Week 2 Discussion - Orientation and Introduction to Social Media

In this week's readings, Scott (2013) seemed to "toss the baby out with the bath water" in terms of getting rid of the "old" ways of practicing public relations and marketing. Please respond to the following questions:

1. Explain why you agree or disagree with Scott's proposal, in general.
2. Pick two of the "old" rules of public relations and two of the "old" rules of marketing identified by Scott and justify, given today's social media and Web 2.0 context, why we should either keep or throw out these two rules. 

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I agree with Scott's proposal, to get rid of the old ways of practicing public relations and marketing. With the rise of social media, people are seeking relationships. They still have a need to buy things, but they don't want to be sold to. The old rules of marketing and PR focus on selling products or services to people, not on understanding and interacting with them to build a reputable, genuine relationship. As Scott (2015) says, "The web has changed the rules. The web is not TV. Organizations that understand the New Rules of Marketing and PR develop relationships directly with consumers like you and me" (p. 17).

 

Advertising was one-way: company to consumer. This rule should be thrown out, for the most part. Advertising has its place in a marketing strategy plan, however social media and Web 2.0 allow for companies to receive feedback from consumers. Scott (2015) explains, "Instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment a buyer needs it. It’s about interaction, information, education, and choice" (p. 17). The company also has the opportunity to actually communicate with consumers through social media, rather than wasting resources on costly research/survey methods. Companies can effectively build relationships and improve consumer loyalty.

 

Advertising needed to appeal to the masses. Advertising used to be about sending a great, creative advertisement to everyone and see who would bite. This rule has to go, as Web 2.0 and social media allow for companies to target specific consumer groups that would be most interested in their products/services.

 

Companies had to have significant news before they were allowed to write a press release. This rule cuts out smaller businesses, who never had a chance to compete with larger companies. Small businesses were limited to local areas and generally couldn't afford advertising. As we've seen with the growth of social media, smaller businesses are able to get news out about their company through social media. There's also more news for companies to communicate to consumers, not just related to major news about the company's brand and products.

 

Companies communicated to journalists via press releases. This rule is largely outdated. Not only did companies have to seek out journalists, but their press releases would only be released if the media deemed the news interesting or newsworthy. Social media and Web 2.0 allow companies to continuously provide updates to consumers and keep the conversation going, not just wait for the media to maybe pick up on a press release. Organizations are now communicating directly with buyers (Scott, 2015, p. 22).

 

Reference

Scott, D. M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and PR (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.