I think that PR definitely has an “image problem”, and that this is exarcebated by the types of companies and individuals mentioned in this piece.

However, there are a lot of excellent agencies out there, as well as PR individuals – many of whom it looks like read your blog.

I would say that the face of PR is changing – there are many more boutique agencies around today, which tend to offer a far more rounded and pleasurable experience for clients. Business relationships are better because the smaller agency can’t afford to lose clients, and media relationships should be better since, again, smaller agencies can’t afford to lose clients, and the surefire way to do this is by pissing off media folk, who will then simply ignore your news. Of course, professional courtesy and a genuine love for the job will help!

It amazes me that there are still companies out there that don’t use some form of CMS or CRM software – I wonder if they are still running gas lamps for their light and heat source?

Anyone who runs a successful, centralised media database in a mid to large size agency gets my vote.

@Annabel – good to hear from you! Your experience seems to chime with other people I’ve talked to. Having said that, I realise it is easy to forget that those of us who see the benefit of blogs, RSS and the rest of the PR 2.0 toolbox are still in the minority. But even so, it is disappointing to hear that widely discredited practices are still highly prevalent.

@Wadds – “a bit of a broad brush” – what, more B&Q than Da Vinci? Even if it is true that most agencies have a data management policy or a centralised media management system and tools (which I’m not convinced they all do), that doesn’t mean the policies are adhered to or that centralised systems are being used properly. If they were, than journalists like Danny (and he is not alone) wouldn’t have the experiences they do.

Of course, it goes without saying that Rainier is different in every respect

Your second point: agencies have always sent out piss poor releases. It’s easier than ever to disseminate material for agencies are doing it more believing that churning out material will lead to results.

Rainier PR’s different of course.

You know me. We used to work at A+ and you’re a Facebook friend. I agree with your blog and it’s one of the main reasons I now work for myself. For the past few years I’ve been doing music pr. All my press releases are sent out on a list which journalists can unsubscribe from, (or subscribe to if they like). Most are linked to RSS feeds and although I do some old fashioned ‘bread and butter’ PR things I probably spent equal time, pitching individual blogs, creating links and blogs. Not to mention managing social networking accounts. I very rarely annoy journalists because I only contact them when I have a real story. The smaller stories are confined to blogs, and other online forms. I don’t just speak to journalists but also the buyer directly.

I thought this was how most PR people would conduct things these days. How wrong I was during a small stint freelancing at various tech agencies I was bewildered to discover that very little has changed. Not only do they still use Internet Explorer (as their browser of choice) they still use Mediadisc to spam journalists, they still indulge pointless ring rounds to journalists who aren’t interested and some even send attachments. I mentioned the word ‘blog’ and was shot down instantly with a black look.

I was actually shocked and felt like I’d gone back in time.

I like the bad direct marketing analogy. That’s exactly what some companies do!