Industry Insights: Reciprocity vs. transactional pitching & relationships in media and PR
Hello!
I’m on a flight to Chicago right now (for the quickest of biz trips!).
As we’re having the first morning-that-feels-like November around here (I’m actually wearing a sweater and drinking hot coffee for the first time since last year), I’m thinking a lot about gift giving and this time of year…it’s when I’m working on holiday gift guides (though I actually wrapped up my final one of the season yesterday!), and beginning my shopping for the December holidays.
It’s also my birthday in about a month and I’m all about celebrating the people I love first and foremost even on a day allegedly all about me.
But when it comes to the sometimes-complicated relationship between PR and media professionals, things get a little shaky as terms such as “gifting” are used when something is not actually a gift and a transactional relationship seems to have formed — and with that, the inherent focus on reciprocity.
We know that in our lives, we should never allow ourselves to accept otherwise in our personal realities, but we don’t always consider it in business: The concept of reciprocity in a transactional business relationship being: Hey, I gave you something, and now you have an obligation to reciprocate in some way.