By Lisa Hester

In this world, there are followers, leaders…and disruptors. Yes, each plays a crucial part in society – all three are necessary – but it’s the disruptors who even outpace the leaders by their game-changing actions.

What exactly do disruptors do?

The definition of a disruption is a “disturbance or problem that interrupts an event, activity or process.” A recent Forbes magazine article (May, 2013) states that the difference between innovation and disruption is that all disruptors are innovators, but not all innovators are disruptors. It cites the example that all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

Disruption, the article continues, displaces an existing market, industry or technology and produces something new and more efficient and worthwhile. It’s both destructive and creative.

In other words, unlike an innovator, who generally tweaks an already good idea, a disruptor creates something that most often renders useless a product or process.

For example, air travel has made the need to travel by ship and by passenger train obsolete – except, of course, for cruises which are solely for pleasure and not primarily to get from point A to point B. Newer, better forms of communication made the telegraph obsolete. In the same way, as it becomes more widely used and practical, 3D printers could one day make factories obsolete.

Rick Smith, author of The Great Disruption, cites such recent examples of disruptions as the launch of eBay, which offered a viable alternative to brick-and-mortar retail outlets, and Uber, which has greatly impacted the traditional taxi/in-city transport industry.

Smith concludes that disruptions are inevitable as needs, preferences and tastes change. Mass production started with Ford Motor Company’s development of the assembly line. It worked superbly when needs were great and limitations were high. But the problem with “mass production” today is that we are better equipped and better able to hone in on specific needs. Specialization abounds. Thus, whatever is mass produced is for the average person. And nobody now thinks of himself as this “average” person.

Even many media outlets have admittedly lost their neutrality and have chosen instead to show their biases so as to attract specific, target audiences and garner like-minded advertisers. “Mass media” no longer works.

Smith encourages companies in all industries to make a cognizant shift from mass production to customization. Everyone wants what is unique and specific to them because they know they can have it that way, he said. Nobody is “average” and needs are varied among all of us.

He also suggests corporate leaders move from relying solely on planning and instead practice agility. Learn to react in real time, he said. Don’t simply follow a plan created in advance, outside of the here-and-now. Things change too quickly. What was valid then, may not be now.

Specifically in the PR industry, communicators need to be aware of today’s reality:  PR pros no longer fully control the messaging about clients. Messages now come from everyone, everywhere – you, your competitors, influencers, your customers and the general public.

Thus, the need for PR is even greater now. It is our role to indeed still create and disseminate messages, but also to stay on top of the chatter coming from every direction. One key is knowing when and how to respond to messaging from other sources. At Rountree Group, we are on top of this changing environment. That’s why we have institutionalized client teams who monitor on a constant basis on behalf our clients. What’s more, we know when and how to react, when appropriate, and when not to react.

While disruptions in PR are inevitable and ever-evolving, the Rountree Group team believes in being a pacesetter in the industry. We were, after all, the first in Atlanta to change our name from Rountree Group Public Relations to Rountree Group Communications Management, and again, recently, to Rountree Group Integrated Communications.

We invite you to learn more about this topic and how Rountree Group can assist in your PR needs. Contact us and let’s chat. http://rountreegroup.wpengine.com/about-us/#contact