Could The Future Of PR Signal The End Of Brands?
Mark Macias is the Founder of MACIAS PR, named 2017-2019 Strategic PR Firm of the Year and 2015-2017 Financial PR Firm of the Year. getty  In the future, there will be no brands. I overheard this bold statement at a marketing conference. Most of us would probably shrug our heads after hearing that, until we learned it was a senior Google marketing executive making that prediction. Initially, I was skeptical too. But take a deeper look at his prediction, and you may see it makes total sense, especially in the enterprise and B2B sectors. Outside of the consumer market, brands are already beginning to exist less, and if you dont believe me, look at your own personal journey. You probably searched for "best restaurants near me" on your phone  and Google brought them to you. You didnt have to remember the name of a restaurant chain; a search engine replaced your memory with an option. This evolution away from brands is even more pronounced in enterprise and B2B markets in my experience. If you own a business, heres where you really need to pay attention. Digital reputation is the future of PR and branding. Im in PR now, but before I founded my agency, I was an executive producer inside the media, where publicists and PR agencies pitched me daily. You may think I'd know the names of all the biggest PR agencies out there, but I can only name a few without turning to Google. Its probably the same in your industry even though you likely have hundreds of competitors. And thats exactly the point this executive was trying to reinforce. You dont need to remember brands because search engines bring their products and services to you. Many consumers are now in the habit of researching products and services before they buy. This is even more prominent with the younger generations who grew up with a smartphone in their hand. If you are selling any service or product to them, it's helpful to establish stories about your brand because that is often what validates their decision-making. Consumers might not see your story the first time it is published, but when they are ready to buy, they will find you with their online research. Likewise, digital footprints are critical, but in the future, you may not have a sales pipeline without appearing in search engines. This is where PR can play the role of content marketing with any business development pipeline. The key is using the right search terms. Earlier this year, I started working with a new wellness book that integrates health analytics into the content. Its the first hardcover book to leverage this technology and analytics into a hardcover book. Before March 2021, this brand effectively didnt exist because search engines didn't recognize it. But today, the book appears four times on the first page of Google and has two stories on the first page of Google News. I believe this is the new world of branding. You don't need to wait months to build a brand or spend mountains of money on brand awareness. Instead, PR can help position your brand at the forefront of a search  right by the checkout line. This situation applies to all businesses. If youre a divorce lawyer or the creator of a weight loss app, it doesnt matter. Your brand must make inroads with the search engines  and the right key terms. The key is the right search terms. Its not enough for people to search for the name of your restaurant on their phones. You want to position your product or service with search terms that new customers will use to find your product. I'm sure Starbucks and McDonalds will be brands my son knows when he gets older, but for every other budding competitor of the popular chains, I have good news: You're pretty much on equal footing with those big brands in the eyes of search engines. If they're not near you or on Google, the restaurant and coffee search is anyone's game. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders.