And does the term accurately reflect the rapid evolution of the discipline within the past decade? It’s a somewhat uninspiring and outdated tag for an industry that prides itself on exploiting new modes of communication and tapping in to future trends.
Where’s the reference to new media, partnership management, synergised communications and branding?
They say chefs never cook at home, mechanics always drive dilapidated vehicles and a builder’s own renovation is never complete. Perhaps the same irony is true of the PR industry.
Maybe the spin doctors’ own spin doctors need to focus their efforts inwards? After all, it’s all about brand perception, right?
What a shame the term ‘integrated communications’ has been so bastardised and is now almost so clichéd to the point that it’s unusable; as it’s probably a more accurate description of the value the industry can offer. And surely IC sounds a little snazzier than ‘PR’?
If we can’t fashion an appropriate term of reference, perhaps we should take a shot at creating a brand ID that speaks without words. Something that immediately cancels the antiquated and inaccurate notion that the term ‘Public Relations’ conjures images of champagne quaffing, air-kissing ingénues, flitting from party to party.
Although the reality probably wouldn’t generate as pretty a logo: a team of media pros – often unkempt ex-journalists – hunched over telephones or tapping away at PCs at all hours, feverishly fashioning concepts that are appetising to media or exploring opportunities to break new ground for clients.
On second thoughts, until the PR industry gains communal agreement on the reinvention and positioning of the global brand; perhaps the champagne quaffing ingénue is a more enticing logo for PR’s own letterhead after all…
