Modern Trends in Public Relations

Billboards can be useful in public relations campaigns.

When the first iPhone came out, few people had heard of Justine Ezarik. However, when her 300-page phone bill was delivered by FedEx, it activated the publicity machine. Ezarik appeared on news programs, TV shows, and even landed a spot as the spokesperson for Mozy online backup. Meanwhile, the resulting bad publicity resulted in AT&T changing its billing practices in order to avoid a tremendous amount of wasted paper. In one instance, two trends of public relations are seen --- social media marketing, as well as companies becoming eco-friendly.

Cause Marketing

Cause marketing in public relations has evolved. Companies that were previously not connected with causes are embracing the opportunity to combine their product with a cause. The cause is usually a social or political cause. For example, many companies have aligned themselves with raising awareness of breast cancer by "going pink." Cause marketing also can be used in broad terms. Google has a core philosophy of "Do no evil," which has come to be its mantra.

Combinations

Another trend in public relations is to combine two or more campaigns into one. This can be seen with the sustainability campaign. By combining a campaign that is focused on being more eco-friendly with also making concessions to being budget-conscious, two campaigns are merged into one.

Worldwide

Public relations trends also have moved outside traditional media. At one time, public relations companies simply sent a news release to a newspaper or a TV station. With the tremendous growth of the Internet, many public relations companies simply post their own news releases on a client's website. In addition, some public relations companies actively seek out blogs that coincide with whatever agenda is being promoted. This awareness of a product can even be beneficial with bad publicity. For example, although a recent study found that negative reviews of known authors hurt sales, bad reviews of books by unknown authors increased sales by nearly 50 percent. The publicity was not as important as simply making the public aware of the product.

Social Networking

The public relations firm Burson-Marsteller conducted a survey in 2010 that discovered 33 out of 34 politically active groups used at least one social media site to promote their agenda and build their base. This new trend in public relations has the public relations company connecting with the public. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow companies and individuals to directly put their message or product out in front of people who have chosen to be included in a social network.

References

• Entrepreneur: How Your PR Can Seize the Day
• "Internet Famous: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Online Celebrity"; Cameron Chapman; 2009
• Entrepreneur: Marketing with a Mission
• The Future Buzz: Blogger Relations: Two Approaches for PR
• Forbes: How Political Activists are Making the Most of Social Media
• "The New York Times": Good News, Bad News; Rob Walker; Oct. 29, 2010