Come Together / from MediaPost

A few weeks ago, Vocus released a survey about the divergent attitudes amongst us marketing and PR professionals and our take on integrated communications. The survey, also featured in MediaPost's Center for Media Research, looked at the differences in our perceptions surrounding the effectiveness, priorities and purpose of integrated communications.

One of the most surprising findings centered on the definition of integrated communications itself. And this raises a question: is something as ill-defined as integrated communications preferable or even valuable for companies? Is there a benefit to bringing together communications functions of two distinct practices (marketing and PR) that can barely agree on each other's applicability or raison d'être?

The answer is a resounding YES, and for two main reasons;

1) Despite the disconnect between marketing and PR professionals regarding the philosophy and aim of communications, these are viewed and consumed by outside entities (consumers, in the case of B2C companies, businesses for B2B) in the same way. That is to say, various communications are inherently linked, and so they must be developed and disseminated in an integrated way.

2) Integrated communications leverages the power of both PR and marketing to achieve unified aims. Rather than a mash-up of at-odds tactics and strategies (as does exist with separate PR and marketing entities), the sum of techniques used in a robust and integrated communications program becomes so much greater than its individual parts.

We All Own It

While the Vocus survey stops short of making a pronouncement on the value of integrated communications, integrating our efforts (yes, I'm talking to you, Marketing Department) is the only way to effectively engage and manage the diverse communications channels available today. Just as the survey finds that both PR ad marketing practitioners perceive social media outreach as being part of their scope (43% of PR professionals feel they should "own" social media, while 34% of marketers make the same claim), an integrated approach is really the only way to maximize the benefits of this still-growing medium. It's impossible to be effective in a vacuum.

Talking of Social Media

Social media is a great example to support the above statements - that both the PR and marketing aspects of corporate communications are linked. Facebook pages or Twitter feeds function equally as awareness drivers and marketing vehicles. The commonality here is brand engagement, and that is neither a strictly marketing nor a strictly PR function. It is a function of integrated communications, period.

That said, social media demonstrates that it's often necessary to use different tactics to achieve different results. Even as social media resists easy tagging as a 'PR' or 'marketing' medium, it produces different end results if traditionally marketing-related or traditionally PR-related techniques are used to activate it. And users of social media can usually tell the difference between sales and outreach efforts, and each may be relevant under different circumstances. But to make this resolve, and to reap the most rewards from communication in this channel, everyone has to be on the same page.

Integrate Baby, Integrate....click here to continue reading.

Digital & PR Agencies Getting Hitched

A great piece in Adweek by Brian Morrissey about Digital and PR agencies coming together. All I can say is ABOUT TIME!

Why? To paraphrase Kevin King, managing director of Edelman Digital;

"To execute a robust digital strategy, you have to ... do everything." Kings feels that "traditional" digital agencies aren't adept at being nimble enough to react as quickly as needed in social media. PR firms, steeped in the 24-hour news cycle, don't have that problem, he said.

AMEN.

Click here to read the entire piece on Adweek.com

My response to MoBlog's "Forecasts Don't Reflect Full Scope Of Mobile Spending"

A few thoughts on Mark Walsh’s article on Mediapost’s MoBlog last week (5/20) concerning the growth forecasts of mobile ad spending.

The article cites a larger mobile marketplace (in dollar terms) than leading growth estimates imply along with a higher and longer-term growth potential for the channel as justifications for businesses to resist the prevailing urgency to jump into mobile marketing and advertising. Inevitable increases in mobile content inventory that will go hand in hand with a more mobile-centric future, he argues, make the imperative of claiming a share of the mobile market at this juncture a “tad alarmist”.

I agree with a part of this argument - that the mobile explosion or ‘critical mass’ analysts have been predicting for years has yet to (and may never) materialize; I have addressed this notion in some of my Mobile Marketer columns- but deny vehemently the conclusion Walsh reaches. Yes, the mobile revolution in terms of marketing and advertising is shaping up to be gradual, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful, or any less important for businesses to be involved with. Moreover, the inflation of ad spend figures when considering ‘earned media’ only indicates that mobile marketing and advertising may be more of a mature market than analysts have realized, which would make a case for the urgency to get involved, not against.

Mobile is not going anywhere, so I agree that the concept of ‘missing the boat’ doesn’t necessarily apply. But companies that don’t engage in mobile marketing and advertising at this point are ceding a significant early adopter advantage to their competitors. This isn’t strictly about staking a claim in the market (who wants to be the Pets.com of the mobile space?), but more about engaging the mobile channel to become conversant in the marketing language of tomorrow.

Companies that utilize mobile marketing and advertising today are perceived as innovative and forward-thinking among their customers and competitors; companies that jump on the mobile bandwagon in five years will be behind the curve, and viewed as such.

Mobile growth projections are impressive for a reason: the channel is quickly becoming a dominant medium for marketing and advertising. Consumers are embracing the mobile web and direct mobile communications, and the mobile device is becoming indispensible. Businesses and marketers that ignore or dismiss this phenomenon- or play the waiting game with a rapidly expanding channel- do so at their own peril.

The mobile marketing and advertising revolution will be less like flipping a light switch (with late adopters shadows in a suddenly bright room), and more like building a bonfire. Those on the fringes will eventually see the light, but they won’t be nearly as hot as those who had been there from the first spark.