Know the time worn saw that goes “the solution to every problem faced by a carpenter is a hammer.”
To make this relevant to Silicon Valley change “carpenter” to “start-up” and the word “hammer” to “technology public relations agency.”
Of course the reality is that not every problem can be fixed by a technology public relations agency, particularly if the problem is outside and beyond the ken of an agency that’s been nurtured in the closed loop of Silicon Valley.
There are reporters and editors that think its hip to take shots at public relations agencies. I’m not one of those. I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent some of the best years of my professional career as a PR manager. Some of that time was spent in what today is called “technology PR.” But, most of it was spent in general consumer PR.”
Of the two categories I believe that my time in general consumer PR was the most important to me professionally. I learned more about marketing in that period and dealt with more public opinion issues than I did at any other period of my life The skills I gained there taught me to go beyond the narrow constraints of specific technologies and focus on wide ranging issues.
There are a lot of very good PR agencies that specialize in technology. Sadly, very few of them ever get into mass market media, which is the general direction technology is galloping towards today.
What started me thinking about this was a conversation I had with a marketing executive last week, after I linked to and commented on a piece on engagements being more important that page views and clickthroughs that I had read on Churbuck.com. The conversation turned into a discussion about corporate blogging and my feelings about that topic and led to a recommendation of people I thought would be good at writing a corporate blog for the executive’s start-up.
I had to think a while before I responded. What I came up with is that most of the technology agencies I’ve dealt with over the years weren’t equipped to deal with his company’s specific issues. My friend’s company—like most companies that undertake corporate blogging—needs a skilled writer who won’t beat readers over the head with boastful marketing claims, and wasteful charges against competitors.
While noodling with who might be a good solution for his problems, three names jumped immediately out. The first was a writer who cut her teeth as a general assignment reporter outside of Silicon Valley here in Southern California. The second name is someone who was closely associated with a successful technology public relations practice but who has also worked with not-for-profits and a rose growers’ association. The third name I came up with was that of one of the most skilled writers I know, someone whose fundamental understanding of consumer public opinion is so good, that after after successively responsible technology writing positions, the person is now a high ranking executive at a global technology electronics company.
Not one of the candidates is someone who was only a technology specialist. But each is someone who could turn a technology public relations practice into a much larger communications agency that roots its business technology and consumer sectors.
My friend needs someone who understands social networking and who has great communications skills. Not someone that has spent their life pitching clients’ products for “catch all” features and items for trade magazine gossip columns.
I realized over the weekend that people who have the skill set this exec needs are in short supply in Silicon Valley. Gone are the days of communications specialists whose prime expertise and raison d’etre was the ability to write about plumbing and then place those stories in technical or financial journals. What’s needed today are communications professionals who understand that the way to build and cement customer loyalty is by engaging customers at all levels of the business process. And one of the best ways to do this may be through corporate blogs.
Sadly, I’m still waiting for more than just one or two mobile computer makers to engage me with a corporate blog about the future of mobile computing, especially now that the clock to Vista is ticking down--Jim Forbes, waiting patiently in Escondido, CA on 11/06/2006.
Comments