Public Relations’ place in the Googlezon future
By Charlie Pownall, Digital Director, Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific

For the last couple of years, there has been a much-watched video doing the rounds, charting the rise and rise of ‘Googlezon’, a [not-so-] mythical corporation that extinguishes the mass media through a potent combination of personalised content and marketing based on comprehensive data about their usage patterns, interests, social habits, demographics and consumption habits. ( http://mccd.udc.es/orihuela/epic/ols-master.html)

It is, in many ways a bleak vision, not least Googlezon’s purported ability to construct news stories dynamically, ‘stripping sentences and facts from all sources and re-combining them’– anathema to those schooled in the art of crafting stories using carefully selected words and images.

But, this is no revolution – it is already happening. The fast emerging issue of online data privacy is testament to concerns about the potential raw power of search engines.

Predictably, the mainstream media in Asia are fighting back; in late June new rules were put in place meaning search engines and web portals in Korea may no longer store news from the country’s media on their databases for more than seven days; providing even links to news items on media websites after a week has been banned.

We can expect this kind of tussle to be a fixture in an increasingly confused Asian media landscape for quite some time. For our industry, appreciating the broad thrust of this landscape is now an entry-level requirement.
Similarly, clients also expect PR consultancies to understand the principles and practices as they apply directly to our profession – how journalists are using the web to research stories; which resources they find useful and why; how to identify, track and work with key bloggers and online influencers; how to use the internet to contain issues, manage crises and talk to employees and other stakeholders; the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of news moving between online and offline and the potential and actual impact in all mediums. And this is something at which Burson-Marsteller already excels.

But the pace is quickening. We are already hearing from clients in Asia Pacific that they are starting to shift marketing dollars away from so-called ‘measurable media’ such as advertising into more truly measurable media, including digital and direct marketing. And where the money goes, others follow. Little surprise then that advertising agencies, media planners and others are jumping in; all claiming they can solve broadly similar client challenges (‘increase awareness’ or ‘generate buzz’) using similar language (‘building relationships’) and approaches (moving from ‘understand’ to ‘engage’).

However, and this is key, in this environment, exploiting PR’s core strengths is critical, not least our already-deep understanding of and relationships with third party influencers and interest groups, while extending this capability to the multiple new influencers in the blogosphere.

Most of all, however, PR consultancies have a real opportunity as communications advisors to help clients navigate the rhetoric and realities of a more transparent, authentic and trust-based business environment.