Clip Book of the Future

While assembling yet another new business deck with yet another array of impressive news clips, I got to thinking that perhaps this staple will soon be another relic of the trade, and deserving of a mention in my PR Death Watch series (if you are a new reader, this is a series of posts in which I kill off outdated PR trappings) and to wondering what will replace it.

The clip book has given PR agencies bragging rights for as long as there have been PR agencies.  They show our clients and prospective clients how we have been successful, generally by sharing examples of impressive placements in top media, in hard copy or PowerPoint.

New times call for new tools.  I thought I'd take a look at how the vaunted clip book can evolve in sync with the realities of the day - an era in which traditional media are taking it on the chin and social media is rising in importance.

Not to downplay the importance major media (I cannot foresee a day when you would not want to show off a national TV spot, or a major story in a national daily), but top tier is not what it once was.  Getting a high visibility placement can sometimes work wonders in terms of achieving PR and business objectives.  But mere mentions in major media are no longer as impressive, and with all the other distractions people are faced with, sometimes seem to barely register.

Below I have lined up traditional indicators of PR success and compare them with ones that are rising in importance:

Traditional (column A)                 Emerging (column B)
Major daily print  hit                        Major blog hit
Millions of impressions                   Millions of conversations
National network news segment      Millions of views of your YouTube video
Your news, across the trades         Your news, voted up on Digg or SlashDot

Now, if you are still with me, you might look at column B and say "well that is all well and good but how does column B get put into an impressive looking clip book?"

Stay tuned, I will be coming back to this topic soon.

Comments

[Ajit Jaokar]

This is a very good post! very conceptual. Glad you are making good progress with your blog and its always nice to read it rgds Ajit

[rgeller]

Ajit, thanks for stopping by, reading and commenting, and for the kind words as well, they mean a lot.

[Andrew]

Bob,

PR agencies should be integrating clip book content into their clients' websites, preferably in an online newsroom or blog. News stories can provide context, color and, more importantly, 3rd party support for your client's work. Why bury it in a clip book that few people will see? Instead, make it more publicly visible. Who knows, maybe it will even generate a lead (gasp!)

[rgeller]

Thanks, Andrew, excellent point