Influence 1.0
Since the beginning, there has been Public Relations — building brands and promoting goodwill, aligning messaging with organization goals, disseminating information to the public and news agencies, and influencing the conversation.

An ideal example of the "lean back" or "push" experience, traditional PR tries to influence nearly all aspects of a conversation around a brand. The consumer participates, but only in a limited fashion; listening, absorbing, and only occasionally creating his own conversations (through low-tech means).

Influence 1.5
As the world went online, so did public relations and the people who practiced it. But they were tentative, simply taking existing traditional ("flat") techniques online in an effort to be digital. What they didn't foresee was the way conversations evolved while the messaging stayed static.

On the Internet, PR experts could pinpoint what people were saying about brands, and getting news online was just a matter of visiting major newspapers or other large outlets with an online presence.

Consumers were beginning to lean forward.

Influence 2.0
Today the conversation joins content as king. In 10 short years, the Internet has evolved from a place where anyone can stake a claim to a place where everyone has staked a claim. Blogs, wikis, social networking sites, talkbacks, podcasts, and other avenues of expression give consumers a voice they've never had before.

It's in this new, incredibly complex world that Digital PR excels at building and maintaining brand perceptions, even amid the chorus of conversations. As part of an integrated effort, digital public relation tools mesh seamlessly with traditional techniques to maximize effectiveness, and they work hard to engage users across all the channels now available.

Immersive Influence
JHG Townsend's Immersive Influence™ PR program explores all the avenues available to brands today on the digital landscape. Better still, we understand that not every channel is relevant to every client (or every consumer). A well-designed mix of traditional and digital PR tools, Immersive Influence submerges your brand in the pool of conversations, helping you engage the right consumers the right way, telling your story, building your brand, and guiding and nurturing conversations as they happen.