Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

• Karly Hand - Karly Hand
  
• Erin Portman - Erin Portman PR
• Brian Solis - PR 2.0
  
• Peter Shankman - HARO

In a world riddled with ADD, where TMI blogging and DIY reporting are the norm, are PR agencies still relevant? All sides will discuss the Pros & Cons of public relations in the digital age. - SXSW 2009

I was particularly interested in this as Capstrat is always billed as a PR agency - though we consider ourselves a communications agency. Three other colleagues were interested in this conversation for the exact same reason.

I cannot speak for them, but I found the conversation dissappointing. The conversation was not as challenging as I wanted it to be and focused mainly on Twitter. In fact, the audience was so fond of Twitter that the session ended up being one of the most popular terms on Twitter. There are 61 pages of results on Twitter Search for #PR2. Most popular tweet: "PR is getting people to do your job for you."

One of the panelists suggested that every brand should be on Twitter. Does every brand need to be tweeting? Absolutely not. Does every brand need to pay attention to what people are saying about them on Twitter? Absolutely.

To stay relevant, PR agencies need to have online specialties that expand beyond Twitter. You don't need to create Web sites, but you need to be able to engage in the social media world as necessary.

When you are tweeting, you have to decide if your tweet is yogurt or informational yogurt. The fact that you are eating yogurt is not informational, but the fact that you got a discount on the Pinkberry yogurt is relevant.

If you are a PR person that is trying to figure out how to navigate the social media world, consider reading Brian Solis' blog PR 2.0. If you are a client looking to navigate the social media world, contact us.

Three generations have now been using computers most of their lives. We have been busy collecting digital photos, music and movies. Recently, we have begun uploading our digital assets to the Web and sharing them with each other.

We have also been busy expressing and describing our thoughts using blogs and online profiles. As of late we have begun connecting these profiles to one another, creating a complex landscape of online social networks. When we look at how fast things are changing we see that much of this innovation has happened in just the last 5 years.

Now imagine leading a quality digital life for 50 more years. What will happen when you die? What will become of your online accounts? Your data? What do people pass on to their heirs? Can your survivors box up your digital life and archive it? Or will the data be lost without people to tend it?

Or will the data live on forever? Can our digital self image achieve immortality?

A whole industry will be born to answer these questions and satisfy a desire that has existed since the beginning of time - the desire for immortality. We all can't have a terra cotta army in our tomb, or a great pyramid above us. But for a fist full of dollars we will be able to maintain our digital footprint for all time. Just you wait and see.

Let the countdown begin! Although many of us already see antennas and "rabbit ears" as extinct, in 362 days (as of today) this will hold true. On February 18, 2009 the DTV transition (digital TV) will occur, switching from analog to digital broadcast television. 

So what does this mean to you?  All-digital broadcasting will not only improve picture and sound quality, it will offer "multicasting."  This will allow broadcast stations to offer several channels of digital programming at the same time, while as with analog, they could only offer one. This means even more fragmentation for media buyers (ugh). The transition to digital will also open up airwaves for public safety and emergency communications like police and fire departments.

After the 17th, anyone who has an analog set and relies on an over-the-air signal will need to make a switch.  According to Nielson Media Research, 13 million households have television sets that can only receive analog broadcasts and are currently unprepared for the transition. 

You do not however need to ditch your old television, just get a digital to analog converter box. They sell from $40-$70. The government has issued a coupon program that just became available, worth $40 towards a converter box.

So this is great right? I get way more programs to choose from, no more "rabbit ears", and the government is going to give me a coupon to cover the cost of a converter box! 

Sounds simple, however this is a really profound and expensive change to this medium. This is likely to impact the economy in a big way. The National Association of Broadcasters announced plans for a $697 million dollar campaign to educate consumers about the digital broadcast transition. 

Will millions of people run out to Best Buy to upgrade their TV's? And if so, what are they going to do with their old TV sets?  As I was writing this post thinking through the possible implications this change will have, a new article popped up from my Google Reader about how much e-waste this change may potentially create.

Even with the efforts to educate and prepare the public for the conversion, this will most likely affect the elderly and low-income population the greatest. These households will be unable to afford cable or satellite, and may also have a difficult time purchasing the more expensive converter boxes.

For many advertisers and media buyers, this could result in a shift in media dollars. Ratings may drop in these areas, and we may see broadcast dollars targeting low-income households move to other mediums such as direct mail. 

The outcome of this conversion is still unknown, however February 09' will creep up fast! Will you be ready?