By Cassy van Eeden

This is not the death of traditional PR, nor is it the birth of new PR. Instead, it is a movement of agencies who are working to encompass all forms of PR in order to service their clients’ every need.

Adapt or die

New PR is, well, not new. New PR (or digital PR as it is sometimes referred to) and agencies who focus solely on new PR have been around since the advent of the Internet and other technologies that have made it possible to communicate instantaneously. And traditional PR is still very much alive. The shift the industry is currently experiencing is a merging of the two forms.

Tracy Jones, MD of Positive Dialogue, says: “The role of PR is fundamentally shifting, and if we all don’t evolve with it we run the risk of our agencies being obsolete in the next two to five years.”

“It would be a grave mistake for PR consultancies to not include new media in their service offering,” says Madelain Roscher, managing director of PRWorx.

Traditional + new = ?

Is there really such a stark difference between traditional and new PR? And what do we call it when traditional agencies take on new PR activities and vice versa?

Kevin Welman, managing director of FleishmanHillard South Africa, explains: “Traditional media is still very important. And when paired with social media it is powerful.” Most importantly, he says, “When telling your story and communicating your message you need to look at all mediums.”

Roscher agrees: “We need to understand that PR is not just one thing or even about a set of tactics.” She says that PR is not about different formats of communication, but rather it is about communicating a client’s message, through credible third parties, whatever the medium might be.

“The real key to success is keeping your fingers firmly on the pulse of every aspect of classic and modern public relations, and combining the most appropriate weapons in your communications arsenal to generate demonstrable results that work for the organisation,” adds Roscher.

The challenges

Adapting forms of PR that you don’t already offer in order to keep up with the needs of clients is not an easy merge. There are plenty of challenges involved in new PR, just as there are with traditional PR.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems with new PR is that it is hard to measure value, says Jones. “How do we measure PR value on earned media that doesn’t just show AVE PR values or circulation," she asks.

Jones says the new PR’s value can be measured by monitoring direct traffic, referral traffic, search traffic and social network traffic. Increases in URL clicks, whether they be direct or through other sites, help you to measure how effective your audience reach has been.

Are you in the PR industry? Do you think traditional and new PR needs to merge? Let us know in the comments below.