While many of us were feverishly working to wrap up business loose ends in advance of the holiday weekend, Procter & Gamble made a significant announcement that probably didn’t generate the attention it deserved.
Read the full story from AdvertisingAge here: P&G Restructures Communications Under Marketing Chief Pritchard
From my perspective, the really big news coming out of this story is the fact that the P&G communications group is now being tasked with ownership of the "social-engagement" aspect of marketing.
For years, social media have existed in what I like to call a “gray” area.
There are a lot of advocates and believers in the power of social as a business platform, but the definition of roles and responsibilities is very loose.
Is it the responsibility of the marketing team that is pushing company messages to audiences across a variety of channels?
Is it just another extension of PR that can be used to raise the brand awareness and the overall thought-leadership position of a company to the general public?
The answer to these questions is exactly what I’m guessing the team at P&G discovered during their internal review process: that empowering communications to own the social engagement is only going to help their marketing team deliver messages that will better resonate with audiences.
If the goal is to foster conversations with audiences, then there is no one better at doing this than seasoned, strategically minded communications professionals.
No gray area there—sounds like P&G found a recipe for success!
-- Janet Tyler is a co-CEO at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit. Follow her on Twitter @Janet_Tyler