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04.28.08 PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences  By Brian Solis Have you ever met someone so energetic, positive and incredibly smart - someone who exudes passion and someone who "gets it" in an inspirational way?  I'm lucky to know one such person, Deirdre Breakenridge, and she has just published a new, must-read book, PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. I'm honored to have my ideas, philosophies, experiences, and vision shared throughout the book. I'm even more humbled to have been asked to contribute the foreword.
PR 2.0, as I defined it many years ago, is the realization that the Web changed everything, inserting people equally into the process of traditional influence. Suddenly we were presented with the opportunity to not only reach our audiences through gatekeepers, but also use the online channels where they publish and share information to communicate directly and genuinely. The book includes other thought leaders who are actively shaping the New Media landscape including Jeremiah Owyang, Jane Quigley, Thom Brodeur, Todd Defren, Tom Foremski, Phil Gomes, Chris Heuer, Anne Holland, Shel Holtz, Jeremy Caplan, Jonathan Schwartz, Jimmy Wales, and many more. Deirdre has graciously allowed me to share the foreword in its entirety with you here. Thank you again Deirdre and congratulations on publishing a fantastic and incredibly helpful book! Foreword: The Road from PR to PR 2.0 to Public Relations Welcome to what just may be the greatest evolution in the history of PR. Modern Public Relations was born in the early 1900s, even though history traces the practice back to the 17th century. The term public relations was said to be first documented by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson during his address to Congress in 1807.
It wasn't until World War I that we started to see the industry crystallize and spark the evolution of PR as an official profession. Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays are credited with creating and defining the art and science of modern-day PR in the early 1900s. That's almost 100 years ago; and yet, in what I believe to be PR's greatest renaissance, many of their early philosophies and contributions can be sourced to further evolve PR today. Ivy Lee developed the first working press release; you can love him or hate him for it. But, what we can't overlook is that he believed PR was a "two-way street" where communications professionals were responsible for helping companies listen as well as communicate their messages to the people who were important to them. Edward Bernays, who is often referred to as the father of PR, was most certainly its first theorist. A very interesting bit of history is that Bernays is a nephew of Sigmund Freud. Freud's theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape human behavior are the inspiration for how Bernays approached public relations. What's absolutely astounding to me is that he viewed public relations as an applied social science influenced by psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and "herdlike" public. According to Bernays, "Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance." Continue reading this article. About the Author: Brian Solis is principal at FutureWorks PR, an award-winning PR and Social Media agency founded in 1999. FW PR bridges the communications gap between companies and their customers, and between products and their specific benefits for their target markets. Solis blogs at PR2.0, http://www.briansolis.com, and regularly contributes to many industry trades. He is also frequently quoted in articles relating to technology trends and Marketing/PR strategies. |
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