Your observations certainly ring true with my experience of the PR industry. The spend on the printed word is decreasing as they media channels close at a rapid space and advertising (and thus PR) spend is going online.

Also as Marketing Directors’ budgets are being squeezed they are being questioned like never before to justify spend. Online PR provides solid and quantifiable results where as “traditional” PR has always been difficult to quantify for clients. AVE simply will not do any more, where as social media monitoring provides invaluable feedback on campaigns.

Certainly, advertising, marketing and digital agencies have been quick to occupy OUR space in the online PR market. They are all providing services for blogging, “SEO” optimised press releases, forums (stakeholder comms) and viral campaigns that drive word of mouth online.

I think that it is time for the PR industry to wake up and smell the coffee….

The principles – talk about something interest, talk to the right people, network with influencers and opinion formers – it’s all exactly the same as it’s ever been.

I’m probably looking at it in more of a relaxed way than some people as I’m not actually from a PR background. I’ve taken a long and winding road from journalism, through product marketing, to PR at a search agency and there are so many overlaps, it has been a pretty seamless transition..

1) when people say, “traditional PR” they mean media relations. If that was all an agency was doing anyway (ie not building advocacy through heaps of different methods to reach ALL markets) then yes, they are probably screwed. Just like if you only do hard copy direct mail or only sell print advertising, you might want to look at expanding into new areas.

2) digital is a way of reaching people…you can learn how to do it pretty easily. So can everyone else. It is a way of reaching your communities who by the way, are there anyway, PR agencies just need to help their clients figure a way of joining them and talking to them. Then persuade them to take what they hear and learn from it.

3) What are PR skills anyway? In my opinion, the skill still lies in being able to tease out the interesting stories and narrative from the river of marketing outpourings that every company produces. Sounds easy? It isn’t. Then we need to help people be able to understand it, see why it fits into the wider world and increasingly, to find it. That is not just about platforms or applications or tweeting with your little toes. It is about knwoing what makes a story and a memorable and remarkable story where possible.

I think the real threat are the people who don’t get it and you find them everywhere

http://blendingthemix.com/2009/04/09/supplier-side-social-media-services-time-to-shape-up-part-i/

As you’ll see from the above, I’d been looking at the same issue, albeit from the angle of the digital/tech agency who were trying to move into your and David’s spaces. I certainly feel that there is a land-grab of sorts around social media by tech and pr – and that ultimately, the successful firms will be the ones who can integrate the two most successfully.

I am a firm believer that the technology is fast (if not already) becoming commoditised and as such, the onus will be on *someone* to manage, nurture and build upon the relationships the technology has put in place. How many tech agencies can offer that kind of relationship building?

Equally, is it taking things too far to only recruit people who are both social media/pr AND tech savvy? Is that sustainable as a recruitment policy or will there be enough of these types of people emerging onto the market in, say 5 years to make it a basic requirement from someone entering the industry?