Today's Wall Street Journal has a story about some fairly new PR agencies who specialize in digital stunts to try to gain visibility for their clients. Thank goodness it is only in the "New York Report," a regional section that doesn't go out nationally. Hopefully, it will do minimal damage to PR's already fragile reputation as a legitimate profession that's a viable component of marketing and communications.
The WSJ story tells of an agency, run by a 24- and a 25-year old, that tried a stunt to try to "go viral" for a client. The story doesn't say if it succeeded or not; it was more about the stunt than the results. It also tells of a firm whose owners have tried to make a name for themselves as online celebrities, and how they are using their supposed celebrity to get people to participate in events they plan for clients.
The article headline calls this "a PR throwback to showmanship." (Read "hucksterism.")
The story does quote a PR agency head (herself a bit of a question mark in my eyes, because of her TV reality show persona that doesn't portray us in a great light) who says stunts-only is a weak business model. "An online stunt," she says, "is like an amazing first date... but that's not a relationship."
Stunts, gimmicks, parties. I am sure our friends at The Journal know public relations is a lot more than that. I wish they'd write about it.
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