It’s time to bridge the gap between PR and media buying
If public relations and advertising are so co-dependent, why then should the agencies responsible for each remain siloed? Cara Cunningham explores the great divide.
While much has been said about the unnatural divide between creative and media, the same tension exists between the PR landscape and media buying, yet little has been done to correct the fragmented model.
Protection of the status quo, as I see it, is the only factor keeping the two apart. The natural interplay, or co-dependency even, between PR and media functions, makes it hard to define where one starts and the other ends.
Hence the inherent double up if you are outsourcing these services to separate agencies. From the duplication of fees, to the crossover of deliverables, it is a clunky and costly structure that is seeing millions in marketing dollars wasted and ineffectively leveraged.
Reads like this author doesn’t really understand the function of both PR agencies and media agencies.
Just Googled the company:
“We create compelling brand content and support it through strategic media placement and amplified by widespread editorial exposure.”
Okay, I get it now.
The best content is going to come from the custodian of the audience. The PR industry (usually) understands this, which puts them in the driver’s seat of this new content-lead age. As long as they fight their instincts, that it can’t *all* be earned and those ad dollars are needed to keep the publications going, they’re going to be well placed to best take advantage.
If being in the driver seat comes from being the custodian of the audience, wouldn’t this be the Media Agency who holds their clients first party data through the adserver and is managing their DMP and GA accounts.. and without that, i’m not sure how PR agencies are guaranteeing that they understand their clients actual audience
Can’t help but feel these comments above are a perfect reflection of the point of the article, @m – “doesn’t really understand the function of both PR agencies and media agencies.” @Beau Ushay – “…content is going to come from the custodian of the audience.” @Joy Morgan – “…wouldn’t this be the Media Agency…”
They’re all still looking at the professional landscape as working in either PR or Media and as this article quite literally says, this is a fragmented model. It’s not for one agency to own with the other to support. It’s to remodel the agency offering altogether to provide one cohesive service. Yes, it’s a plug but it’s a good point.