PR's Role in Interpreting Change
Mike Greece, APR, senior vice president and managing director, Padilla Speer Beardsley New York
As seen in Public Relations Tactics

Marcus Aurelius Antonius was a Roman emperor who died in the year 180. During his reign, he told everyone, "The universe is change." Eighteen centuries later, his words epitomize the world in which mass media resides and which we, as PR practitioners, must master.

Each day we awaken to a global bell jar whose contents continuously morphs, and only the most agile and creative practitioners among us can cope with things being different. The Internet has certainly accelerated change, but technology and human nature have always been on a journey of constant renewal.

So how do we conduct public relations in a fast-changing global landscape — a complex plane of public opinion that PR practitioners must navigate to succeed? Our spheres of influence are now characterized by the unexpected and the disruptive, putting at risk traditional effects of messages and well-meant communications campaigns. And in the midst of this real-life kaleidoscope, our target audiences exhibit an urgent, compelling hunger for smarts. Publics we want to talk to are increasingly contentious, stemming from a legacy of entitlement and rising interest in being aware.

To complicate things even more, cohorts of citizens have been given instant access to information by the Internet, making enterprises transparent, target audiences more discerning, and editors hungrier for fast turnaround and new angles.

Evidence of the kaleidoscope context is clear in news stories that help frame the nature of our 21st-century PR battlefield. One BusinessWeek cover was titled "The Surprise Economy." Other media telegraph the tension and perils of the new PR playground. Consider the headline: "Terror's Toll on the Economy: Shock Waves Keep Spreading" from The Wall Street Journal.

A past theme of PRSA's International Conference reflects PR's compelling mandate, "Interpreting A World of Change."

Our role in interpreting change isn't as much a problem as an opportunity to translate what's going on for various publics and gain visibility for ourselves or our clients as experts. This role offers broad value to enterprises that recognize that importance of being perceived as thought leaders.

So if you're interested in succeeding in this anxious, dynamic space we live in, here are five suggestions for coping with the new "Motion Economy:"

• Each of us must stay a step ahead of the sun. Get up each day determined to be your own instant search engine— mobilizing quickly to get business signals from earlier time zones as well as yesterday's late news. In initiating messages to influence or inform, the first move must be quick-studied and correct. Agility counts.

• Substance, form and relationships still matter when dealing with traditional media and those islands of influence that constitute the new media. However, today these attributes must be partnered with speed. Much like the consumer buying a pair of shoes off or online, editors will move to the next source quickly if they sense delay, ambiguity or a product that isn't tailored to their needs.

• Localization still rules, but in a global setting. Localizing geographically and topically are requirements in any medium, but companies, products, supply chains, issues and trends today are likely to be impacted by global context. Always do a world gut-check to make sure your localized pitch makes sense.

• Don't panic. The media pyramid is robust and populated with old and new players and forums. If you're blocked at one entry point, there are a number of portals for success. Turn change into an opportunity, not a defeat. The proliferation of opinions and fresh issues presents an ongoing window for input. Look for reactive as well as proactive ways to gain entry.

• There is a potpourri of basics that still work. Don't waste a media gatekeeper's time. Be quotable. Package the story. Always tell the truth and provide information, not propaganda.

Despite the increasingly changing universe, these fundamentals never change.