Comments on: Why hasn’t Marketing duked it out?

By: Go Big Always - Should I attempt a transparent Ad-pr-tising search?

Go Big Always - Should I attempt a transparent Ad-pr-tising search? — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:59:09 +0000

[...] thinking about doing an open search on this blog for a new communications partner. I can’t just bitch about the lack of interdisciplinary integration within PR and Ad Agencies (and with each other) without at least trying to change [...]

By: Lawrence Liu

Lawrence Liu — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:52:29 +0000

What the.. Sam, did *you* have anything to do with the Office “Dinosaur” campaign? Either way, knowing that you were at McCann overseeing the Microsoft Office account really explains a *lot* to me. We can chat a bit more at the Mayhem Dinner next Monday or sometime while we’re both in Boston next week.

Anyway, I’m not sure whom (in the Office org) you worked with during your time at McCann, but I certainly have excellent working relationships with our current ad and PR agencies. Hope it shows from the ads and PR that we’ll be doing next week at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference.

By: Aneel

Aneel — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:23:06 +0000

Couldn’t agree more.. but this problem isn’t isolated to marketing/pr. The question is– who’s willing to lead? Are any agencies/consultancies willing to integrate and lead the way? Maybe make the market. Or will they simply be reactionary as always?

By: Dennis McDonald

Dennis McDonald — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:11:02 +0000

Here’s an exercise that I have used with clients:

1. Draw a diagram of the client’s organization with all the different departments and functions represented in some way.
2. Outside the organization draw another diagram representing all the different groups that the company does business with, starting with different customer groups.
3. For each customer group, draw a line to all the different departments or groups within the organization the customer deals with over the life of a business relationship. If you like, use different colors to represent all the different relationships you can have with customers — pre-sale communication, during sales process, post sales, service & support phases, etc.

Now, explain how you can improve managing all these communications and relationships WITHOUT a more integrated approach…

By: Conversation: PR and marketing combined — Vad NU!

Conversation: PR and marketing combined — Vad NU! — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:07:02 +0000

[...] from GoBigAlways asks why there is still both marketing and PR agencies working on the same clients from different angles, when its rather obvious that its all ultimately about reaching out to the [...]

By: Sharon Greenfield

Sharon Greenfield — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:15:15 +0000

As a fan of MMA (shout out to Gina Carano, who kicks all ass) this was a fun post, thanks Sam.

I agree that things have certainly gotten segmented. I think originally it was the fact that marketing departments in organizations and/or the creative agencies that they hire for ad work did not know any reporters, or anyone in the media, and hence needed the guidance. And trust me, one does need to be targeted in story and reporters, because spamming everyone in the hopes that they will write something is time wasting for everyone and disrespectful to reporters. So PR was a separate entity. Of course, that was in the print only age.

Now, in the digital age, things have changed, and so have the possibilities on how to communicate a story to a consumer. You have an interesting idea Sam, to bring everything under one roof. I do know that a major PR firm that I’m a big fan of, is beginning to do just that – they’ve created a digital design studio inside of the PR company. Hopefully this kind of integration will create a more fluid understanding of the product and how it could be useful to targeted consumers. I know, as a consumer myself, I appreciate when a product idea is cleanly and interestingly presented to me.

By: Jonathan Crow

Jonathan Crow — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:16:49 +0000

Yes, that’s why I am glad our marketing budget isn’t big enough to have problems like these – separate agencies for everything, who needs it;)

And Ed, I echo that! In a previous life the company I was with had to pull some money out of a contract we had with a PR agency to put it in to social media marketing.

By: khammond

khammond — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:46:24 +0000

I agree with John. Different functions do need to be more unified but specialization should be retained to some extent. Perfect example: crisis communications. If you find yourself needing that service you are going to want someone who knows nothing but how to play in that realm and master it. Kind of like doctors, some disciplines can overlap nicely, but you hardly want the guy who is cutting open your chest to also spend half of his time and energy performing liposuction.

By: Zuzanna '8 kyu Kyokushin' Pasierbinska-Wilson

Zuzanna '8 kyu Kyokushin' Pasierbinska-Wilson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:25:36 +0000

Good stuff, Sam. I think your point about getting involved with communities is crucial. From my experience it’s something PR agencies say they do as a part of their ‘social media outreach’, but this is usually limited to setting up a group on Facebook. No one gives a damn about customers.

By: John Johansen

John Johansen — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:18:10 +0000

I started writing a comment about this and decided to write a post about it. It’s linked on my name.

Let me just add that while I don’t think specialization should ever completely go away, I like your premise that the different functions need to be more unified. As the landscape for finding and consuming content becomes more complex, tying those interactions together will have a big impact on making memorable, and measurable, campaigns. Keeping pushing for this.