Leaving class this week I wondered what the future would hold for marketing, advertising and public relations. Traditionally each has held independent roles in the communication of messages to a target audience. With focus on a future of integrated roles in communication, one can not help but wonder in the future will bring an extinction to traditionalism.
Marketers have traditionally focused on designing a communication campaigns and understanding how to reach a segmented audience. While advertisers have traditionally focused on designing the promotion/advertising campaigns to communicate the marketers vision of a communication campaign. And public relations have focused on maintaining a line of communication between an organization and its publics to promote understanding and acceptance of a communication campaign. Now with a focus on integrated communication the three separate entities are combining to form consistent communication from one single entity.
Effective yes, but what does this new focus on integration mean for professionals in each of these separate industries. Perhaps the wave of the future will be integrated marketing/advertising/public relations firms. This will certainly benefit those utilizing such firms, with efficient and consistent communication. However it is my belief that there will always be a need for individual experts in each of these areas. And we will never see a completely unified and integrated existence among the three roles.