It was every PR practitioner’s nightmare and further evidence of the fact that we as marketers are the most out of control and the most in control we have ever been. Editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of the book The Long Tail, Chris Anderson listed the email addresses of 350 names he has blacklisted from his email inbox on his very public and popular blog, thelongtail.com. The 350 offenders had allegedly sent Anderson irrelevant PR “pitches” one too many times. To the mortification of many public relations people who were on that list (with their company name in the email address), it served to show no one is safe from the fire hose, not even the people you hire to protect you from the fire (or to start it) depending on your needs. Anderson’s public protest sends the message that you must choose wisely when picking a PR firm to represent you, and it is essential you select one that knows the rules of the game and how to create compelling messaging directed at the right audience. The fact that mass distribution outlets for information exist these days is no excuse to spam irrelevant information in the hopes it randomly catches a reporter’s attention.
