PR Information |
Public Relations - Defining Your Organization from the Inside Out
What do your customers say about your company? Would you let your major competitor control your sales strategy? Public relations is an inevitable consequence of being in business. Whether you like it or not, your corporate image evolves with every interaction with clients, investors, competitors, and even between your own employees. Thus, managing perceptions of your company is just as important to the bottom line as what you sell and who buys it. Unfortunately, many companies see PR as a reaction to external forces and lose control over market direction as a result. As with all other corporate activities PR should be treated as a strategic process. Adopting a strategic PR campaign enables a company to not only compete better in the marketplace, but also be successful across market boundaries. Being proactive rather than reactive means establishing long-term goals that are measurable and repeatable and that will ensure longevity and achievement for the company. The setting of objectives, milestones, and metrics guarantees that any and all PR activities are aligned with the company's objectives and will deliver real results. By answering the following questions, a strategic process will emerge for PR that will support all of the company's process and goals. Who are you? What do others say about us? What are the corporate objectives? How can we control the PR process? Your Internal Identity The reality is that good PR begins at the office: possessing a strong sense of corporate identity on all levels is key to having a consistent and credible public image. It is the responsibility of management to articulate to all employees the company's mission statement and make it actionable. This is a message that will be repeated and demonstrated to external audiences daily through virtually every company interaction. Employees who believe in the mission statement will display the corporate image through their actions. Indecision, multiple, or conflicting messages at any level will have a negative impact and inadvertently kill any momentum that might be achieved. By making PR a strategic process and not a reaction to external situations, a consistent message will be developed across all corporate segments. Applied correctly, it is a message that will eventually evolve into corporate attitude and culture. Actively defining the image of your company ultimately impacts the credibility obtained from all sectors: employees, investors, customers, competitors, and the general public. Actions speak louder than words and govern how all outsiders will interact with you. Establishing a mission that is accepted and adopted by every segment of your company will aid in verifying your value. Your External Identity Initiating a strategic PR campaign allows your company to control its place in the market by defining perceptions across all segments of the value network. It is more than just a clever marketing campaign to support your products - it is an extension of the corporate identity. Think about what others say about you - your customers, competition, shareholders, and the general public. In today's economy the response needs to be in harmony. A coordinated PR strategy is critical to delivering a consistent and compelling message across all of your company's interfaces. The focus is on establishing the company image, and will impact the reception you garner from each of these audiences. Confirming the corporate message needs to practiced with all departments working in unison because conflicting signals will undermine the significance of any future efforts. For example, your marketing team cannot be contradicting what the product team asserts for product capability. A company's image is most important for non-customers. What do your competitors say about you? Do they take you seriously? Do your suppliers? How about industry analysts? Do potential employees want to work for your company? These impressions do count and can determine the company's maneuverability in a dynamic market by determining access to needed resources and strategic options. Strategic PR delivers a consistent, credible message that establishes a foundation for future efforts and results. Corporate Strategy Alignment Knowing your company's short-range and long-term aspirations is vital in setting the tone for any and all PR campaigns. Having a clear direction allows definition of long-term goals and short-term milestones to be set and success to be measured. As with other corporate processes, the PR campaign should be aligned with management's objectives and reinforce the other corporate efforts. Buy-in is needed from all rows and columns in the company's organizational table. Through strategic public relations initiatives, the necessary steps will be developed to implement the plan that will support and promote reaching desired results. Ultimately, by transmitting the company's mission through the attitude and actions of all stakeholders, a common vision will take hold that will ensure success Increasing Your Perceived Value Obviously, not all of the aspects of external perception mentioned above can be controlled (i.e. competitors). This is the reason, however, that strategic PR must be implemented as a proactive process. A consistently delivered message, encompassing both words and deeds, across all facets of the corporate identity will mitigate even the worst things that others might say about your company. To ensure success, PR needs to be managed with the same seriousness as sales, product development, and marketing activities. The entire corporate team must believe in the goals (which will be infectious to all who hear the message) and the process (which will generate buy-in at all levels). Most importantly, an executive must be assigned to shape and coordinate the message across the various outlets and channels. Inclusion of an outside PR professional can be a valuable addition, to avoid group-think and maintain objectivity (which underlies credibility). Conclusions A strategic PR campaign is an often-neglected component in establishing a company's market position and chances of success. It is not focused on just the marketing or sales team, but provides them with a strong foundation to leverage, built on the attitude and image of the total organization. Like all other important corporate activities, PR must be implemented as a well-defined process that is proactive instead of reactive, with short- and long-term goals as well as objective metrics. By developing this new mindset, your company can maximize its potential by controlling external perceptions. Agnes Brousseau has more than 14 years of public relations, sales and marketing experience with emphasis on corporate communications. She joined BlabberMouth PR a Vice President of Client Services from JPMorganChase Bank, a leader in investment banking, financial services, asset and wealth management and private equity. As an Austin, Texas-based Branch Manager, she was responsible for over $7 million in sales and increasing the overall ranking for the branch to a top position. As a direct result of her expert communications strategies and sales planning, the branch assumed the number one position in Texas for portfolio growth. The native Australian began her career in 1988 as a paramedic with Halifax County EMS /Hollister Volunteer Rescue Squad. She transitioned to public relations, where she headed the public relations initiatives for the organization. She was also an EMS, CPR and First Aid Instructor for the State of North Carolina and was the designated community spokesperson for EMS. In 1996 she received a Dedicated Service Award. For more information, visit http://www.blabbermouthPR.com.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Managers Who Tap Into PRs Value Business, non-profit and association managers get a ton of satisfaction when they do something really positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect their operation. Especially when they deliver external stakeholder behavior change, the kind that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives; and even more so when they persuade those important outside folks to their way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help their department, division or subsidiary succeed. PR: Ouch! Tells the Tale Ever get the feeling that your public relations program isn't doing much about the behaviors of your important outside audiences? Those audiences whose actions have the greatest impacts on your business?Chances are your PR effort is focused primarily on communi- cations tactics and not on the process needed to really move those key audience perceptions, and thus behaviors in your direction.Which means you've missed out on the sweet spot of public relations. What? You Havent Got a Capability Statement? What's a Capability Statement?As the name suggests, it tells potential clients what you, or your organisation and staff are capable of. It highlights what your future capability is and reflects on your past successes. How Public Relations Changes Minds Public relations changes minds in the process of deliveringwhat business, non-profit and association managers need more than almost anything else - the kind of key stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving theirmanagerial objectives.It happens when the right kind of public relations alters individual perception, thus doing something positive aboutthe behaviors of those outside folks that MOST affect amanager's organization. What You Dont Know About PR Can Hurt You And hurt bad if you are a business, non-profit or associationmanager. Especially when you rely too heavily on tactics like special events, brochures and press releases to get your money's worth. Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Dont Hold Back Information From the Media Some financial planners think that they shouldn't share their top tips with the media.I can see some validity in thinking this way. Using Publicity As A Creative Marketing Tool Publicity is an important and often overlooked tool of creative selling; and a more cost-effective way of reaching your target audience than advertising. With the inherent third-party endorsement of the media implied in every editorial story, a news or feature article in a newspaper, magazine, or on television or radio, is an infinitely more credibly-perceived communications message than an ad or commercial. Media Relations: When Numbers Lie NUMBERS, NUMBERS EVERYWHEREYou just placed a terrific story on the local news. Your boss asks you how many people saw it. Publicity - What to Say to a Reporter You can have dozens of marvelous ideas to get free publicity, but nothing will happen unless you pick up the phone and call a reporter.Here's where the publicity game gets interesting for marketing-minded financial planners. Some Cool P.R. Tips for These Dog Days of Summer Yup -- it's hot and sticky and you don't feel like doing much of anything -- let alone working on publicity for your business.But the summer months can actually be a great time to get publicity. Your Organization: What Role PR? As a manager, does your current business, non-profit or association public relations effort concern itself primarily with radio and newspaper publicity? Or does it concentrate on a specialty area like financial communications or trade relations? Or, possibly, it deals each day with sales support or government affairs?Actually, maybe your PR effort should concentrate on delivering what you really need?For example, PR that really does something positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your organization?PR that uses its fundamental premise to deliver external stakeholder behavior change - the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?And PR that persuades those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?What fundamental PR premise are we suggesting as your new action blueprint? People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished. How Video Production can be used in PR At the core of any successful public relations campaign is effective communication.Yet in this technological era, there are now more methods than ever to convey important messages to different audiences. The Art Of Persuasive Pitching Media placement is an art. Practicing it often requires as much attention to approach and style as it does to the focus of your story. Dont Get Eaten Alive! If you don't have a grip on public relations, how your most important outside audiences behave really CAN eat you alive.But that needn't happen, and for a simple reason: people like those who make up your key target audiences, act on their perception of the facts (like everybody else) which leads to predictable behavior, good or bad, about which something can be done. Building The Best Network If you want to succeed, build a great team. A great team multiplies your prospects for success; it enables you to form relationships with powerful people who can make your dreams come true. Writing a Press Release: The Design Basics Big corporations like General Motors and Coca-Cola spend thousands of dollars on press kits with specially-designed folders, full-color stationery, digital photos and lots of other goodies. Does this make a reporter more likely to do their story? In my experience, the answer is no. Managers, Have You Been Shortchanged? You have been if you're a business, non-profit or association manager whose public relations budget is focused largely on nifty brochures, column mentions and broadcast plugs. Especially without a workable plan that helps you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that lead to the success of your department, division or subsidiary. Public Relations Strategies: Announcing News on a Press Tour Gaining news coverage on a successful press tour requires planning, preparation, and follow up.Under the right circumstances, physically traveling to the media on a press tour is a great way to contact multiple media outlets. How To Make Time For Public Relations "Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michalangelo, Mother Theresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. She Who Has the Gold... ?makes the rules, of course.But when the gold takes the form of top-notch public relations, she AND he get to make rules like these:Our PR concentrates on delivering what we really need. |
home | site map | contact us |