No need to speak or sign. Just tweet

Currie Communications / PRGN, South Melbourne, Australia, 21.10.2011

Julia Balderstone z australijskiej agencji Currie Communications pisze dziś kolejnym wyzwaniu, jakia stawiają przed PR Social Media

When Kelloggs recently used Twitter as a method to recruit a possible PR agency, it was inundated with creative responses.

In 140 characters or less, PR companies spruiked their talents by instigating competitions, breakfast jokes and a “cereal serial” through Twitter.http://tinyurl.com/3vajfzu

The Twitter invitation was a welcome change from the all-too-frequent request of getting PR companies to spend a minimum of 150 hours on detailed plans, divulging strategic insight and valuable IP just to get a foot in the door.

But using Twitter to seek out a creative, social media savvy PR outfit also highlights the importance that many companies now place on social media as a tool for public relations.

Social media has become a vital ingredient to drive opinions and advocate change. A case in point was the recent and now-infamous Four Corners report into the brutality of animal slaughter in Indonesia. http://tinyurl.com/3hknoh6

Within three days of the report going to air, a petition to ban live exports was circulated online by animal welfare groups and able to garner 165,000 signatures.  http://tinyurl.com/3ggypf2

As Kelloggs obviously knows, the beauty of Twitter, Facebook and its incarnations is that advocates don’t need to rely in advertising, traditional media or other third parties to reach the public directly. They simply tweet or blog and a campaign can gather momentum and galvanise public support in lightning speed.

Even journalists, who go to great pains to report objectively for their own media outlets, are using Twitter as an outlet to circumvent traditional media restraints or create spin. But perhaps that’s a subject for another blog!

By Julia Balderstone, Senior consultant

source: Currie Communications – PRGN member from Australia