2010 Predictions: ‘The Days of Press Hits To Justify the PR Budget Are Over’

By Joe Ciarallo on December 31, 2009 10:33 AM

Today’s 2010 PR predictions come from an agency owner and a provocative PR blogger…

Josh Sternberg, Founder, Sternberg Strategic Communications:

The days of press hits to justify the PR budget are over. Brand reputation and crisis/issues management should be at the top of our “to do” lists in 2010, as the last few years have proven that the one-way flow of communication is dead.

POP! PR Jots blogger Jeremy Pepper:

We see an uptick in PR acquisitions for 2010 by other holding companies, with concentration on public affairs, health-care and technology. Social Media shops, for the most part, will not play a part in the acquisition game as agencies will have hired internally and built out their practices.

2009′s social media gurus will be replaced by 2010′s social media gurus. It’s cyclical where the old regime is replaced by a new regime. And the people are likely names and voices we don’t know just yet, but will come out with a vengeance. The old guard – and older guard – will still be talked about, but the new shiny toy mentality of social media will lead to new voices that are hailed (rightly or wrongly) as geniuses.