It’s official, the future of PR, as the marketing materials announced is…wait for it…Cision. It isn’t a choice that has improved over time. This piece is what I wrote in 2007 the last time it changed its name. The new/old name was announced at a very fancy party at the PRSA International Conference last night.
The baffling choice was apparently the strongest among the three brands at-hand: Cision, Visible, and Vocus. They have merged in hopes to take PR measurement and monitoring to a new level. Instead it may be taking them back to the Jurassic age.
They could have chosen Vocus, the largest company of the three, a brilliant marketer that has spent millions over the years promoting its brand and service offering while building a loyal following and stellar platform.
Or Visible Technologies, one of the best social and traditional measurement platforms in the business that I recommend all the time. It is truly one of the top platforms in the industry and known for its state of the art approach to social and traditional media listening.
Instead, they chose Cision…a brand that Vocus and everyone else has been bad mouthing with good reason for years. In a move that was both baffling and incredibly fitting, they promoted themselves by bringing a large dinosaur to the trade show area of this week’s PRSA International Conference.
The human in a large rubber dinosaur suit was the perfect representation of the dinosaur of the industry, waddling around among booths, offering platforms that are far more sophisticated and robust. Go figure.
My feelings about Cision are no secret. I’ve told anyone who has asked that using the CisionPoint system is like having a root canal — incredibly painful, takes a long time, and when it’s over you’re left with a feeling that something is missing. Personally, I’d prefer a root canal.
Given the fact that due to the mergers, many of my Delahaye and KDaine & Partners colleagues are working for this brand, I really want to be happy for them. I certainly wish them luck. They’re going to need it.
…The competition is going to have a field day.
[…] First, it’s the usually the biggest company with the worst brand that has the most money. And gets to keep the name. Therefore the better brands get sullied. The brilliant Katie Paine just wrote about this yesterday : […]