In the early 1900s, Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays, who were recognized and respected PR visionaries and are still to this day, are considered the purveyors of the PR we know and practice today. These forward-looking luminaries took the role of strategic counselors and both created and defined the art and science of modern PR—although their original motives were more aligned with strategic propaganda and manipulation. That was almost 100 years ago, but many of their tools, including the news release, are still widely used today. And although many of their early philosophies and contributions are still used to further evolve the PR industry today, we believe that right now is the time that experts recognize as PR’s greatest renaissance.

Ivy Lee initially developed the first working news release; you can praise him or dislike him for it. Lee believed PR was a “two-way street”—that is, he believed that communications professionals were responsible for helping companies listen to the people who were important to them and communicate their messages to them. This practice is absolutely critical in the twenty-first century.

Edward Bernays, who is often referred to as the father of PR, was most certainly our first theorist. Interestingly, Bernays was a nephew of Sigmund Freud, and Freud’s theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape human behavior were the inspiration for how Bernays approached public relations. What’s interesting to us is that he viewed public relations as an applied social science influenced by psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public. Yep, we just said social sciences. More on this later—but just remember this as you read on: PR is about people, not about the tools.

According to Bernays, public relations was considered a management function—even back then. It was always meant to measure public attitudes; define the policies, procedures, and interest of an organization; and execute a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. Bernays’ work also shaped public opinion related to the companies he represented. As we all know, this isn’t the first use of promotion or spin, but PR has become synonymous with those words. Basically, some of Bernays’ earlier PR practices were—and still are—the source of and inspiration for the PR 1.0 publicity and “hype” machine.

This hype philosophy remains pervasive today. In fact, a majority of companies and professionals still approach PR via this very framework—even though the philosophy is all changing right before our eyes. Many of Bernays’ thoughts (which fueled his books Crystallizing Public Opinion, Propaganda, and The Engineering of Consent) were on the cusp of predicting what PR is currently facing in the dawn of Social Media. And Social Media is reintroducing the opportunity for sociology, anthropology, psychology, and other sciences to inspire a new, more meaningful platform for marketing.

Through Lee and Bernays, the foundation of PR was built decades ago. And as the years went by, criticism and skepticism mounted. By the time we entered the industry about 20 years ago, uncertainty was already swirling about the PR industry and PR professionals as strategic partners involved in true management functions. Smart consumers also became increasingly skeptical over the years. PR was—and still is—viewed as a necessary evil and is undoubtedly the least understood and sometimes least appreciated marketing discipline. In our early experiences, PR was viewed as a function that took place outside the boardroom; many executive management teams even referred to PR professionals as “flacks” and “spin doctors.” Unfortunately, this attitude still exists today.

Chris Heuer, a new media and Social Media raconteur, recently participated on a Vocus Webinar panel with coauthor Brian Solis that focused on a new tool sweeping the PR industry: the Social Media news release. Originally introduced by Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications in 2006, the Social Media news release is a new take on the traditional release. It incorporates and leverages many of the social networks and social tools available today, and puts them into an online format for use by bloggers, new media journalists, and even consumers.

During the panel session, Heuer stated, “Quality is missing at the end of the day. Many feel animosity toward PR people because they spin; they put lipstick on a pig.” Heuer went on to say that consumers today would trust their neighbor or a blogger more than a PR professional.

Let’s first look at the historical landscape of communications and technology, to build a bridge to the future of communications. And, just so we’re clear, the future is here now. Let’s explore!

The era of the dotcom boom and then the resulting bust was particularly damaging to the image of the PR industry and its professionals. This was a time when executives from companies wrote business plans on bar napkins, and these same individuals and their companies were being promoted in the news and gained publicity in some of the top media outlets in the country. From The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times to BusinessWeek and broadcast outlets such as CNN and network news, e-brands with little substance became media darlings. Internet and PR spin became abundant, and when the dotcom bust inevitably occurred in 2001, the media, the analysts, and the market suffered embarrassment and shame at having covered companies and contributing to their global visibility. Many PR professionals and their agencies suffered the “black mark” and lost their credibility. Valuable media contacts no longer trusted those individuals, unable to take them seriously again.

It also was a blow to the greater PR industry. Even though tech PR wasn’t the only catalyst for PR’s downward spiral, it represented one example of the many contributing factors and offending industries that amplified the problem instead of fixing it.

The first thing you learn as a PR professional is to uphold your integrity and credibility at all times. For many, the dotcom bust was an extremely hard lesson to learn.

Let’s come back to the Web for a moment. Sure, the dotcom bust simultaneously deflated the PR balloon and left people with a bad taste in their mouths. There were actually calls by senior corporate and marketing executives to temporarily move emphasis away from the Internet. So in a sense, the Web basically also took a hit, along with PR, but time would prove that the next Web would provide the foundation for a renaissance in PR.

After the dotcom bust, we entered a more humble, humiliated, yet landmark phase of the Web. Companies focused on increasing Internet functionality instead of on BS.

Internet technology experts such as Tim O’Reilly predicted that a more useful Web would emerge, one that would not only be more pervasive in our daily lives, but that would also be driven by us, “we the people.”

This was the beginning of what eventually became known as Web 2.0.

Let’s go back to that bridge mentioned earlier.

Web 1.0 wasn’t all that bad. The Web is still here. PR is still here. In Web 1.0, some pretty incredible revelations inspired new marketing strategies and ideas that lay the foundation for more effective communications.

For example, the Web opened up an entirely new medium for publishing and broadcasting content. Traditional media recognized this early on and jumped in. New players also emerged to establish authority. As the tools to create Web sites emerged on the market, we started to see the formation of mainstream citizen journalism, which many later recognized as Social Media.

In the 1990s, Steve Sanders of StevesDigicams.com started a Web site on which he discussed and reviewed all things related to digital photography. He wasn’t a traditional journalist or a professional camera reviewer; he was just an enthusiast with the ability to share his words with millions. Sanders ultimately became recognized as one of the leading voices on the subject of digital photography, and every major and minor company realized that they needed to pay attention to him. PR followed.

Simultaneously, Web-based communities gained traction—and users, enabling people to share information and connect with each other online in ways not possible before. As our friend Shel Israel puts it, it sparked “global neighborhoods.”

Yahoo! Groups and other forums allowed people to build dedicated online communities to host conversations around topics or companies and to collaborate on projects. Epinions.com and other, similar sites allowed people to discuss products and services online as a way of helping other people make more informed decisions based on real-world experience.

Amazon.com not only proved that online commerce could work, but also allowed people to leave reviews on product pages, thus introducing peer-driven perspective to the Web equation.

In addition to traditional media, everyday people joined the revolution to publish and share information on the Web. They communicated with each other and also built their own audience to create individual authority.

This is around the time that Brian marked the beginning of PR 2.0. He, along with other Web enthusiasts (who also happened to be marketers), realized that new channels of influence were rising.

Ten years in the making, PR 2.0 is simply a reference for reflection, inspiration, and education.

PR 2.0 was born through the analysis of how the Web and multimedia were redefining PR and marketing communications, while also creating a new toolkit to reinvent how companies communicate with influencers and directly with people.

PR 2.0 is the realization that PR now has an unprecedented opportunity to not only work with traditional journalists, but also engage directly with a new set of accidental influencers. We can now talk with customers directly (through social networks, wikis, micromedia communities, online forums, groups, blogs, and so on).

With Web 2.0, the ability for everyday people to publish content and build authority exploded. We officially entered the era of Social Media. Simply put, Social Media comprises the tools for people to create, share, and publish content online.

One of the most pervasive forms of Social Media today is blogging. Blogging has erupted over the past couple of years. According to blog-tracking network Technorati, 112.8 million blogs already exist today. Most blogs are written by regular people, “citizens”—and, hence, the genre citizen journalism. Social Media, more platforms, and networks were born to allow people to contribute additional forms of content such as text, video, audio, and pictures, which is also known more broadly as user-generated content (UGC).

But with blogs and social networks creating new influencers, PR has to change to reach the right people.

The new model of PR looks something like this:

PR is evolving into a hybrid of communications, evangelism, and Web marketing, strung together by the teachings and benefits of sociology, anthropology, and psychology.

Now is the time for companies to learn how to use the Internet for marketing and PR campaigns that spread useful information: more substance, less hype. These times could indeed represent a new golden age of PR, when PR professionals are once again considered strategic partners. We are at a new dawning, with PR 2.0 and new and powerful Social Media applications at our fingertips. The tools people use to share content online are the same tools we can use to reach them.

Social Media also forces PR to see things differently. No longer can one set of messages to one audience serve a purpose. Social Media has forced PR to focus on the mainstream as well as the Long Tail, a group of niche markets reachable via dedicated channels. We now have the real ability to put the public back into public relations. The public means communicating to many different groups, even those hard-to-reach niche communities on the Web. PR starts to look less like a typical broadcast machine and more like a living, breathing entity capable of also participating in conversations with publics. These conversations (through direct-to-consumer communication) contribute to more meaningful engagement and brand visibility, and help people make purchasing decisions. These conversations also represent an opportunity to foster brand loyalty.

The tables have turned. In PR 2.0, we no longer rely solely on promoting products through third parties. We can take off our marketing hats and have real conversations with people. PR professionals are learning to advise brands that they can reach customers in many ways, through traditional channels and socialized media. We have made a complete circle that brings value and insight back into the marketing department, to concentrically construct more enlightened and accurate marketing initiatives. We are right back to the renaissance of PR and what Ivy Lee saw early on. Two-way communication is going on, and it feels good. A new age is born.

In the tech world, traditional PR, defined as print and broadcast focused, has already been viewed as out of fashion. The rest of the economic sectors are beginning to catch up, but technology shows again why it’s always on the bleeding edge. Many tech companies believe that traditional media is dying and that blogs and social networks are it. They believe that news releases are passé. But are they? Are deadwood media and reporters no longer relevant, or do they still have reach? How does PR operate today, in a world full of direct communication with customers via Web sites, e-mail, blogs, and video?

The easy answer is that PR has to go where the customers are, using the channels of influence that reach them. Subscribing to PR 2.0 or new PR philosophies, we now know that these channels will span traditional, social, and new media landscapes. We will look to influencers, and we can also look at reaching customers directly. But not one campaign, news release, or other PR trick of the trade will do a complete job.

Brian Cross from Fleishman Hilliard’s Digital Group reinforced this notion in an interview in 2007 that was later published in Deirdre’s book, PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. He discussed the PR 2.0 tools and the basic building blocks with three distinct layers:

Although we agree with Cross in principle, his last statement showcases the false assumption that companies can always control the conversations and message: “Even though the tools will continually change, PR professionals will always start the conversation, facilitate that conversation and then, of course, monitor the conversation.”

What we’re seeing now and predicting for the foreseeable future is that influencers still drive (and will drive) notable influence. But people also have the ability to start conversations that force PR to respond.

We believe that PR 2.0 is defined by the evolution of industry practices forced by the shift and the process of influence. We pose these questions:

If this were the case, perhaps it wouldn’t be PR any longer ... well, at least not the PR of the past or PR as we know it today. We’re sure every PR person will nod his or her head in agreement, saying, “Yeah, PR needs to get it” ... as if they didn’t contribute to the state of the industry.

The truth is, we’re all guilty. So, what can you do?

This is the premise of the PR 2.0 philosophy we’ve been talking about since the first boom. New PR is not formed or fed by Web 2.0—even though anything 2.0 seems to steal the spotlight these days. The reinvention of PR and the embracement of new influencers is a manifesto for improving our profession in a new age of communications. It is PR redux, a milestone that documents how PR has evolved more in the past 10 years than it has in the last 100 years. This new milestone is our chance to not only work with traditional journalists, but also engage directly with a new set of powerful and insightful voices by interacting with customers directly (because now we have the capability and the opportunity).

Suddenly, PR is no longer just about audiences. It’s now about people. And with Social Media gaining mainstream acceptance, it will only expose those weak in PR and force our industry to improve. Unfortunately, the way it stands now, the body count will be high. But that’s for everyone else. You’re reading this book. You are among the new catalysts for change, and in the process, you’re going to become more successful than you thought possible in PR.

New PR is about people and relationships, not just new tools. The game is changing, and it’s survival not only of the fittest, but also of the most capable and sincere. PR in the era of Socialized Media requires a fusion of traditional PR, Internet marketing, Web-savvy market intelligence, and the ability to listen and engage in conversations without speaking in messages.

PR 2.0 represents the evolution of industry practices forced by the shift and the process of influence in a social economy that has created a new layer of influencers. Although we’re not proponents of labels, these differences require explanation, and these labels will, we hope, facilitate your understanding.

New PR is a milestone that documents the shift of PR from a broadcast machine to community participation. It is no longer about audiences. It is now about people, as so eloquently stated by Jay Rosen in his poignant essay “We Are the People Formerly Known as the Audience.” (Rosen is a well-known journalism professor at New York University and most certainly a thought leader on influence and the role people play in it.) This time it’s about sociology and the cultivation of relationships. Whereas content was king in Web 1.0, conversations and community and participation therein are “the new black.”

Let’s just take out the BS and hype, and let’s start understanding what we represent and why it matters to those we’re hoping to reach. While we’re at it, let’s also take some time to read the publications and blogs that reach our customers. This is about understanding markets, the needs of people, and how to reach them.

This is PR for the mass market and for reaching those people who comprise the Long Tail—reaching out to the disparate markets that collectively represent your customer base. And no steps can be taken without first listening. Consider the difference between PR and PR 2.0:

PR cannot exist if we don’t carry the confidence of those who trust and empower us with the brand of the company we represent. PR is evolving, and to survive we have a lot of learning and listening ahead of us. We have quite a bit of work to do in PR (let’s just say that the PR industry itself needs some PR right about now) because CEOs, investors, and business leaders at the events we speak at and attend obviously feel less than confident that PR actually brings value to the table. PR has come full circle, and we all have the opportunity to rise to a higher level. The new movement leads to better conversations, useful information to make informed decisions, better relationships, and a newly developed trust in the profession—and the ability to earn the trust of customers. Relationships should have always been the foundation of PR, and the New PR renaissance reinforces this solid foundation.