As part of its grand anniversary celebration, the Public Relations Society of the Philippines recently sponsored the first Professional Development Seminar, an eye-opening event on the overwhelming need for PR practitioners to keep abreast of digital media to better serve clients.
The seminar attracted serious practitioners that were introduced into the intricacies of the new media – social, interactive networking. The proliferation of instant writers due to personal blogs is a phenomenon that the PR industry must understand, even harness. The shift is due to immediate access to the digital world.
Aptly titled Five Ideas that can Infect Your Market, Jayvee Fernandez, Technology Channel editor/B5 Media, Inc. featured actual viral marketing. “Viral marketing is never about your product. It is about your story, your emotions,” said Fernandez, noting how consumers now are able to instantly share their perspectives of the issue, resulting from their actual experience of the brand.”
Elly Puyat, managing director of OgilvyOne Worldwide/Manila whose lecture Tapping New Media to Influence Publics supported the statement, citing successful digital campaigns of Nike and Yahoo! developed by OgilvyOne. Puyat supports that digital media is no longer new and niched, but mainstream and mass instead. “In 20 years, 80 percent of all media will go digital. It’s better to be a leader now than to be a follower down the road,” Puyat added.
New Rules in PR had Donald Lim, president of Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines, and chief executive officer of Yehey.com, claiming “the Internet has made PR public again after years of focus on media. Customers want authenticity not spin, participation not propaganda.” Lim’s new PR arena that is digital media is metrics-driven and has the ability to transform and achieve results as necessary. Going digital has empowered the public with the choice of information applications on hand whenever needed or wanted.
To cap the event, Lim was spot-on in quoting Horatio Nelson Jackson, credited as pioneer of cross-country rally driving — “I do not believe you can do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow.”
