Viva La Evolution. The Role of PR today

The world of PR is ever-changing, yet the principles by which we must now operate remain the same. Traditionally, PR was thought of in terms of organic and earned exposure and was reduced to pure media relations, rather than managing the reputation of organisations and their publics.

PR as Man Bites Dog operates, has always been content led and focused on telling a story, shaping the debate and earning the attention of influencers. It remains a powerful ally in protecting, nurturing and growing a firm’s reputation, enabling it to foster strong and enduring relationships.

PR to PESO

You may have heard tell of a new world order, one where traditional PR is moving to an integrated model in order to unite efforts and achieve greater business impact. Enter PESO.

PESO - no, not the Mexican or Filipino currency - is a model that takes the four media types (paid, earned, shared and owned) and merges them together:

Paid: doesn’t mean big billboard campaigns or creative print ads. It can range from social media advertising, sponsored content and email marketing.

Earned: usually sat with PR and was often considered as publicity or media relations and focused on achieving endorsement from respected third-party influencers such as journalists, bloggers and analysts.

Shared: is where social media typically sits. Similarly to PR, it has evolved with many organisations opting to use it as their main source of communications internally and externally to provoke debate and conversation.

Owned: otherwise known as content. Typically organisations control the messaging and consider the positioning and channels to tell the story on their terms.

Increasingly, B2B buyers don’t have time to seek out information on the latest products, services and thinking. Instead, the quest for modern marketers is to draw them to you.

PR plays a crucial role in being the magnet that draws people towards the brand and encourages connection. Offering people education and teaching them to understand their challenges in greater detail will see them trade time, information and attention in return for something of value.

A tremendous opportunity exists to deliver large scale cut-through for B2B brands, with integrated communications acting as a mechanism to thread all areas of the brand together.

We work closely with brands to map their audiences, the channels to influence and the content needed to reach them where they are consuming information, in a compelling, targeted and meaningful way.

If you’re about to embark on your own marketing quest, we have developed an in-depth guide to help you do this, which you get here for free.