PR and the Social Web

We are moving away from a world where content and products were pushed to a world in which content and products are pulled.   There are many reasons for this and they are all interlinked.  The decline of deference means that the consumer is less willing to accept what is being pushed.   In the digital landscape it is easy and quick to tailor content to consumer demand.  Even in manufacturing and production we are seeing an increasing number of bespoke processes and offers.

Media channels are all about push marketing.  You decide which channel suits you, be that a TV broadcast channel or a daily newspaper, and once you’ve chosen you accept the content thereafter that is pushed to you.  The ability to pick and choose content from lots of different sources means that we don’t have to accept what is being pushed.  As we schedule our own content, from TV viewing to the consumption of news our choices and interests override those of schedulers and editors.

This elevation of consumer choice will separate the wheat from the chaff. The phrase ‘content is king’ will become increasingly relevant. People seek out content that is relevant to them, that contain something of genuine interest, that engages than some other way for example through humour or that provides genuine and powerful insight