Let's face it: The PR industry hasn't had a very good couple of decades. Between the public relations field's relatively negative image (no, "spinster" is not an endearing term), its stubborn reliance on irrelevant "control" messages, and the backseat it generally takes to more glamorous marketing fields such as... advertising and well, branding, let's just say that PR has kinda sorta become Marketing's redheaded stepchild.

Well, that's all about to change. PR is making a comeback... only not how you'd expect. Think blogs. Think satellite radio. Think word-of-mouth marketing and the growing influence of WOMMA. Think truth and ethics and relevance.

Does this sound a bit pie in the sky? Maybe a little. But if PR is to survive the coming decade, it's going to have to adapt to changes that are as drastic as they are inevitable. To paraphrase Corante's own Neville Hobson: if the public can't get authentic and relevant messages from marketing and/or PR firms, they will get them elsewhere. Smart PR professionals will figure that out. Less smart PR professionals will simply find themselves... out of a job.

To understand the changes facing the PR world and its new role in the development of enduring brands, you kind of have to do a little bit of digging. Because we know that you have a pretty busy schedule, we've put together a short list of articles, blog posts and podcasts that shed some light on this little thing we like to call PR 2.0.

Okay, here we go. Let's start at the beginning: (...)


read the rest of the post here.


Oh, and if you don't care about the PR world, just move on to yesterday's post about the role that emotions play (and don't play) in our purchasing habits.