This summer my colleague Peter Charlton and I were part of a panel discussion at the Business Marketing Association conference on The Convergence of PR and Marketing — a topic I suggested due to the rapid fusion of disciplines and its surrounding confusion. Purists in either camp will decry ownership over this aspect or that aspect, but in actual fact, the evolving role of the web has altered standard definitions of each activity to the point where there is considerable overlap, if not an all out shared domain.

With the advent of Web 2.0 and its emphasis on i-everything, the shift from establishment content creation to individual content creation has generated a consumer utopia where control is ubiquitous and the term ‘group dynamics’ has new meaning. As marketers, we’ve always preached the notion that our customer’s brand lives in the mind of its targets. We said so with much confidence when there was a many (company) to one (individual customer) status quo. With the empowerment of the individual on the web, where the target can speak their mind with a global microphone, the discomfiture of marketers inside most corporations is extreme. The many is now the customer and the one is the company. The constant query from clients is to try to keep the mute button depressed. The ‘What Ifs’ raised in board rooms around the country concerning appropriate levels of company transparency neglect the reality that the chatter is occurring whether or not the company ‘allows’ it. My point is: why not strategically embrace it and learn from it?

So, how does a company do this and how is it funded? Is monitoring of blog and web occurrences a PR function or a marketing function? Is the launch of a company blog a function of the marketing department or PR? And who decides whether it is the right strategic decision? What about the development of social media releases as opposed to traditional PR releases? Whose job is it to develop social media plans and implement them?

The traditional purpose of corporate PR firms as carriers of the corporate message to investors, trade and consumer publications is expanding. With old media players continually looking to journalistic avant-garde blog writers (think Drudge Report, Andrew Sullivan, etc.) for breaking stories, the influence spectrum has grown. Instead of knocking on the doors of media with unsolicited, corporate-focused press releases, the new circle of influence begins with a foundational information dispersion utilizing the web’s incredible natural search mechanisms to raise company content like an incoming tide to the eyes of the bloggers. And as a result of comments and discussion about this content, the eyes of old media shift this direction. Thus, you earn coverage from the bottom up. But notice the thread: content. It is the ability of the content married with intelligent integration with the web’s natural mechanisms that is the key. Is this PR? Yes. Is this Marketing? Yes.

Content dispersion is a phenomenon of a proportion which has yet to be defined. In the current world, where ‘everyone is publisher’, the importance of relevant content can’t be understated. However, the best speech ever delivered won’t gain much traction if it’s given on the worst corner in town. Effective dispersion to maximize sharing, key words, and interlinking is both art and science. As with any marketing endeavor, it begins with understanding the audience and then accordingly going to the corners where they gather, while freely allowing them to take the speech with them and share it on another corner...and another and another. Is this PR? Yes. Is it Marketing? Absolutely.

The traditional role of marketing is also expanding. Marketing is utilizing the blogosphere, natural search, determined search, transparent communication vehicles, web events and official and unofficial corporate original content creation as awareness driving, attention grabbing vehicles. Viral marketing, an outcome of Web 2.0 behavioral activity, is directly blurring the lines. Today, marketing initiatives can be designed solely for the purpose of gaining unpaid media attention. Think about the Obama Girls or Diet Coke and Mentos — how much unpaid media attention did they win?

But here’s the hitch — unpaid media needs redefinition. Success is no longer defined by the number of clips or broadcast airtime. The true measurement of garnering attention is the quantitative and qualitative replication of your content in meaningful ways. This raises your awareness to your target audiences and your perception among those audiences as a thought leader in your space. You may have a great product or service, but it is the garnering of confidence in your prospect that will convert them to a customer. Using social media effectively allows your prospects to experience ‘you’, which provides the right context for experiencing your products or services. It is the beginning of a relationship. You become transparent, revealing aspects of your personality, which leads to a date...which leads to a marriage.

So, who owns the content development in this new social media landscape? Since both PR and Marketing are speaking to overlapping audience segments on the web, where do you appropriate resources? Since all efforts in the public websphere pertain to corporate reputation, who owns it? With whom do you put your trust? In my view, it comes down to a question of strategy, not a question of discipline. The partner with the strongest strategic foundation, embracing business and brand, should be your leader. They should guide you carefully and strategically into this new frontier. My advice? The opportunity presenting itself today is a strategic goldmine, if carefully architected. Is it time to dip your toe in the water? No. It’s time to develop a social media plan aligned with your customer behaviors and get implementing. But more on that in upcoming articles.