Illustration: Liu Rui

By Tim Gingrich

In the September 8 issue of the Global Times, managing editor Zhang Yong analyzed public relations (PR) in China's public sector in an article entitled "Poor public relations in grand press rooms."

The article made a strong argument for the establishment of a better PR system for China, and I would like to add that many of the communication challenges facing various organizations in China are not unique to these entities or even to this country. They are the result of the changing world in which we live.

In fact, all organizations – whether governments, private companies or multinational corporations – now have to learn to adapt in a new, chaotic and complicated communication landscape.

PR traces its roots to the post World War I US, when certain entrepreneurial individuals realized that propaganda could be used in peacetime just as well as it had been used during war.

These primitive PR practitioners relied on mass media – newspapers, radio and television – to sell products and shape public perception of companies. This strategy could be compared to a one-way conversation in which one side does all the talking.

However, the world has changed, and so must the methods of PR.

Today, a host of new media, from electronic bulletin board systems to blogs and online social networks, provides a way to send and receive information. Now readers can start their own topics, leave their own comments and share with their own circle of friends. This has resulted in a two-way conversation in which both sides exchange views.

Earlier this year, the China Internet Network Information Center reported that the number of Internet users in China had reached 338 million, surpassing the entire population of the US. The size of this figure can be attributed in part to China's massive population, but that can't explain away the growth – 13.4 percent since late 2008.

Such statistics are evidence that people in China and elsewhere are increasingly turning to the Internet for information. This should provide even more incentive for PR practitioners to shift their strategy from one-way communication to two-way communication.

This February, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao engaged in a highly publicized online chat with Chinese netizens, who were able to submit their questions to the premier on an online forum.

This is an example of the most powerful application of new media: the ability to listen. BBS, blogs and social networks enable companies to receive their customers' feedback or, in this case, the premier to answer citizens' questions. And organizations are finding that this unprecedented level of interactivity is an indispensable tool for gauging audience opinion.

New media is changing the way organizations tell their story, too. Rather than merely mailing a press release to the media or holding a press conference, an organization can interact directly with its target audience online – much the way Premier Wen did.

Perhaps most promising are online social networks, which allow people to contribute and share content. Not only do such sites allow organizations to capture their audience's attention, they also make it possible to enlist audience participation.

Even traditional media like newspapers now have their own websites and blogs. Therefore, this new communication landscape presents more options and diversity for PR than in the past.

Economic globalization has also created a consumer culture that presents individuals with more choices than ever before. From groceries to gadgets to entertainment and even medicine – there are more options for people to choose. This has opened up many opportunities for PR to promote the relative advantages of competing products and services.

In addition, economic growth means that audiences themselves are changing. A report from the consulting firm McKinsey this year, "Understanding China's Wealthy," predicts that the number of wealthy households in China's second- and third-tier cities will increase from 1.1 million to 3.2 million by 2015.

As economic growth spreads, it promises to raise consumer purchasing power. Companies can no longer afford to misunderstand with this growing consumer base.

These social factors are the catalyst behind increased Internet use. People are making more decisions about products and services than in the past, and they are going online for information to make those decisions.

Consumers need more information. And they want to be part of a two-way conversation that benefits both brands and consumers.

PR, done wisely, can make that happen.

Tim Gingrich works at a global PR agency in Beijing and writes a blog, Go Too Far East, about his travels at http://gotoofareast.com