So people in this county of Wiltshire are called moonrakers.

As a matter of fact, my great grandfather was an excise man… fortunately in Cornwall.

Kind regards,
David

On your comments about the need for brevity or whether to tell a story in the last show.

Lee, you are a psychologist. The need for long synaptic tentacles to develop links and memories is critical for people to understand what is being said and how relevant it is to their perceptions and their context.

The idea that we can reduce meaning to the typical answer from marketers that we only need three core messages is a nonsense. There has to be context. Now, the context can be provided elsewhere but it has to be readily available and in the appropriate context.

All other communication is scream marketing - and the half of the advertising budget that does not work

Enter Public Relations. All those backgrounders, case studies and conversations create the context.

Years ago, when I was in practice ( and in my case the PR department was in charge of Marketing which was a fantasic revolution at the time), I did a series of experiments. We found we could increase the ROI of advertising by increasing the depth and reach of PR stories (most case studies).

We had discovered that the editorial coverage was creating the context for the add to be effective.

Keep telling stories, keep holding conversations but make them relevant to the context, the Social Frame, of your audience.

Kind regards from the land of the Moonrakers

I was disappointed to read John Wagner’s post, I don’t hold out much hope for a change in PR’s perception, do you? Yikes! How widespread is this lack of faith? It is lack of faith that will be the downfall of the industry…and people going out on their own and not fighting/collaborating for changes. Edelman is not the FIRST to broach the subject, but vague messages about change prevail with no solution. All of us need to get back to basics and learn how to communicate with each other.

Alan, you are right that messages tend to get lost within larger companies.

Communicators Anonymous Twelve Steps —

“Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do.” Alcoholics Anonymous p. 100

I agree that we communicators can “tell a story” AND be succint. It all comes back to the old adage: Know your audience. When I meet with a corporate communications manager, I need to talk in terms he or she can understand. Sharing examples of what others have done in similar situations (communicating with employees, solving problems, etc.) should do the trick.

But seriously, I think it’s imperative that everyone in our industry work to overcome negative perceptions. Big, small or mid-sized, we all make an impact every day in our interactions with clients and prospects.