Words and phrases that have outlived their PR usefulness

As old media yield to new media, many once-relevant terms are now ready for the scrapheap

Lots of companies—especially those in B2B—still talk about (or request) PR services that increasingly strike me as tired, fading or dead.

Press tours and press briefings. Yes, there are still industries where the press tour is alive and well (entertainment!), but most reporters, editors and bloggers don’t have time to meet in person anymore. I always felt bad for them during the height of this practice when an endless stream of PR people with clients in tow stacked up to get their turn updating glassy-eyed reporters.

Hits and clips. Counting clips (printed editorial coverage) and putting undue weight on offline publicity to measure PR success should have died two decades ago. Ask Katie Paine, one of the leaders in communications measurement. She says “hits” stands for How Idiots Track Success.

Press kits, brochures and collateral. In this era of sustainability and green thinking, it’s hard to believe companies are still printing, but some are. Remember the days when major trade show/conference press rooms would be filled with press kits? This practice has largely stopped; it’s a digital world, let’s stop killing trees.