Australian PRs don’t get Web 2.0

There’s a buzz on the line about Australian public relations agencies and an allegation that overall we just ‘don’t get 2.0′. The accusation comes from Lee Hopkins, following on from a Digital PR session which we had the good fortune to attend. Whilst we agree that there weren’t a lot of other PRs in the room aside from ourselves, it’s a bit harsh to tar us all with the same brush.

Web 2.0 is just one of those things which will take a while to get started here in Australia - a weird contradiction if you think about how many reports you see declaring that Australians are ‘early adopters’ of new technology. However it is interesting to compare the slow uptake of web 2.0 by public relations groups to the level of uptake by our political parties.

Yesterday we took part in a webinar hosted by Lloyd Grosse during PRIA’s New Media month, and listened in on a presentation by Thomas Tudehope, chief online strategist for Malcolm Turnbull’s campaign. Never mind the uptake of web 2.0, less than 50% of Federal politicians have their own website (aside from their mention on the Federal site which lists them like a phone book). There’s a huge drop again in the numbers who have a My Space page and then a drop again to Facebook users. Blogging and Vlogging? Well, count Bob Brown and Andrew Bartlett amongst the leaders here, but then again they aren’t exactly holding the balance of power.

Not surprising then that there has been a lag in getting Web 2.0 to take off in a formal sense. PRs often have to convince clients of the power of a new medium, and this new medium brings with it some interesting obstacles that we have to overcome. Yes, we can all agree that this is where a lot of communication is heading and the smart PRs are getting their act together, learning about what is possible, and trying to put in place media strategies and policies. But the truth is we are also measured on the impact of our campaigns. Currently there is a dogmatic understanding amongst our clients of the power of the media clip – “I see the clip, I see the story, I know what the reputation of that publication/outlet/TV program is. I understand the value”. This is neither right or wrong, it simply is. Untraining clients takes a long time, and this needs to be coupled with the reality that there are simply so many outlets and ways online to promote a story, audience numbers can be much reduced. However, the reverse is also true. You can rack up reach in the millions.

Daring a client to dive into Web 2.0 can also take an age. Thomas Tudehope yesterday admitted candidly that yes, he had to often convince and re-convince his teams and management that Web 2.0 was not only beneficial but would put their candidate at the front of the pack. It takes a certain type of politician to stand out from the crowd and welcome open comment and criticism – and allegedly Malcolm Turnbull is the only one. We vote our pollies in so we can give them a piece of our mind on a regular basis. What does it say about the state of the nation if our politicians don’t engage in Web 2.0 and take the slings and arrows? Convincing a private sector client to be open and transparent, often when they feel they don’t have to be, is doubly hard.

Currently Australia is a long way behind the twitter campaigns being run by Barack Obama in the US, but I’m confident we’ll get there. Australian businesses will turn a corner with Web 2.0 when we PRs manage to convince them of the beauty and power of a two-way conversation.

Posted by Justin Flaherty, MD Horizon Communication Group