Mat Wicox laughs at the idea the closure of her prominent and influential PR firm is in any way a crisis.

“This is a well thought-out decision with no drama,” she wrote in response to email questions from the Courier.

“This is far from a crisis.”

On Aug. 12, Wilcox announced the pending closure of Wilcox Group, a Vancouver public relations agency specializing in the management of corporate upheavals and unanticipated turmoil with the goal of mitigating the damage to a client’s brand, reputation and, ultimately, its bottom line.

“In terms of my own brand management,” she wrote, “well, my actions speak louder than words. I am not afraid to say we need to change and I am not afraid to lead the way. I am also not afraid to have people say, ‘She is wrong,’ because I don't think I am.”

Wilcox made the decision to close shop because she felt the communications and public relations industries were dramatically changed by social media—and she aspires to go where few agencies and clients are currently willing to follow.

“Ad firms are having mixed success with their early forays… and jumping in because their clients expect it,” she wrote, providing the campaigns for Old Spice and Pampers as examples. “But their engagement is not what it needs to be [in order] to be thought leaders.”

She said small businesses can now compete on a more level playing field with the world’s biggest corporate giants.

“My current passion is how to think through the best way for big corporations to manage this new medium. Companies have no budget line for this. They don't know how to measure it. They struggle with balance between responding to customers, over-compensating small issues, or being too ‘corporate’ in their responses. There is no measurement tools that make me go, ‘Snap!!’ that’s who is listening to us.”

She said she is driven to make the most of the new communication tools and better understand how consumers and audiences respond to the messages of her clients, which have included KFC, Taco Bell, Terasen Gas and Telus. She will continue to work with business leaders across Canada and spends her time between Vancouver and Toronto.

“That is my area of focus and passion. I work with CEOs on wrapping their heads around the future—not the old-fashioned past.”

Social media is the future of the PR, communications and journalism industries, she said.

After she announced the closure of Wilcox Group, a Toronto ad firm made a snap reaction and bellowed: “Social Media killed the PR star” and suggested Wilcox was not capable of adapting and succeeding in the new media landscape.

“I am not dead yet!” she typed as way of response to the Courier. “Social media did not ‘kill’ anyone.”

The one-on-one conversations afforded by tools such as Facebook and Twitter are exceptional opportunities to build relationships. That some PR firms are not tweeting strikes her as lost potential.

“As we have seen in the past two years in your media world, PR world, advertising world—we are all having to shift entirely into a new medium.”

Wilcox is the subject of a BC Business profile that hits newsstands Sept. 7. Matt O’Grady, the magazine’s editor in chief, said the article also explores the issues she raised by closing down Wilcox Group and tackles the “debate within the PR community about whether or social media is killing their business or not.”

Wilcox has one perspective, but hers isn’t the only one. “We canvass the rest of the industry for their take on social media, and, to a lesser extent, their take on Wilcox’s motivations,” he said. “It’s fair to say there is a certain amount of disagreement about both in the industry.”

In the PR world, Wilcox maintains a solid reputation although it is too early to know how the industry will react to her future actions.

To date, she has developed a sense of industry best practices and its use of new digital media.

“Many companies leave their social media in the hands of more junior employees when in fact it should be linked to the office of the CEO and the strategic direction of the company.

“Many are loathe to have a personality in social media… are boring and no one cares.

“Empathy, interesting information, and a sense of humour will win the day. But you need to be fast—the Internet is 24/7 and no one has the patience to wait for you.”

There is nothing that fails to excite her about today’s media landscape, she said.

The closure of Wilcox Group was “seamless” and the firm donated furniture and art to Vancouver health clinics and organizations located in the Downtown Eastside.

mstewart@vancourier.com