Mixing traditional & new PR tools successfully

Berlin is a city of stark contrasts - particularly evident in its buildings. In a recent visit I snapped cool, contemporary architecture alongside beautiful buildings of huge historical weight and interest. The Reichstag building (left: filming a short piece on Berlin outside the Reichstag, right: a contemporary building near the museum district) wraps together history with contemporary values with Norman Foster's glass spiral walkway where people are elevated above the politicians to remind them when they look up of who they work for.

It's the history of the city that makes it so unique - from a a once divided city to one that is now still under construction and constantly changing.

Similarly, businesses are looking to a combination of PR tactics - a traditional and online approach - to tell their own story in a way that appeals to different audiences. Using short audio and visual clips specifically designed to appeal to social media audiences can help bring key elements of a company's story to life in a new way. At a recent social media conference at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, hundreds of businesses gathered to hear about what it can do for their business - it was packed! Rory Bremner's presence no doubt helped attract interest, but there definately seems to be a hunger for more knowledge on the most effective ways of reaching audiences with their messages.

Combining a 'traditional', strategic approach of defining key goals and then selecting the most appropriate tools for the job is proving successful for clients. Helping businesses monitor and then join in and start relevant conversations with audiences online can produce valuable results.