Is PR 3.0 a Trojan Horse?

Finding a new way to charge those big fees for little results...

In the same manner and vein that Wall Street is finding it impossible to move far from its old compensation model of extravagant bonuses to those pitifully poor executives laboring away in the trenches of bail-out supported derivatives, the traditional PR industry is discovering new ways under the guise of PR 3.0 to continue to convince clients to pay out fat monthly charges for everything and anything… except of course, real media coverage.

I understand that as part of any client’s efforts to increase its online presence, engage its online audience, and have a much greater handle on the online conversations about the company and its industry, the client has to look for a public relations firm that can develop social media strategy and execute a plan that targets the public influencers while monitoring and tweaking the engagement process as well as traditional media outreach.

But too many old guard traditional PR firms as well as a few boutique shops that were never able to consistently deliver media coverage are finding a client’s desire to engage in the new PR 3.0 as a means to disguise this incompetence and once again justify the fat hourly fees and monster retainers. As far as traditional media coverage…say, that story in The Wall Street Journal, on CNN, or the local media… it’s subjugated to ”oh, we’ll get that as well, and under the same (enormous) fee we’re charging you to know what the public is saying about you on Twitter.” Right.

Hey, I’m not so old or old fashioned not to recognize that the Internet has changed both the rules of PR and the game itself in such a dramatic fashion that any program not acknowledging its influence is obsolete before it is launched. But I’m also old enough to recognize the old shell game once again being played by many in this industry… dazzle clients with new and mysterious ways of understanding and communicating with their stakeholders and customers, then charge them like crazy every month whether or not there’s been any tangible results. Actual media coverage…”it’s coming… maybe next month.”

No question PR 3.0 is vital. It’s imperative for clients to understand and address their online presence when creating an overall comprehensive PR program. And online presence no longer just means a client’s web site design or simple search engine optimization. It means understanding and developing a strategy that takes into account the online media; and utilizes the correct channels that will reach your public, such as blogs, community forums, video channels and using micro-media tools with some form of measurement for ROE (return on engagement).

But don't dismiss the value of a great story on CNBC or in The Journal or even the local small town gazette, to put your company on the public radar and bring a smile to the CEO’s face. Now that’s worth charging for.