Turning the arc to an arrow

I recently reviewed David Armano’s presentation on the Future of Advertising and was inspired by this slide:

I did not hear David’s voiceover for the presentation so I don’t know how deeply he covered the legal issues, but I think this slide really captures what happens to so many “innovative” digital and social media ideas.  A lot of time and money is spent on developing terrific applications, interactions, services, conversations, entertainment, products and/or goodwill only to be crushed by legal.

By now, most communicators have heard of the “new rules” of the road, but many don’t understand the government rules of the road because that road is still under construction. The FDA and FTC have just begun to establish guidance for online marketing.  In April, the FDA sent letters to 14 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies telling them that they had to essentially change their search engine marketing practices because commonly used sponsored links on sites like Google do not include a direct link to the required patient information. In addition, the FTC announced that it is revising guidance on endorsements and customer testimonials to address “sponsored consumers.”

Richard Cleland, assistant director for the FTC’s division of advertising practices, said “the guides needed to be updated to address not only the changes in technology, but also the consequences of new marketing practices. Word-of-mouth marketing is not exempt from the laws of truthful advertising.”

I thought about David’s illustration and the recent rulings and adapted my own view of how all marketing disciplines might want to work in the new communications landscape.

The need for companies to address legal issues is a trend my colleague Andrew Foote wrote about back in January and I covered in a whitepaper for the healthcare industry in March. Now more than ever, understanding of the legal landscape is the overriding paradigm. It’s where every program in every discipline must begin. Innovation will remain within reach, but simply (and perhaps bluntly) put, advertisers and marketers may have to start earning media the way public relations has earned it for years.

Considering the enormous impact these new rulings have on search and earned media, I think PR is in an excellent position to demonstrate its wares and fill the vacuum left by marketing disciplines that have to adjust to these new rules. PR is by definition in the earned media business. Add to that the impact a great PR campaign can have on search, and you have an industry ready to lead.  From there, it’s a straight line to innovation.