Communication Overtones Comments
Hey Kami,
Great post. You're smart to bring up the holistic approach and situational tactics. Like you, I just discussed Edelman's post on my blog and referenced your response. If you don't mind, here is a link to my post, which may be of interest to your readers too.
Thanks! I look forward to reading your future posts.
- Todd
Thanks Todd; I added the link to your post in the main area of this post. I agree that we need to be less purist and more strategic. While I believe in the power of public relations, a well-placed ad buy to emphasize your points is sometimes a good idea. The tactics should never run the campaign, but they often do in the PR world.
Hi Kami - Fantastic post. The 4-step process you lay out is what is taught but rarely followed carefully. So often we are caught up in the excitement of a project or event going well or just being over, that we don't sit down as a team and evaluate our efforts. Without taking the time for this valuable step, we are in effect, sabotaging our future efforts as we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes and not properly develop corrective measures, even for things that went well.
The differences between advertising and PR are discussed so often that people (myself included) fail to see how they can work together and learn from one another. I think your holistic approach combines the two beautifully and I think we can all learn a thing or two from trying to do things that way.
"Stractic?"
That guy is an idiot.
I wish you'd expose that weasel, so we can run him right on out of the blogosphere.
Joscelyn; Yes, it seems we never quite have enough time to do everything as thoroughly as we would like. However, we can all learn to think more strategically in whatever we are doing. It's knowing where things fit in the sceme of things, adn being open to using what actually works, even if it falls in another discipline.
Ike; I hear he might be quiting soon, so don't get too worked up 
I've been in Phoenix this week for a conference on communication and the topic of strategic thinking came up. It's easy to run off in a dash with a great idea, only to find you've run in the wrong direction and now have to backtrack.
There are many strategies and many tactics. Each must be pulled out at the right time. So for some campaigns we may need to include some advertising or marketing to help it succeed, just as you might include social media. It's important to remember what you hope to accomplish and then find the best way to make it happen.
Thanks for the good review on the planning process. I think sometimes we get a good idea and believe it will do everything we want it to do. However, without a roadmap, you're better off not even taking off.
I do have to say I'm not sure about the word "Stractic." I would feel better just calling social media a Strategy, with the various tools, blogs, Wiki, etc., joining the list of successful Tactics.
Hi Kami,
Great post. Good, practical advice. I've tagged it to del.icio.us as "bestpractices."
Shel Holtz recently left a voice comment on Inside PR dealing with Goals and Objectives, Strategies and Tactics. I covered Shel's comments at http://www.propr.ca/index.php/20...es-and-tactics/
. I think it fits nicely with your thinking.
Keep up the great work. You're part of my daily reads.
Michael; We are okay with you not caring for the word stractic. We called it that because a conversational method of talking with your stakeholders can be considered a strategy, with the tactic being social media. True, you could also just call them up one-by-one on the telephone. Anyway, we were just having a little fun.
Jospeph; I appreciate the link to your post, it is a nice explanation of the differences between Goals, Strategies, Objectives and Tactics. I will recommend it to the folks that are studying for the APR. (I am the APR chair this year
Hi Kami. Glad to notice there are other people too who seem to want to get rid of the often artificial split-up between PR, marcom, etc. It's all about communication and, like you said: you have to see the whole picture and then pick the best approach, whatever its name. I'm looking forward to the day most practitioners and especially academics (who usually can't stand a 'messy' approach) follow your example (and this is the case in both ways: PR people should be aware of/open up to marketing instruments as well as advertising people doing the same to typical PR tools). Until then, I guess I'll have to live with lecturing at a college that still maintains the split-up. But there is hope: I think I can feel the wall crumbling bit by bit...
Serge; Well, there is education and then there is the real world. They have never been great at matching up. I think that having open-minded profs, such as you, will help to ready students for the world of work. However, as you see, my "messy" ideas fit into a framework, which should make it easier for academics to stomach. That said, there is still a big gulf between theoretical reasearch and practical solutions in every field.
I have to agree that you really have to incorporate a lot of tactics to see valid and good results. And all these depend n your company’s situation. Nice post!
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