October 20, 2009 Special Issue

To be viral

PR from a fly on the wall

by Jane Doe

Most of our news is not newsworthy. The stories that appear on our social media aggregators—like Digg, Reddit or StumbleUpon—as the “top stories” of the day are in fact purchased, planned and pre-packaged.

The life cycle of an advertisement is as short as the time it takes for a message to go in one ear and out the other. As a former media student, I can tell you that this topic has been discussed many times. I have now entered the real world and work in a public relations firm. Having had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall, I can say with confidence that the biggest thing since the dawn of the Internet is social media. Media firms are now playing catch-up and looking for ways to infiltrate the facebooks, twitters and youTubes of the virtual world.

Last semester, I was sitting in a public affairs class taking in a lecture on the difference between tactics and strategy in a communications plan. It’s now six months later and the topic of discussion has not changed. Some agencies will turn to social media as one of many aspects of their campaign. Other agencies will use social sites and viral videos as the one and only feature to lead an entire campaign. Whichever tactic they decide to use, it’s important to note that many of these agencies have discovered that the Internet is a challenging and unpredictable world.

Many firms have tried their hand at viral communications and have subsequently failed. Microsoft is one of the latest casualties. In anticipation of Microsoft’s new Windows 7, the company made an attempt at viral marketing by creating a how-to video for hosting what they called a “Windows 7 Launch Party.” The company took the audience’s intelligence for granted and, needless to say, the campaign did not catch on.
Ironically, more buzz revolved around the video’s spoofs. This raises the question whether the old adage “any press is good press” is the appropriate slogan for social media and viral marketing. Only time will tell whether the walls of the virtual world will be as boldly plastered with advertising as the walls of the real world are.

So as you tag and tweet your every move, remember that in the world of citizen journalism a media agent lurks just a click away. And another agent has spent hours scratching his/her head thinking up compelling viral campaigns. However, as a fly on the wall of an actual PR firm, I can say that to compel is to connect on a personal level and that cannot be purchased, planned or pre-packaged.

Jane Doe is a recent Concordia communications graduate who is now working in public relations.