A recent article in the Wall Street Journal describes in detail how companies are making PR work for them. As described, many companies turn to PR after they have unsuccessfully spent money on advertising campaigns that produced little or no results.

A follow-up to Deloitte's "State of the Media Democracy," published last spring, shows that consumers are moving their media consumption online at a growing rate. This phenomenon has strong implications for companies' PR strategies, as focus on media placements should reflect the target audience's preferred channels.

Marketing executives' opinions of PR range from thinking that it's a waste of time and money and doesn't work, to that it's the only thing needed for them to capture the market. Obviously either extreme is incorrect, but setting up realistic expectations before setting a strategy can be useful. Take a look at some common misconceptions:

Since we first discussed pitching blogs in October 2002, the medium has moved mainstream. A recent Marketwatch survey of journalists shows that now many news stories originate or are materially affected by blog entries.