Where's Your Marketing?

I just read an article in Advertising Age, “How Social Media Is Helping Public-Relations Sector Not Just Survive, but Thrive”.

It is an interesting piece about how public relations firms are capitalizing on their inherent strategic thinking and social media expertise to develop innovative, result-oriented programs for clients and helping the industry rebound quickly from the recession.

I have only one issue with the story. Look who’s cited and quoted: Edelman, Omnicom (parent of Ketchum, Fleishman and Porter Novelli), Interpublic (which owns Weber Shandwick, Golin Harris and MWW), and Hill & Knowlton.

We all know that excellence in social media/marketing programs are not the province of the big global firms – so why are there no small or mid-size firms mentioned. The easy answer may be that none of you are advertisers in Advertising Age.

Yet, I wonder, how many of you out there have even thought about trying to interest Ad Age in even doing a story? If, like many firms, you want bigger clients, bigger brands and bigger budgets, what are you doing from a marketing standpoint to make those prospective clients aware that you exist?

Shouldn’t traditional public relations (read print publicity) still have a place in your marketing mix?

Threat or Opportunity? The Southwest Emerging Media Model

I read a post in ragan.com about the success of Southwest Airlines’ social media efforts. It sparked a question: is this a threat to the growing revenue potential that agencies see in social media?

SW started a blog in 2006 called “Its Nuts About Southwest” to bring customers and the airline closer together. The success of the blog broadened the company’s social media efforts and they named a Manager of Emerging Media, Paula Berg, to oversee their efforts.

But here are the paragraphs that sparked my question:

“As the blog evolved, so did the roles of Berg and her colleagues. When Berg started working on the site she was part of the company’s public relations team. Her co-manager, Brian Lusk, was a corporate editor in the company’s executive office. Soon after the airline began experimenting with Twitter and other social media tools, it moved Berg and three of her colleagues into a new Emerging Media department.

There Berg’s six-person team (two new employees joined it last November) maintains a Twitter feed, Facebook fan site, Flickr group and YouTube channel. Each tool is overseen by a single team member and geared to reach a slightly different audience. “

I wonder, is the emerging (read social) media department separate from the public relations department? It sounds that way. Could this be a trend in other corporations where conversations and connections with the consumer or end user are critical to sales and reputation? And, if so, will it require PR agencies to build new relationships not only with public relations, marketing, top management and finance, but also with social media departments who might logically hire (if they need to) social media agencies and let the PR department deal with the PR agency?

Or, does this signal another reason why it is so important for the traditional PR firm to reinvent itself, and why positioning and marketing an agency will be even more critical in the future?