BusinessWeek states that advertising is becoming “a conversation” with a company’s customers and that the Internet is driving this process. Traditional advertising is still viable according to the story, but the process is going in a totally new direction. In explaining what advertising is becoming the magazine succinctly describes public relations.

“Companies will recognize that there is a conversation going on in the marketplace that they should join, not dominate. Consumers, experts, and competitors are all talking about your company, its products, and the competition’s products. Joining that conversation means providing information, answering questions, and responding to concerns instead of just broadcasting one-way messages. Participating allows a company to correct misinformation, offer insights, develop a reputation, and create a relationship with the most influential people in a given market.”

It is nice to have it reinforced that we’re leading business in the direction that marketing should be going….but we already knew that.