WHY AI WON’T KILL PR ANYTIME...SOON...

Who Wins Pitting Bard vs Bard in a PR Campaign?

The Wall Street Journal reported on September 9th that OpenAI's #ChatGPT beat 200 MBA's for creative ideas.

Just days before, two veteran journalists turned PR pros were in a battle against time to gain valuable pre-show media coverage for global clients exhibiting at trade shows.?

The fact is that AI does not (yet) deliver email addresses on a silver platter; nor, does the platform have the institutional knowledge to write an obituary for public relations skills carefully developed and used over the past half century.

As a former print and TV news reporter--I know first-hand what it's like to be on the front lines of newsroom deadlines and pressing client deliverables.

Q 1.: What do you get when you engage the minds of senior media pros with backgrounds in journalism?

A: Global results.

Q 2. Who wins when you pit the seasoned PR mindset versus the latest chipset in media relations?

A 2. In the words of the non-Microsoft Bard William Shakespeare," Sweet are the uses of adversity."

Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers in the English language, must have understood how a PR battle works. The bard declared in Henry VI either you win or you lose and the winners live to fight another day.

“Sound trumpets! Let our bloody colors wave! And either victory, or else a grave."

Over Labor Day Weekend 2023, I was in a foxhole of sorts with a PR executive and former armed forces veteran doing hand-to-hand combat to get media coverage for military and packaged goods clients at upcoming trade shows.

When I say hand-to-hand combat, I mean going through media lists and targeting specific publications, editors and journalists, then drafting a news release that would soon be the cornerstone of global media coverage.

Somehow, this process felt so analog in a world where the addition of digital and augmented intelligence is predicted by some doomsayers to mark the demise of the traditional public relations firm.

As a hired gun, I painstakingly went through media contacts at a plodding pace, not the blazing speed of ChatGPT or Microsoft's Bard AI platform.

Frankly, it felt out of place going so slowly, but having been on both sides of the media— journalist and now PR executive—I know that great media campaigns take time, energy and strategy. I know also that media placement does not come easily—which is why they call it earned media.

My colleague designed the campaign and I created a media list by evaluating every single potential media contact with the focus of a sharpshooter. Meanwhile, the head of the firm that brought me in was developing a strong news release—one that provided enough details for a journalist starting from scratch or for an outlet that could quickly drop the content in. In addition to drafting a release, my colleague also drafted a distribution strategy of wire service, web posting and direct-to-journalist emails.

Having read thousands of bad releases in my newsroom days (most marketing material masquerading as news and ending up in the trash) and having written many truly newsworthy releases that have been rejected, I know that being interesting, accurate and concise is mission-critical with PR and marketing strategies.

It took hour's of work and somehow felt out of place in a world where things are expected to happen with hitting the return key. Just as the Bard AI platform can be a help in PR, it is not the be all and end all. In fact, just as much insight can be gained from a well-regarded bard, William Shakespeare.

“A deed without a name,” Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth.

The fact is, for several weeks beforehand, my colleague and I had progress meetings a few times a week and laid out a strategy for multiple plans of attack. These plans seemed so rudimentary, but proved to be so necessary.

In some ways, our meetings felt like old times; they reminded me of how PR work used to be done: build a plan, get the plan approved, execute the plan. There were no whiz-bang tech solutions to eliminate elbow grease or critical thinking.

The news release still needed to be proofread, the photos needed approved captions and trade show media briefings still needed repeated messages with RSVP's to ensure journalists would attend. (We did not want our client to hold a party without any guests).

“Nothing is but what is not,” from Hamlet.

Granted, there are aspects of the digital world that helped our efforts: media contact databases, AI to offer suggestions on headlines that would be opened, and distribution platforms that maximized key words and helped with search engine optimization.

Two news release distributions and direct-to-journalist communications led to placement on AP, MarketWatch, Yahoo!Finance, Google News and nearly 300 others, and reached a potential audience of 200 million.

As previously noted, this work was not done with the push of a button. It took a team who understood best practices for both analog (human) and digital (computer-based) strategies to land solid global media coverage.

“What's done cannot be undone," said Lady Macbeth.

Media outlets around the globe are facing their own bloody battle for survival. There are fewer humans in newsrooms to read the thought, context and subtext of the material issued by public relations practitioners.

As the word turns more digital, the need for human communication remains paramount. Computer-based platforms cannot mimic compassion, empathy and human understanding—yet.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” said the three witches.

AI is a tool that helps the arrow hit the target. The arrow cannot reach the target without the human mind or the muscle strength or memory needed to pull back the bow.

No doubt, public relations is undergoing significant shifts. Projects are done with far less traditional protocol and pomp and circumstance that used to require floors PR professionals.

Yet, that does not negate the need for smart, savvy and experienced PR pros to help clients connect the dots.

“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall,” Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet.

Old ways of doing business are certainly open to disruption. Artificial intelligence does not spell the death of public relations.

A well-written news release and plotted PR plan have more chance of getting results than an AI- based "spray and pray" strategy.

Would I be wrong to say that AI and traditional PR are opposing forces? To some degree, yes.

In some ways, we all suffer "the slings of arrows" in a battle for survival in the life of PR professionals.

Not fully recalling 10th grade English class, I had to seek Microsoft's Bard help to summarize Hamlet's soliloquy written between 1599 and 1601.

The AI Bard summarized the world's preeminent dramatist. "We should not let fear paralyze us. We should find the courage to live our lives to the fullest, even in the face of uncertainty. We should not be 'cowards of us all.'"

When it comes to PR, I am far from a coward. I take great care when telling a client that their baby is ugly. My persistence has led to national and global coverage.

Those who have not toiled in a newsroom do not know what it is like to face an assignment editor like Lou Grant .

“All’s Well That Ends Well,” from the play of the same name.

As with many of Shakespeare’s plays, dead characters often litter the stage just prior to the curtain coming down. While it is true that some PR pros will not survive, the savvy ones will evolve to embrace technology as a tool needed to hit the target audiences.

The fact is, good PR is both art, science and now integrated AI strategy. Neither spell the end of the other, just a new beginning.

The PR campaign worked on during the past weekends required intense offline and online focus. Time spent in the trenches paid off.

By its very nature, public relations is a practice of fighting the unknown and the unpredictable. Having AI as a tool is only a short-lived comfort in that the practitioner must question each and every aspect of the response.

Shakespeare mused:“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.”

Poor results and return on investment (ROI) are often the death of many a client relationship. Sometimes its mismatched expectations other times its not knowing how things work outside of the clients control.

The day may come when AI can beat human intelligence (HI) but for now fighting for results with sound thinking and follow through is the best way to gain results that PR firms and their clients can take to the bank. While millions of Americans were enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers and picnics, a handful of PR people were preparing for a post-Labor Day campaign to raise client visibility and profitability.

Just as Shakespeare used three witches as prophets to predict Macbeth’s ascension to the throne of Scotland. Macbeth--a fatalistic character--misheard the messaging as ominous and foreboding.?Spoiler alert: Macbeth was beheaded and did not become the Kings of Scotland.

One can only wonder how Macbeth would have fared if he had a PR firm to help him digest and respond to the witches first prognostication during their cauldron-side chat.?

It pains me to think that Shakespeare might cast PR pros in the same light as he did attorneys.?I asked Bard AI to summarize Shakespeare’s view of lawyers.?

Bard AI spit out this answer in a flash. “Overall, Shakespeare's view of lawyers was complex and nuanced. He recognized that lawyers could be both good and bad, and he portrayed them accordingly in his plays.”?

Interestingly, that is how PR pros and the general public view’s AI at this moment in time. Successful PR campaigns still require the human mind, institutional experience, storytelling skills and a sense of humanity.?

All hurly-burly about AI taking over the public relations industry leaves more questions than answers. For now, dedicated and savvy practitioners will fight for positive results and ROI.?

Some will embrace AI; while, others will shun it. Basically, it is as you like it.

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.