PR and Digital Marketing. Hand-In-Hand?

Public relations for any business serves the function of establishing and maintaining a positive image and reputation to the general consumer.  Although originally carried out through the press etc, digital marketing has now become the dominant method, allowing the quickest and most direct communication between business and consumer.

This has seen to be true, in the recent viral video KONY 12, which has become an impressive use of digital marketing and public relations.  The video provided highly successful exposure for the work of 'Invisible Children', a US non-profit organisation, who achieved 74 million views in just one week, demonstrating the powers of social media and such viral videos.

Effective PR not only establishes initial interest and awareness, but is vital for maintaining this awareness and positive perception, especially when facing critics and public scrutiny.

Invisible Children have achieved this through using PR and social media hand-in-hand, responding to critics and negative feedback through social media sites such as twitter.  Here they are able to communicate directly to those with the questions and negative perspectives, while at the same time highlighting the influential figures who remain behind the movement, as seen in the support Bill Gates gives Invisible Children below.

What's your view on the Invisible Children movement?