The Economist's opinion of PR

Good News:

Other firms' suffering has bolstered public-relations

"The past year or two has tested the idea that all publicity is good publicity, at least when it comes to business. Undeserved bonuses, plunging share prices and government bail-outs, among other ills, have elicited the ire of the media and public—and created a bonanza for public-relations firms. The recession has increased corporate demand for PR, analysts say, and enhanced the industry’s status. 'We used to be the tail on the dog,' says Richard Edelman, the boss of Edelman, the world’s biggest independent PR firm.(Also, the firm for whom I will be working this summer.) But now, he continues, PR is 'the organizing principle' behind many business decisions."

I am so grateful to be at BYU where this "organizing principle" (aka: The Matrix) is pounded into our heads.

"PR has done well in part because it is often cheaper than mass advertising campaigns. Its impact, in the form of favorable coverage in the media or online, can also be more easily measured. Moreover, PR firms are beginning to encroach on territory that used to be the domain of advertising firms, a sign of their increasing clout. They used chiefly to pitch story ideas to media outlets and try to get their clients mentioned in newspapers. Now they also dream up and orchestrate live events, web launches and the like. 'When you look at advertising versus public relations, it’s not going to be those clearly defined silos,' says Christopher Graves, the boss of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. 'It may be indistinguishable at some point where one ends and the other begins.'"

"The rise of the internet and social media has given PR a big boost. Many big firms have a presence on social-networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, overseen by PR staff. PR firms are increasingly called on to track what consumers are saying about their clients online and to respond directly to any negative commentary. When two employees of Domino’s, a pizza chain, uploaded a video of themselves apparently sticking ingredients for dishes they were preparing up their noses, the firm responded by posting a video of its own online, of a senior executive apologizing for the incident."

I love this profession.