News flash people – consumers aren’t waiting with bated breath for our next campaign. They’re far too busy, cynical and jaded to care.

But they will give us the time of day if we create something of value. Let me give you an example.

QUT, which operates in the higher education category, recently wanted to promote its Master of Business (Public Relations) degree. The course is specifically designed for PR practitioners who want to upgrade their professional qualifications.

In the old days we would have dutifully taken advertising in some professional journal, perhaps advertised on some industry websites, sent out a press release and maybe done some direct mail. We would have spent the budget in 4-6 weeks and hopefully generated a result.

But if you subscribe to the idea of creating value not just creating ads, then you take a completely different approach.

This thinking led to the creation of Tweepr – a website which aggregates, in real time, the thoughts and observations of Australia’s top 100 most followed PR specialists on Twitter.

If you’re in PR then having access to the top 100 gives you tips, observations and insights from industry thought leaders and rising stars.

It’s the stuff ambitious, motivated industry types are likely to find invaluable and it’s exactly these types that QUT would like to attract to their masters degree.

The other benefit of creating something of value is that it gets traction. PR people are actively sharing Tweepr with other PR people, discussing colleagues’ ranks in the top 100 and writing about it on their blogs.

So we haven’t just created advertising, we’ve curated content – and we’ve produced something which has ongoing value beyond the 4-6 week campaign cycle that used to be the norm.

If the buzz we’ve created amongst the PR fraternity on Twitter is any indication, then it’s proof positive that this is a winning approach.

Kevin Moreland is a Partner at BCM

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