Does the Thrill of the Chase Make PR Obsolete?

As a relatively high-profile blogger, I get to see things that others in PR, even those who blog, don't experience. One of those is my Gmail inbox. It's my barometer for how the public relations is adapting in this era of change. The forecast? We're smack dab in a cat five hurricane.

Every day I am deluged with hundreds of PR pitches. They come from everywhere: startups, big companies, competing PR firms and, occasionally, from people inside Edelman where I work. I read all the emails but delete 99.99% of them. I don't even respond. I feel bad about it, but they're so off base I can't even begin to tell you how bad they are.

To be sure, there are a few companies that get it right all the time - mostly those with content like ABC News, the New York Times, Pew, Hitwise, Forrester, IDC and others. The rest simply don't. However, I can't fault these PR pros. They're doing their job. They are doing what has always worked for them and I guess continues: sending out lots of email pitches in hopes that some stick. But those days are coming to an end.

It's my view that increasingly, bloggers (and maybe journos too) simply don't want our help. Many bloggers - particularly those who cover tech - love to discover new things and experience them on their own, unaided by PR. Exhibit A: Robert Scoble. Note the joy of serendipity in his post. However he's not alone by any means.

I know that when I write about news (which is not as often as I used to), I mostly do so if I discovered it on my own - as I did twice over the weekend. If I didn't find it on my own or stumble upon it early myself, I don't bother. I actually like the thrill of the chase and serendipity. I want to be first. This is something that has fueled the egos of reporters for years - partly because it sells. Heck, count me in.

So what then for PR? If this is a universal truth - and I am not sure that it is - does it make us obsolete? If we don't adapt, yessir. PR Week Publishing Director Julia Hood and I recently discussed about this during our New Media Summit in Chicago. She said, and I agree, that pitching is broken.

We have to stop spamming people and make sure that companies and products are easy and a joy to discover. That's no easy feat. Further, it means giving up control. However, in a Google age where self-discovery rules, it's becoming a must.