The document discusses how perception, interpretation, and communication are changing in today's world. It explains that individuals perceive and interpret stimuli differently based on their interests, experiences, and biases. Effective communication requires understanding these subjective factors and how emotional appeals often outweigh logical ones, so connecting with others means appreciating different perspectives on the world.
We track these references and ideas onto the ‘screen of our mind’. We then generalize about those representations, classify them, categorize them, etc. This structures our minds, sends commands to our nervous system, and creates our felt sense of reality.
(1) Identify Influencers and Quality PR firms need to identify, target and cover the top sources of influence (and diviners of quality/truth) online. This means for any client, issue, or constituency must be able to identify, track and influence the key contributors to defining quality. Key new barometers of quality and influence include: Open source reviews and ratings (Gomez, BizRate.com, consumer reviews) Meta content analysis and content aggregators (reviews of reviews, analysis of analysis) Relevant user groups (over 100,000) Complaint and feedback sites (e.g., Yournamesucks.com) Trusted intermediaries and communities (e.g. Motley Fool, iVillage, etc.) Online newsletters, gurus and evangelists Employees (2) Find Ways to Extract Value From Information Shift from providing the information, to learning from it. PR leaders will use tools like data mining and marketing automation to analyze information flows to anticipate issues and trends and provide value added services to their clients, such as: accurate forecasts identifying bellwether trends ahead of the curve superior market research on issues built on direct feedback and collaboration early warning on disasters and critical issues better segmentation and prioritization of constituents, influencers and media to direct communication strategies and coverage models (3) Develop New Coverage Models PR leaders need new planning tools to create better coverage strategies and combine multiple communication channels (and technologies) to cover the entire network and expanding media. New planning tools such as network influencer mapping and constituency segmentation models can help inform content architecture, communications strategies, and allocate scarce resources in the most effective manner. PR must find ways to migrate much of the interaction to self service or low cost telephone-and web channels. This can be facilitated by many new tools (borrowed from direct marketing and hybrid selling leaders) can help leverage humans Permission marketing programs and email campaigns Event triggered marketing programs Self service web sites and utilities Tele-web customer service channels to cover media and inquires Content and communication architecture and navigation (4) Redefine Value Proposition from Gatekeeper to Gateway Must adopt new investments that are more effective that traditional tools and are better aligned with online media and constituent behavior. These include Search engine optimization Seeded content, content syndication Affiliate networks of thousands of influencer sites Viral marketing approaches (e.g. Whack a Flack) Coverage, seeding and participation in chat groups and user groups Hosted forums, knowledgebases and FAQ’s on wed sites targeted at media/constituent needs (5) Get faster and/or Get Out of the Way The news cycle will shrink to zero (immediate). Moving faster (reducing cycle time, eliminating manual processes) is important in the short term, but PR leaders will look beyond repaving cowpaths with automation that speeds existing (linear) processes and focus on redefining processes and adopting new technologies with the focus on speeding or generating immediate feedback. (6) Develop New Models for Two-Way Collaboration New info economy requires two way communications with media and constituency via means such as polling, inquiry and forums. “ Pull strategies” that generate inbound inquires (e.g. self service web sites with tele-web integration to a call center rep )will prove more Personalized web sites, content and newsletters targeted to help media do their jobs better Hosted discussion forums for media and constituents Feedback and incorporation into message development.