PR, Marketing Firms -- Are You Still Relevant?

What would happen if you went to work Monday morning and realized that your clients' mindsets had changed over the weekend?

That the old way of doing business was no longer considered worthwhile?

Would you be relevant? Could you change directions fast enough -- in thinking, in strategy, in ideas -- to keep pace?

In this thought-provoking post on her Creating Passionate Users blog, Kathy Sierra charts the "old ways" of marketing and public relations versus the "new ways." Here's a sample:

Old way -- hire a PR firm. New way -- Buy Typepad (blogging) accounts for everyone in your company, and maybe some users (customers) too.

Old way -- hire a creative, award-winning advertising designer. New way -- hire a creative, user-focused product designer.

Get where she's going here? The new ideas are all about creating a positive experience for the customer, and communicating about it in authentic ways, versus trying to tell stories that may look and sound good but don't ring true.

If your clients were to adopt Kathy's way of thinking tomorrow, would your firm still be in a position to add value?

Something to think about as you prepare for another work week.

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