Matthew Podboy wrote that Om Malik's decision yesterday to break the Technorati financing news on his blog rather than on his employer's web site represents an important change for the PR industry because he "spoiled the launch" …
PR consultants out there should take this into consideration. If you're preparing a traditional launch - long leads, analysts, short leads, wires, onlines, etc. - you better factor blogs into the mix and calculate the chance that someone gets tipped off and posts a story about the news they've uncovered.
I'd like to take this discussion one step further. I too believe that weblogs are changing the PR game. Remember ye olde days? The days when you could "soft launch" a product and hold back the release for the "hard launch?" Those days are gone, folks. If your product is out there, it will be discovered by a blogger. Therefore, exclusives are the new normal.
Weblogs have fragmented the media world into millions of tiny little pieces. "The bigs" (perhaps with the help of personal journalists) and the more elite blogs are now competing for scoops on the same battle field. As a result, PR pros will begin relying even more on doling out exclusives (i.e. giving one outlet an opportunity to "break" a story before anyone else). PR people will play off the media's competitive fears to ensure their internal/external client's messages break through the clutter.
Om's feat yesterday - "The Post Heard Round the World" – is yet another sign that the PR game is changing.
