The Great Global Conversation Begins

Global PR Blog Week Day 1: The Great Global Conversation Begins: PR backed blogging initiatives must start driving the global brand conversations of our 24/7 online economy

PR is about branding. And mass blogging finally puts the PR industry conversing directly and interactively with a global medium [the Internet]. In this way, blogging for PR is now about global conversations. The global intellectual dialog of blogs, similar to the network of European Coffee shops in the 18th century which buzzed with discussion and debate (the current worldwide network of Starbucks coffee-houses comes to mind) is only beginning. The blogosphere is increasingly global, language barriers are coming down due to Google’s Translator, it’s practically free to set a blog up and the blogosphere includes some of the smartest and most informed people on the planet.

Inevitably when a group of smart people gathers together, their conversations influence the media and broader constituencies such as commerce and politics. This is just as true today as it was in the 18th century. Blogs, exemplifying participatory journalism, are a place where intellectuals and commentators are gathering in the 21st century to debate issues and discuss stories circulated in the mainstream media, in exactly the same way they did in Amsterdam, London and Paris in the 18th century. But this time around, their conversations are influencing mainstream media instantly and facilitating a talkback mentality to corporate brands. Therein lies the threat for corporate brands. Brands are drivers of economies, producing goods and services and providing jobs. And like it or not blogs are allowing people to transcend linguistic, geographic, and political boundaries in order to conduct a public discussion by giving authors and audiences the means for communicating in an immersive and interconnected manner to talk about them. Blogs are thus the perfect means of conducting the discussions and debates currently affecting a world built on corporate brands. The question is: can corporate brands benefit from this openness through tapping the credibility that comes through dialogue and honest conversation, vs. the old black-boxed credibility of the “expert”? Are companies really prepared for their customers to talk back? And if they aren’t prepared, what will happen to their brands? Will brands lose control and die? Or will they address these new threats? The threats and conversations that lie therein to brands have been defined and need answering. Those threats must be answered for by PR.