Strengthening links in the communication chain

These are turbulent times for marketers and their agencies. The information economy has shaken up the way we transact, blurred old boundaries, disrupted traditional relationships and turned the way we do business upside down. Old methods are starting to show their age and novel digital communication channels are springing up everywhere to replace them. Conventional marketing techniques are less and less effective and marketers need a new ‘mix' for the accelerated, fragmented world of modern digital media.

While the turbulence isn't new, there is little consensus on where these changes are leading us. Most marketers and agencies agree that the ‘marketing mix' has to be adapted and that the esteemed ‘4Ps' are no longer enough in themselves, but they still find themselves ‘buckling up' and riding out their bumpy campaigns in search of the ever more elusive and increasingly sophisticated and well-informed consumer.

Vision

Our vision of the role that will be played by the PR agencies of the future is based on these observations and the increasingly interconnected nature of the modern economy. It strikes us that organisations no longer exist independently, but in the centre of a complex network of customers, suppliers and staff.

Made possible by technological advances, this intricate network is, essentially, a community and we believe that the role of PR agencies in the near future will be to manage the communication throughout this community. In other words, the way that PR agencies will stimulate credibility and trust in the future is by ensuring that a company is openly talking to and honestly engaging with its entire community all the time.

One of the companies we deal with, Virtual Works, has coined a phrase that aptly describes this adjustment to the marketing mix: ‘Community Relationship Management'; a term that also acknowledges how this approach represents an evolution of traditional CRM services and activities.

The credibility conundrum

So what does this understanding and community-orientation mean for marketers and PR professionals? Does it mean that conventional advertising methods are no longer relevant? No, but it does make relationship and reputation the nucleus of the modern marketing mix.

Companies need to embrace the fact that they inhabit an interconnected, media-saturated world and that every conceivable form of communication should be used to influence desired behaviour. Their customers are cynical, suspicious and media-savvy. They don't believe advertising to be authoritative or independent and turn to their extended ‘community' for recommendations and advice instead. The people they have relationships with and media channels whose reputations they trust.

This approach is not prescriptive. Although direct and viral marketing strategies are proving to be important, effective tools in ever more instances, community-orientated PR does not mean every company now has to have a blog. The focus should not be on the latest digital communication method, but on how best to shape the perception of the brand in question in that specific scenario.

In practical terms, it means adapting the key messages of a campaign to suit a variety of mediums - the one given is that single channel messages are unlikely to be effective in the fragmented modern mediascape - and to suit diverse editorial agendas and debates.

Less spin, more win

PR agencies will also have to adapt to their more community-orientated role by becoming more transparent and responsive. Media coverage is important, but PR professionals are sometimes guilty of focusing solely on it However, to remain relevant and continue to successfully stimulate credibility and trust among communities of information economy consumers, PR agencies are going to have to honestly, openly engage with the community and allow it to participate in the news generating and distributing process.
The future is bright for PR agencies. The increasingly interactive, fragmented and media-saturated environment is making their role more and more important. As South African firms start to embrace the community nature of the new economy, PR will no longer be seen as a supporting function focused on ‘spinning' events and news, but a brand building role that breaks down all communication barriers within a community - for everybody's benefit.