1. Karen S. Miller (now Miller Russell) (1999): Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930 to 1995

2. one whose author escapes me right now … very wonderfully titled something along the lines of public relations having a PR problem

In short, PR is defined by your purposes. If you seek to build a good relationship with your public (thus “public relations” ) then it’s good PR. Many things taken as PR these days (cheap promotions and publicity) are actually marketing communications.

Relating specifically to your personal bloggers question: yes, I think personal bloggers who claim they aren’t interested in PR might be fooling themselves, but only fooling themselves on the “definition” of PR. If they’re trying to relate with their readers to build a good relationship…then they’re engaging in public relations, which may not feel at all like the PR that most people associate the term with. As for “clean” techniques at PR…it’s simple. Listen and respond. That’s the simplest of PR techniques if you see it as building relationships with readers.

Sorry…long answer…but I’ll further illustrate what PR really is in my next post.

But can’t a gift just be a gift? Isn’t possible for an organization like BNL to communicate with their fans in a way that is unselfish? Can they do art without it being considered PR as well?

As a personal blogger and photographer, I communicate with a group of several thousand people in public semi-regularly. I’m not doing it for profit but I won’t deny that I write in the hope that people will find it interesting and read it. I’m doing art. But is it PR just because it’s public?

Are personal bloggers who claim they aren’t interested in PR fooling themselves? Are there PR techniques they should/could be using that wouldn’t make them feel dirty?

Lots of questions. This article interested me because, while BNL may be motivated by PR in this (maybe), many people do this style of lo-fi art simply for the art. Calling it PR first seems to cheapen it (no offense meant or taken).

But on a deeper level, I believe that any commercial entity that becomes embedded in a culture or becomes part of a culture is an effect of good PR, because, at some level, it means that the brand has connected with its audiences above and beyond a mere resource exchange relationship (where the audiences simply purchase the product and use it for needs/wants). Sure, the line between marketing and PR is a bit fuzzy in this instance, but I think there is an evident example of PR in the Guerrilla Marketing context, because an organization has to engage its public, and create a relationship with it.

I think that the case presented is pure marketing.