Retire the Wire? PR Goes Unplugged.
I’ve always loved hearing my favorite musicians go “unplugged.” The sound and feel of a warm guitar is something special and can give new meaning to a great song. The same can be said for public relations.
Back in the day, the wires provided “simultaneous distribution” of press releases. Truth is, today they still do…for a price. But, social media has changed the way information gets delivered. The need for a third-party publisher is becoming questionable at best. Case in point, Google.
One of the main drivers behind the need for wire service distribution are the SEC’s (Securities and Exchange Commission) regulations for disclosure.
Once upon a time, corporations were mandated to use wire services to distribute earnings statements simultaneously. There just wasn’t a better method of telling people – all at once – information pertaining to stock prices, critical product announcements, etc., So, wire services got BIG.
But recently, the SEC announced that, in some cases, corporate websites are deemed compliant with public disclosure requirements. My friend, and CEO of Q4 Web Systems, Darrell Heaps, sums up REG FD nicely.
In a recent press release, Google spelled out their plans: “Google intends to make future announcements regarding its financial performance exclusively through its investor relations website.” (http://investor.google.com/)
What does this mean for the wire services? My guess is, a lot of lobbying to keep “simultaneous distribution” under their control. But as more and more companies enter a more social-minded ecosystem, they will continue to realize that sharing corporate news and marketing directly to investors, consumers and other influencers is viable. They’ll start to seriously rethink the process and the millions of dollars they currently spend with the “middle men” in the news delivery process.
It happened in the music industry. And it’s happening in the newspaper industry. Is PR next?
Will software platforms like PitchEngine power PR publishing in the future?
What do you think?
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Jason, pretty interesting stuff. Curious, any insight into how does Sarbanes Oxley fits into this as it made such a huge impact on corporate earnings reporting and compliance when instituted?
Good post. I have to ask, why do you think wires will fail to reinvent themselves as the kind of intermediaries you like? For example, on investor relations. You like the self-service aspect of hosting and distributing content directly to those who need to know. Here in the US, many companies use the Dow Jones’ MarketWatch service for their IR microsite. (It’s the one that gives every client that familiar URL format http://investor.COMPANYNAME.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=... )PitchEngine is the PR equivalent of MarketWatch. It’s a 3rd party for hosting and pushing PR content. If I understand your post, you don’t foresee a wire service building or acquiring these kinds of capabilities. Why not? What makes you think the wire services will fail to reinvent themselves?
@Barbara Thanks for the comment! Reinventing would be great, but it’s just not their model. It’s kind of like turning the titanic at this point…Like saying, “Hey, we’ve made tons of money selling A. Let’s make B and make less money.” Publishing and sharing content costs far less than the $200+ per press release it does now. Seems like a tough sell to the board. Acquisition, maybe. But someone’s going to have to enlighten them first, and it will need to be industry-driven.@Aaron My knowledge in this arena is minimal, but I believe Sarbanes Oxley, as it relates to PR, pertains to internal controls over financial reporting. This is where companies like Q4 Web System (mentioned above) come in. They help companies manage and log every change to messaging, documents, etc., associated with financial reporting. It sets out rules for the SEC to abide by.
Some interesting history on this from Brian Solis’ post on Techcrunch in 2008 http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/31/sec-to-recognize-corporate-blogs-as-public-d... – and the comments there, not all agreeing! and Jonathan Schwartz in 2006 on his then blog at Sun http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/one_small_step_for_the
Wow, you just reminded me of Nirvana Unplugged. I played that album about 9 million times when I was in high school
.While I think you’ve got something here, what I continue to find interesting in my corporate, and now agency, experience is just how hard it is and how long it takes to change the mindset of most company leaders. For instance, you can share the budget and reach benefits of social media in some cases as a partner or replacement tactic to TV advertising. But a CMO who regularly decides how to spend that $7 million on the next ad isn’t going to just change the way he/she does his/her job and reallocate that kind of money lightly. Convincing takes a while.That said, I could see CFOs taking a similar stance and being set in their traditional, “I-know-this-method-is-compliant” ways. What are your thoughts on the best way to convince decision makers that a wholesale change like this is ok and actually makes sense for the business? I’m guessing the difference in cost is a good place to start, right? Other thoughts?@jgoldsborough
@JGoldsborough …. Amen brother. When counseling 50-plus-year-old white males, it is so freaking hard to convince them that a placement in Fortune or the Wall Street Journal may pale in comparison to having your brand engaged with in a meaningful way in social forums. Thanks for bringing back some bad memories.
@JGoldsborough @Aaron So funny – I was actually going to start out with a Nirvana metaphor. Changing the mindset isn’t easy, I don’t think you necessarily have to be the ‘convincer’. We’re working with a handful of Fortune 100 companies who will be taking the plunge similar to Google (one of them probably puts out more press releases on the wire than anyone). The change has to happen through adoption.Nirvana puts out “MTV Unplugged” and succeeds, then other bands (brands) will too.
@Des Brian Solis is always ahead of his time…He’s already thought of where I’m going to eat dinner tomorrow night.
Wire services are toast. I never recommend them. I reco pitchengine. lol.