Idea 1
The Shift from Interruption to Publishing
How do you reach people who ignore ads yet crave information? In The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott argues that traditional marketing—built on interruption, persuasion, and media gatekeepers—no longer works in a world where everyone searches, shares, and decides on their own. Instead, your task as a marketer is to behave like a publisher: create content that answers real questions, appears where people look, and builds trust through usefulness.
From Gatekeepers to Self-Publishing
The old rules assumed power rested with agencies and editors. You bought advertising time or sent press releases to journalists who decided what the public saw. Today, search engines, social networks and communities dissolve those barriers. Everyone—from a startup founder to a high school applicant—finds solutions directly online. Your content must meet that demand, not interrupt it.
When buyers research options, they consult reviews, forums, and how-to videos (as with automotive shoppers on sites like Edmunds). If your site offers only “Buy Now” banners, you miss the stage when they are gathering facts. Scott’s phrase “Publish, don’t interrupt” captures the shift: provide useful stories, guides, and tools that match buyer intent. When people come to you online, you already have their attention—the challenge is to reward it.
Converging Marketing and PR
Scott insists that marketing and public relations must merge around content. A blog post, news release, or tutorial now serves both buyers and journalists. The boundaries between sales enablement and brand reputation vanish when all those audiences consume the same searchable information. For example, companies like Cervélo and OPEN Cycle grew global attention through technical blog posts and community forums rather than paid advertising, because enthusiasts discovered them through search.
The same principle applies to public service situations: Duracell’s real-time Facebook help during Hurricane Sandy won goodwill because it solved a problem—charging phones—while American Apparel’s discount tweet during the same event drew outrage. Relevance beats volume.
Publishing as the Core Discipline
To “publish” means building an integrated mix of blogs, videos, podcasts, guides, and social content designed around buyer questions. This approach transforms every marketing asset into discovery tools. Hotels, schools, and even museums employ this publishing strategy: Kakslauttanen Igloo Village led Yukari from a tweet to Google search to TripAdvisor to booking—all touchpoints powered by real, helpful content.
When you understand buyer personas—their challenges, vocabulary, and timing—you can map content from need to decision. Colleges, for instance, tailor materials separately for students, parents, and alumni, each with different motivators. This segmentation defines the tone and platform: how-to videos for students, success stories for parents, and community updates for alumni.
Why Content Drives Sales
Content is not decoration—it is your sales engine. A company like The Lodge at Chaa Creek built 80% of bookings through destination guides rather than brochures. The Concrete Network uses holiday-themed guides to link homeowners with contractors. Their content solves buyer problems; sales follow naturally. Measurement closes the loop: track conversions, leads, and revenue per piece of content, not page views alone. Pragmatic Marketing’s salary survey built credibility and attracted new participants precisely because it was valuable.
Real-Time and Storytelling Dimensions
Speed amplifies this publishing model. Real-time monitoring and response—what Scott calls “newsjacking”—helps you insert expertise into fast-moving stories. Joe Payne at Eloqua turned Oracle’s acquisition news into a blog analysis that generated $1M in business within days. Likewise, Boeing’s internal newsroom uses storytelling instead of product specs, hiring journalists who craft emotional, factual pieces like “Rocky Earns His Rest.” Storytelling translates technical work into human experience, earning trust that ads cannot buy.
Taken together, these approaches—publishing over promotion, persona-driven content, social participation, real-time response, and journalistic storytelling—redefine how you reach and convert modern audiences. They form the foundation for all other chapters in the book.
Core Principle
In the digital marketplace, you do not win attention by force; you earn it by publishing content that people seek, trust, and share—at the moment they care most.
When you adopt this worldview, your marketing evolves from a campaign mindset to a publishing discipline. You become discoverable by search, amplified by social sharing, and credible to both customers and the media. That is the modern marketing revolution Scott maps through every example in this book.