate clearly the extent to which thier media is limiting thier effectiveness.
    We have limited experience of the effect of new media in Public Relations.
    This means we need good case studies and research.
    There is limited expertise.
    We have specialist expertise (blogging, podcasting etc) but we have little expertise in integrated communication and strategic capability.
    This summer, with Philip Young, I am updating my book and am preparing three University courses and have to address all three issues which is, hopefully, a way that we can regain the initiative

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