Being the master of multi-media communications…
These days Public Relations professionals have to be skilled in a wide diversity of media. We are no longer simply the owner of press releases and backgrounders. Today we have to be able to write good online copy, use e-mails for sharp pitching etc.
A fundamental part of these skills includes an understanding of the best way to communicate online. We need to understand that because the Internet consists of users with different PCs, different browsers and different quality connections to the Internet, the best approach to web communications is catering for the lowest common denominator.
PR people must also inherently understand that their audience want relevant information that is quickly and easily accessible.
Richard Bailey wrote on Friday of the sad demise of Gnash Communications one of the leading UK dotcom PR agencies (think Lastminute.com). Gnash were an early entrant into our PR Flash Hall of Shame which showcases PR agencies who believe that advertising through Flash is the best means of communicating over the Internet.
I’ve added a few more new entries to the Flash Hall of Shame (you can see a full listing here).
Whenever I add a company to the list, I regularly get angry e-mails from the listee and as a result I have put together an explanation of why Flash is bad. I even point them to the creators of Flash who themselves warn against the use of Flash intros and if that isn’t enough I point them to the ever-enjoyable Skip Intro.
I’m also very happy to remove anyone from the Hall of Shame who repents and goes back to website design as it is supposed to be… HTML.
Murphy's Law 