GolinHarris' John Morgan on 'G4' and PR's ability to direct dialogue

Morgan notes that the media landscape is evolving at "warp speed" at the moment, placing pressure on PR agencies to constantly look at their own structures. "f the media landscape is evolving, we have to evolve as well," he says. "We need to move away from a heirachy of generalists to a community of specialists."

That's the key thought behind Golin Harris' new "G4" model, which focuses the agency's organisational chart on four distinct communities of media specialists. These are based on what staff in each circle do, rather than what medium or type of client they work with. In this way, there are business analysts, ceratives, "connectors" (the agency's channel experts), and "catalysts" (the staff who put everything together).

While G4 is a formalised structure, Morgan notes that it has so far had positive feedback from both clients and staff.

Morgan also touched on the long term outlook for the PR industry in general, one he says is looking increasingly positive.

"PR is not only at the table, we're kind of controlling the digital universe in many different ways," he said, noting that its work with social media had been particularly effective. "PR is guiding the conversations (there)," he said.