By MaryLee Sachs
US Chair and Worldwide Director of Marketing Communications
Hill & Knowlton

Once upon a time, everything had its place.

Corporate communications directors owned the safekeeping of the company’s reputation…reputation being both the positive and negative images that a multitude of stakeholders hold of an organization.

Meanwhile, marketing directors owned the promotion of the brand…brand being the positive image put forth in advertising and marketing collateral generally targeted at consumers and customers.

Life was neat and tidy, with all of the old tried and tested models in place.

Then, the recessions of the late 1980s and late 1990s disrupted marketing spends. Marketing directors clamored to new marketing disciplines and new media channels to make their buck go further. The PR profession benefited from some of their reallocation of spends as PR was recognized as a “cheap” form of marketing, albeit less controlled, less dynamic, and less frequent.

There were some fundamental misconceptions back then about unpaid media, that it was totally free. Some CMOs asked their ad agencies to “toss in some unpaid media” because they thought it should be a freebie. That undermined the true value of public relations and propagated the belief in some circles that PR was something anybody could make happen.

But the biggest development, of course, was Web 2.0 – and the profound effect it has had on how people – all stakeholders – interact and inter-relate with organizations.

The traditional marketing funnel began to disintegrate. The tidy linear process has since morphed into a chaotic circle of direct and leapfrog relationships between a cacophony of stakeholders. Consumers are courting a different relationship with the brand, which often takes into account the company’s reputation. Employees have become empowered to speak publicly about their employers – often online through blogs. NGOs and financial analysts alike have demanded greater transparency from companies. And nice, normal, passive consumers have transgressed into consumer vigilantes, a thousand-fold little Ralph Naders seeking their place in the digital spotlight.

It is certainly true that the advent of new media channels – and especially social media – provide new opportunities in the positive vein. But they also present a whole host of new challenges, barriers and threats for organizations.

And the silos between chief communications officers and chief marketing officers are breaking down in this brave new world.

The collision of brand & reputation is well underway, and it’s here to stay.

While new media are driving the lion’s share of change, it’s the entire consumer-empowered ecosystem that’s responsible. Social media is but one channel.

Social media provides a vast means of accessing and disseminating information – whether factual or opinion-based, and it is the means to an end for the newly minted empowered consumer. This new animal is seeking fame and fortune – evidence being the rise and stay in popularity of reality TV – where everyone can be a hero or a star – and the increasing number of influential bloggers making names for themselves.

So how do public relations practitioners and marketers embrace this dynamic new consumerist eco-system?

We understand the reputational piece. We also get the “conversation” – how to start it, participate in it, and drive it. And above all, we understand the concept of ceding control. We’ve never had control of the final output. We’re expert at developing messaging, training our spokespeople, and working with the media, but at the end of the day, the media report what they want.

We understand that the power of third party influence to build corporate reputation and brand has never been greater. And we know that we need to engage ALL stakeholders in support of both.

There are no new models. Instead, there are rules of engagement that shape best practice. Key components are transparency, being authentic, and integration.

Web 2.0 has turned traditional public relations and marketing inside out. Journalists are citing bloggers in their own reportage. Advertising messages co-exist alongside all kinds of other messages that consumers trust more. Traditional media may kick start awareness generation, but social media increasingly drive consideration and preference.

The command and control business model is dead.

The power of third parties in reputation building has never been greater.

And for the first time in our profession’s history, PR truly has a seat at the marketing table.

The debate is no longer about what discipline is the right discipline to reach an audience. It’s a bigger conversation. It’s about how best to engage with a target audience in a way that shapes the conversation, leads and feeds the discussion, and inspires advocacy and envangelism for a brand.