Resource that cannot be done without

Over the past decade the practice of in-house PR has grown as management of large companies and organisations better appreciate the value strategic communications can bring to their brand. 

Despite this, however, it is external PR consultants who are leading the way when it comes to 

 (a) Understanding today’s hyper-connected marketplace and,

 (b) Actively participating on the social web, thus making them an invaluable commodity in today’s cynical and information-overloaded world.

The fact that many in-house communications departments have grown significantly in size means in some ways the need for external consultants has, to a degree, lessened. In reality, though, the fact that agency PR professional are at the cutting edge of communication knowledge acquisition and implementation means they are a resource that cannot be done without.

Not quickly at first, but it soon became pretty apparent the social web was unlike anything the modern-day communications industry has ever experienced:

• Blogging moved from being a geeky pastime practiced in a darkened room to a highly visible mainstream activity. Backyard podcasters started gaining an audience (and therefore influence).
• YouTube became the world’s biggest search engine (after Google).
• Mark Zuckerberg – if you believe the film ‘Social Network’ – ripped off the Winklevoss twins and guided Facebook to half a billion users in under seven years.
• Twitter went from being a time-wasting novelty to an incredibly powerful, game – changing real-time medium.

Then, just when you thought you had handle on everything, Foursquare emerged and grew by an astonishing 3,800 per cent last year alone.

And now Quora is taking the world by storm, with some observers boldly declaring it the future of journalism.

 By Kalyan Chakravarthy