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March 2010 – Helen Sharkey writes…

‘Traditional PR’ is vital in the run up to an election

Every second ‘tweet’ that is posted at the minute is either a commentary or a ‘top tips’ article about social media. Everything we read seems to be telling us that the press release as we know it is dead, inky thumbs on a Sunday morning after flicking through the newspaper will be a thing of the past, and people only speak to their friends and family on Facebook.

However, caution must be urged here; the run up to a general election is a period where communications strategies will be at the top of each party’s agenda, and as one blogger stated, “It won’t be twitter what wins it!”

A well known political commentator pointed out that although President Obama’s US victory was claimed as a social media success, in fact, most of the campaign budget spent was on TV and print advertising, and ‘traditional’ channels such as newspapers, the radio, TV and flyers were actually what won him the election.

It is important to remember that 12.2 million people in the UK don’t have a computer, and 4% of the population don’t have a TV. In a general election, every vote counts, so the political parties’ communications teams, now more than ever, need to figure out who their key audiences are, and what tools are needed to best reach them. In some cases, traditional PR such as print and broadcast media will be the most appropriate platform.

Indeed, even though webinars and twitter seem to be the current favoured way of communicating to a mass audience, all three parties have chosen to take part in a series of live television and radio debates, as they know that it is the best way to get their messages across to the nation. The 5 minute party political broadcast is still popular, and already we have seen controversy about the use of certain poster campaigns.

We all agree that social media is going to be the hot topic in the PR and communications industry for years to come, and the consensus within the industry is that if you don’t get involved, you get left behind. However, we are at a juncture where the communications strategies employed will shape the country we live in for the foreseeable future, and now is not the time to forget about the bread and butter of what we do.