While I straddle the fence on blogging – is it the end-all be-all, is it just a communications tool to be used (and sometimes abused), has it …
… jumped the shark with the Business Week article – this is pretty cool to me.
For the Target manager/senior manager of media relations job for Target, one of the requirments is “Strong knowledge for Internet journalism, e.g., blogs” – think about that for a minute.
The fact that one of the largest retailers in the country – and, personally a favorite of mine – is doing this is quite interesting. Think of all the online shopping that goes on at Target.com, the past issues with Amazon/Target and the items for sale. Now, they are actually proactively looking for someone to deal with blogs, including the crisis communications that is sometimes needed when things are unleashed in the blogosphere.
This is a major shift in corporate awareness, understanding that online media and blogging are part of the communications mix, and need to be tracked, monitored, and yes, responded to sometimes. Let me reiterate that – Target is not buying the cluelesstrain pitch that blogging practices need to be separate, but rather is looking for a PR person that understands blogs, how to track them, and how to work within the blogosphere.
And, well, the person has to be a PR person with other PR experience. From the ad, it looks like Target stills want the other skill sets that have always been sought, but just want that added expertise to be in the mix for their new hire.
A round of applause for Target. And, a round of applause to Robert French, who likely has had to deal with the doubters, the nay-sayers and the cynics (and, well, just the cranky academia) when he made his Auburn students blog.
One downside: I bet Target gets a TON of bloggers with no PR experience applying, because, well, PR is easy and anyone can do it (eyeroll).
Jeremy Pepper is the CEO and founder of POP! Public Relations, a public relations firm based in Arizona, USA.
He authors the popular Musings from POP! Public Relations blog which offers Jeremy’s opinions and views – on public relations, publicity and other things.
