CONTENT IS KING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS IS STORYTELLING

By David Gwyn, President

Over the past decade, the public relations industry has undergone significant transformations driven by digitization, technological advancements, societal shifts and the general blurring of lines between PR, marketing and social media. With artificial intelligence, we now have tools to assist in content creation, media monitoring and personalized outreach to journalists. Newsrooms are shrinking at an alarming rate, with many of those former journalists creating their own media platforms to tell stories and create dialogue. Earned media comes in much more concise snippets and clips. But at the end of the day, public relations outreach is still about storytelling and bringing ideas to life and the mantra ​“content is king” has never been more true. 

One simple example is an implied endorsement of a brand by an individual, whether that be a celebrity, a niche market expert, a public figure or a journalist. In the past, a brand might have paid a celebrity or athlete to simply ​“endorse” a product by sheer association – a picture on the packaging, a role in an advertisement or a logo on their jersey. The deal was cut, the endorsee got paid a fee, and that was it. 

Next came the ​“brand ambassador,” which took the endorsee model to another level. The agreement between the company and the ambassador required the person to actually perform some act of brand support – show up at a meet-and-greet, do radio interviews or post a few social media messages about the brand association. 

The ambassador model shifted several years back to become what we now refer to as ​“influencers,” where these individuals literally become an extension of the brand by using their notoriety and public reach to engage their fans and followers in a meaningful dialogue about the brand they are aligned with and why. From mega-influencers like the Kardashians, Jenners and Joe Rogans to micro-influencers of all kinds, every brand – whether they admit it or not – is in the game. 

Finally, there are the ​“content producers” who have taken their professional skill set(s) and put them to work for brands, in essence creating real-time, user-generated content that extends the reach of traditional marketing tactics. Typically coming out of the creative world, content producers create, shoot and edit visual content, which turns into compelling content that brands release to their target audience. 

While endorsees, ambassadors, influencers and content producers all fall into the same category, the difference is the expected level of engagement and true partnership with the brand, all of which are to be curated and cost-negotiated by a good marketing partner.