Why Zombiesourcing Doesn’t Work in PR

zombiesThe word “crowd” needs help. nike air max 95 It brings to mind a few things for me: “Crowd”-ed rooms of people and/or zombies (I’ve been playing a lot of Resident Evil 6 lately) Going with the “crowd” = lack of individuality Three’s a “crowd” — never good There’s one in every “crowd” — one what? So if the word “crowd” bring negative things to mind, adding source to it really doesn’t help. basket adidas zx flux If I don’t like crowds already, why am I going to be excited about them “sourcing” my work or my clients’ work to them. I’m not. ugg australia pas cher “Crowdsourcing,” (or Zombiesourcing as I call it) the practice of companies putting creative projects out in the world for the lowest bidder with a supposed burst of creativity from all the various submissions, of course, is not new, but I’ve been reading some chatter in the PR community that “Traditional PR will soon be dead because in the future, all the work will be crowdsourced.” Buzzer. Nope. And here’s why:

  1. PR involves relationships (it’s the R word of the abbreviation) and I think companies will be unlikely to trust their deep secrets to unproven and often anonymous entities.
  2. PR is not a one trick pony. nike air max pas cher It’s a process, a continuum and bidding a bunch of projects out almost ensures a complete lack of message alignment and honestly, a logistical nightmare for the unlucky in-house person trying to wrangle this rodeo.
  3. PR can be a lot of different things to different companies and it’s complex. Sure, you may be able to explain a tactic in a brief to a “crowd” but getting the nuances of a strategic PR program is quite another thing entirely.
  4. PR often involves NDA (non-disclosure agreement) work and I don’t know too many companies that are willing to open the kimono for just any old “crowd” And doing so is a crime in 48 of our states.
  5. PR is personal. How well I know your business (personally) is really key to my success in helping your brand. Again, crowds aren’t personal…unless they are made up of zombies.

So in summary, zombiesourcing PR makes very little sense. It’s tactical, impersonal and honestly, you get what you pay for. We’re taught from birth that “crowds” are bad for some very good reasons. And adding more anonymous people doesn’t make a better marketing product, just like adding more bacon to your plate doesn’t improve your health. But I will say that adding more ammo to your virtual shotgun does help kill more zombies.