More than 80 percent of respondents in a recent survey consider
earned media to be trustworthy, while less than 12 percent said
paid media could be trusted. And according to the survey of 850
opinion leaders in the U.S. and Europe, more than 44 percent view
articles in business magazines and newsweeklies as providing them
the most credible information. (For other findings from Edelman's
Trust Survey, see last week's issue of PR NEWS.)
Tactics: As promotional tactics like paid advertising
increasingly fall out of favor with consumers, advertising agencies
and other promotional firms are beginning to adopt grassroots and
guerilla strategies that traditionally were considered the
territory of PR.
Now is the time to work with clients, whether internal clients
of your PR department or external clients of your PR agency, to
ensure that they understand your expertise in these strategies.
Becoming too territorial or defensive, however, can cause
problems. Instead, work with other departments and agencies to
create integrated communications plans that combine strategies from
a variety of disciplines that will better your organization - and
allow you and your PR expertise to shine.