sobre public engagement (III)

Há uns anos atrás fui apresentar uma comunicação sobre gestão de crises num congresso em Espanha. Estava cheio de sentimento pátrio e rigor cientifico. Esbracejei e entusiasmei-me com a minha "ponencia" e fiquei satisfeito com aquilo que apresentei. No final, um grande professor catalão, Antonio Nogueró i Grau, disse que nada de novo tinha sido acrescentado naquela sessão, e que embora muito interessantes, as apresentações não tinham acrescentado valor ao que já se sabia sobre a matéria. Fiquei chocado e reagi emocional-nacionalmente na altura. Passados estes anos voltei a lembrar-me deste episódio e, reflectindo, tenho que dar razão a Nogueró i Grau: no campo da comunicação e das RP desde 1985-1990 não há nada de novo. Não existe qualquer acrescento teórico ou prático que seja verdadeiramente inovador e que tenha posto em causa o paradigma existente. Quando Khun na "estrutura das revoluções científicas" falou sobre mudança de paradigmas, afirmava aquilo que são as caracterísiticas dos processos de mudança e como estas se processam. No campo da comunicação nada disso tem acontecido. Continuamos a funcionar no mesmo paradigma de há 20 anos e aquilo que tem vindo a surgir são variações do tema com umas quantas buzz words interessantes que permitem vectorializar os posicionamentos dos prestadores de serviço. Estou convencido que o esforço da GCI vai dar os seu frutos e vai colher resultados, ainda por cima porque já têm em curso alguns projectos muito interessantes. Mas não é uma mudança de paradigma, nem é uma inovação...é uma evolução, tal com tão bem confirmou hoje o seu presidente no seu blog. felicidades nesta nova fase de vida.

sobre public engagement (II)

Os nove principios de "public engagement" enquanto teoria sócio-política defendida pela Universidade de Newcastle:

1. Participants should join those organising the process in setting terms of reference for the whole exercise, and framing the questions that they will discuss.

2. The group organising, or in overall control of, the process should be broad based, including stakeholders with different interests on the subject being discussed.

3. There should be a diversity of information sources and perspectives available to participants.

4. There should be space for the perspectives of those participants who lack specialist knowledge of the area concerned to engage in a two-way exchange with those possessing specialist knowledge.

5. There should be complete transparency of the activities carried out within the process to those both inside and outside it.

6. Those without a voice in policy-making should be enabled to use the consultation process as a tool for positive political change. This should be embedded in the process by sufficient funds being made available for follow-up work after their initial conclusions have been reached.

7. The process should contain safeguards against decision-makers using a process to legitimise existing assumptions or policies.

8. All groups involved in the process should be given the opportunity to identify possible strategies for longer-term learning, development and change on a range of issues relating to their conclusions.

9. The group organising, or in overall control of, the process should develop an audit trail through the process, to explain whether policies were changed, what was taken into account, what criteria were applied when weighing up the evidence from the process, and therefore how the views of those involved in the participatory process may have made a difference. This should be explored together will as many those involved in all levels of the process as possible.

sobre public engagement (I)

Há menos de 2 semanas Richard Edelman fez esta apresentação sobre "public engagement"

"The Third Way--Public Engagement

I am speaking this morning at Edelman’s fourth New Media Academic Summit, jointly hosted by New York University and Syracuse University, attended by more than 100 professors from 10 countries. My bold assertion is that there is a Third Way for companies to communicate, beyond paid and earned media, by embracing Public Engagement.

Today, there is a dispersion of authority, away from the mainstream media and classic sources of influence toward open platforms and new voices driven by passion and personal experience. Smart companies are changing their games, moving from strict message control to a more open discussion with stakeholders. Mike Slaby, who just joined our firm as chairman of Edelman Digital, said, “We are moving from speaking at audiences to participating with them by drawing them into organizations with authentic communications.”

The Third Way asserts that companies need to complement their usual paid and earned media strategies by embracing new, social and owned media. The Third Way envisages:


• Utilizing the evolved mainstream media, with its numerous opportunities for participation, such as video, commentary from mid-level employees and shared experiences of customers.
• Reaching out to new media with the convening credibility of expert voices. Recognize that Polito or Tech Crunch may be the best starting point for media outreach.
• Utilizing social networks as essential spaces for company embassies. Be an aggregator for discussion. Connect members to related stories. Provide multiple entry points for relating to personal experiences.
• Helping every company become a media company (thanks again, Andrew Heyward, for this quote) via an owned channel. This offers a faithful representation of the present situation while providing context that enables viewers to understand the full story.


The change from impression-based interactions to long-term relationships with clients’ stakeholders requires nothing short of a major reevaluation of our role as PR counsel. We need to provide strategic advice, not simply communications tactics. Our profession must now embrace research to distinguish among idea starters, amplifiers and viewers. We should create the central idea and enable the full exploitation across four screens (TV, PC, Slate and smart phone). Since online platforms and spaces are at the root of the current evolution of media, digital strategy can no longer be seen as a specialty area; it must become a core competence for all PR people.

The new principles adopted by Edelman practitioners in order to maintain our clients’ license to operate, are termed the rules of Public Engagement. These include:


• Open advocacy (why you are here),
• Listening with new intelligence,
• Participating real time in conversations,
• Create and co-create content,
• Socialize media relations,
• Build partnerships for the common good, and
• Embrace and navigate complexity.


We should aim for measurable outcomes beyond media impressions and advertising equivalencies, including Building Trust, Changing Behaviors, Deeper Communities and Delivering Commercial Benefit. At the same time we must draw a clear line between journalism and public relations, as we rely on a discerning media sector as a cornerstone of our work.

We will proceed along two dimensions—to encompass a broader set of media options, from Mainstream to New to Social to Owned; and engage stakeholders in deeper, long-term social relationships, as all communications become public. In this way, PR can assume its proper role as the organizing principle for strategy and communications."