On Dinosaurs & Asteroids
Among the many OTHER debates that bounce around the echo-chamber on occassion is the debate on disintermediation. Specifically: As Social Media becomes more mainstream; as companies enable more direct communications with their end-customers (through blogs, SMNRs, RSS, etc.), will the PR industry suffer a level of disintermediation? Will the middleman role fade away?
To date, that has certainly NOT been the case. Social Media faux pas notwithstanding, the PR industry business has been booming. There's been a headlong rush, among client companies large & small, into the arms of PR agencies --- specifically agencies who (supposedly) "get it" when it comes to Social Media.
Of course, that gold-rush won't last, as knowledge (mistakes, best-practices, daily use) spreads amongst marketers of all stripes. So, disintermediation could still occur within the next 3 to 5 years, if you believe the cynics. If PR agencies are becoming dinosaurs, we need to scan the skies for asteroids.
I was discussing these concepts with some colleagues and clients recently. One of them said something off-the-cuff that struck me as (potentially) profound. He said, "One of the reasons companies hire PR agencies is so that they have someone to blame when something gets FUBAR. Despite all of the OTHER value that agencies offer, they ALSO serve as job insurance for the marketer. The agency is the neck that the marketing v.p. gets to choke, if they ever need to protect their own necks."
Talk about cynical! And yet, he makes a good point.
As marketers (and their agencies) struggle to keep pace with high-scaling volumes of "traditional" and "new era" communications and communities, mistakes are bound to happen. Because an agency has several clients, they'll make (or witness) more mistakes. They'll learn more, and faster. So, it's better that the agency catches those bullets than the clients' marketers. What could be more human --- or humane --- than that? At most agencies, losing a client does not mean losing a job --- and that's not the case for the in-house contact, for whom "making a mistake" could result in "missing a mortgage payment."
Thus, for now, the PR Agency serves at least two distinct & important purposes in the Social Media era:
- Faster learning curve across multiple clients = more sophisticated counsel re: Social Media do's & don't's.
- "FUBAR insurance" for the corporate marketer.
Combined, these dual benefits should ward off a few asteroids.
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