The Business of Influence: Reframing Marketing and PR for the Digital Age

A Clean Sheet

Let’s take a clean sheet of paper and reconsider what all this marketing and PR business is intended to achieve. Fundamentally, what are we trying to do? And on the basis that the words and phrases that come with the ‘baggage’ of historic and current use and misuse are likely to confuse or narrow our thinking, can we articulate what we’re trying to do without using such words as ‘advertising’, ‘publicity’, ‘promotion’, ‘marketing’, ‘comms’ and ‘public relations’?

Such carte blanche thinking requires that each step be rational, and tidy definitions must be provided where ambiguity may otherwise muddy our intentions; we’ve already seen how important definitions can be, given that language, or at least our command and understanding of it, isn’t perfect. There should be little need in my opinion for verbosity or extensive argument; it should make sense if it’s to be really useful.