I recently had the privilege of attending the 2006 Critical Issues Forum which was organized by the Council of Public Relations Firms. This was a very high profile event that included discussion among some of the thought leaders in the public relations, marketing and advertising industries. The topic for discussion was Achieving Engagement in a Post Mass Media World.

I believe that the phrase ‘post mass media world’ refers to a world in which social media is a prevalent form of communication. At one point during the discussion someone made a point about the need for catering to consumers rather than bloggers. In general the response in the room to this comment was a positive one. I believe that I had a different (as in negative) take on the implications of this concept. You see, in declaring bloggers to be in a different social category from consumers there is an important point that is being overlooked. BLOGGERS ARE THE CONSUMERS! Bloggers are consumers who start and continue conversations that other consumers latch onto as well. So if you ignore bloggers then by default you are ignoring a strong segment of the consumer population.

The reaction to the aforementioned comment leads me to believe that the public relations community (or at least the segment of the community that was present in the room) may not yet fully realize the impact of social media on the way companies relate to the general public. There’s a lot of talk about acknowledging the fact that the message can no longer be controlled by crafty PR organizations. Is it just talk though? Because attempting to go around bloggers to get to the real consumers indicates that PR firms with this mindset think that they somehow can control the message. If they could only eliminate those pesky bloggers from the scenario. Or better yet, the PR firms can blog and drown out the messages coming from other non-approved bloggers.

But what do the people on the inside of PR firms really know about blogging and social media? If the recent Edelman/Walmart fiasco is any indication I’d say that they know very little. These firms may hire individuals who maintain a blog but that’s not a real credential in the world of social media. According to a recent report by Shel Holtz, Richard Edelman blames the fiasco on the fact that senior members of his team were not very experienced in social media. Then why were they assigned to an account that was social media driven? Or why weren’t those individuals properly educated on the ethics of social media prior to leading their client into a firestorm? Sounds like a company that knows how to talk but hasn’t yet learned how to walk. The client and the social media consuming public both lose in this situation.

Now I’m not here to crucify Edelman or their folks on the Walmart account. Lord knows enough of that has taken place in the highly reactionary blogosphere. I’m just using it as an example of a high profile firm that apparently has a long way to go in developing the services it provides to clients in the area of social media. I believe that the new people in the industry are probably far more adept at applying the tools. But the thought leaders are still stuck in the 1990s. Hence the situation with the Walmarting Across America blog.

There is a need for educating on and application of social media from the top down in public relations, marketing and advertising organizations. I believe that there are gaps in understanding that need to be closed. And the only way to close those gaps is by having people at all levels learn and practice using tools such as wikis, blogs and podcasts to get a message across. And not only get it across, but get the message across with honesty and transparency.

The fact is that the smartest people in social media do not lie within public relations, marketing and advertising firms. The smart people in the room are the bloggers, podcasters and other long time practitioners of this new medium. So the bottom line is that public relations firms can’t control the message and they shouldn’t try. They should assist their clients with relating to the public in an honest, intelligent and entertaining manner. They can also assist their clients in monitoring the conversations so that these firms can take part and reap the benefits of community. But before the types of organizations mentioned can do this they must reach out to get some education from the people who long ago made the choice to make social communication a part of their daily lives.

[tags]Social Media, Blogging, Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Edelman, Walmart, Education[/tags]