Going to the darkside: a PR pro turns marketer

The brave new world of social media: does marketing or PR own it? Maybe it just doesn’t matter.

The brave new world of social media: does marketing or PR own it? Maybe it just doesn’t matter.

A few weeks ago, I started a new job. It’s an opportunity to be creative, to work with fantastic properties and develop innovative social media strategies. It’s a dream come true for a flack like me. One tiny thing: I’m not in the PR or publicity department. I’m on the marketing team.

I’ve gone over to the Darkside, guys. Red lightsaber and all.

Smarter blokes than I have hashed out the way the lines have blurred between marketing and PR, especially in the face of social media. So there’s no need for me to do that here. What I will say is that this switch has given me a whole new perspective on PR and marketing.

I’ve always been peripherally aware of the war over which department should be in charge of social media: PR or marketing. And, in my naive devil-may-care fashion, I always thought it didn’t matter.

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