Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Subscribe to the Communique Blog to get the latest articles!
When budgets shrink and companies look to cut costs, what gets the axe first? This question is particularly relevant during difficult economic times as procedures are streamlined and excess spending is trimmed. It would be easy to brush off public relations and marketing as expendable luxuries which are not intrinsic to a company’s bottom-line. But in a recent study by the USC Annenberg Strategic Relations Center, CEOs rated PR as one of the top contributors to organizational success. Perhaps it’s time to take a practical look at the value PR dollars add to business.
The comparative value of a well placed article to an advertisement has long been a hot topic. When a product or service is mentioned in an article, it is perceived as the subject of a journalist’s objective review. Readers trust journalists to write with the audience’s best interests in mind. Advertisements, however, are often viewed less favorably. While repeated exposure to an ad will certainly keep a product top-of-mind with an audience, readers often suspect ulterior motives and feel manipulated by sales pitches and profit-turning schemes. Advertisements are also considerably more expensive to place. Purchasing space in a widely circulated publication is astronomically high, especially in comparison to the cost of pitching a story to journalists.
Another important way strategic public relations can drive business success is through strengthening analyst relations. In many industries, analysts play a key role by fostering credibility and creating buzz. Analysts act as a third-party endorsement without a hidden agenda. An expensive ad won’t earn your company a coveted analyst mention. Public relations can play an integral role in strengthening analyst relationships by maintaining consistent communication and securing meetings to discuss new industry developments.
A company’s success is in jeopardy if it falls from the radar of shareholders, media, and current and potential customers. Shareholders need to know how a company is performing, especially during a recession. Any success should be publicized and will likely stand out even more as a triumph over adverse economic circumstances.
When times get tough, public relations is more important than ever in order to maintain a successful public profile.
“As long as any business depends on its customers, their concerns, at whatever level, should also be the concerns of the business.” This quote from Forbes magazine succinctly describes the philosophy behind corporate social responsibility, or CSR. Proponents of CSR laud its capacity to combine success in business with sustainable practices. Yet despite these positive associations, CSR is often criticized as being little more than a publicity stunt and a far cry from the fundamental profit-seeking role of business.
When practiced with integrity, CSR can go above and beyond blatant attempts to gain favorable press or to meet minimum statutory obligations. Companies can better their public image while also helping their customers, employees, communities, and the environment.
Vodafone, the world leader in mobile telecommunications, is one company which has excelled in its CSR practices. In 2006, the company was ranked first on the Fortune 500 list of the world’s largest companies according to six criteria which measure socially responsible business practice (source: www.money.cnn.com). Vodafone fosters positive relationships with the communities it serves by proactively addressing concerns and implementing standardized practices amongst its operating companies.
Vodafone has also worked to make its products more accessible by introducing low cost, easy-to-use phones. Additionally, their supply chain management ethics serve to eliminate both forced and child labor and discriminatory practices as well as to provide good wages and hours for employees at every level of the supply chain.
Finally, a phone-recycling program was implemented by the company to re-use old phones or break them down into component parts to be recycled. All proceeds from this campaign are donated to the YMCA.
These practices enhance the company’s image and directly contribute to positive public relations, but many Vodafone investors questioned how a doctrine of social responsibility would impact short-term profits. The company has addressed these concerns by introducing a “One Strategy” business model in which CSR and business objectives are aligned toward a common goal. By increasing access to phones for the world’s poor, for example, the company is granted access to developing markets.
The overarching goal of increasing a company’s profile and profits can only be achieved by delivering a consistent, positive customer and community experience. Fostering these kinds of relationships requires socially responsible behaviors. In this way, business objectives and CSR can act as mutually dependent concepts.
What do you think about incorporating CSR into a business model? Do you have any examples of companies who have excelled in this area? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
News announcements made in conjunction with your company partners offers great leverage to tell not only their own story, but further develop yours. It’s a successful way to reach a broader audience base while also remaining top of mind with the press. These announcements can demonstrate growth for your company, for example, as well as speak to larger organization initiatives. If perhaps your organization is promoting “green IT” as an initiative, a partner announcement with a manufacturer of green data-center solutions would illustrate your organization’s commitment.
Partner announcements can go a long way toward building the overarching story of your company because, in true “story” mode, they involve outside characters (see the below blog post titled, “The Power of a Personal Story” for more details on telling a compelling story).
Communiqué PR recently worked with Big Fish Games, a leading developer, publisher and distributor of casual, family-friendly games, to promote a partner announcement with Glu Mobile, a leading global publisher of mobile games. The announcement broke news of the availability of Mystery Case Files: Agent X on mobile phones, but more importantly for Big Fish Games, the announcement illustrated the continued growth of the Mystery Case Files brand and Big Fish Games into other platforms.
The team worked closely with Glu Mobile to coordinate media relations outreach efforts. In addition to Glu Mobile’s efforts, Communiqué PR was able to garner results for the news which included a mention in the Washington Post online paper.
See below for a few examples of the resulting coverage.
If you are interested in learning how to best leverage partner announcements for maximum impact, please contact me at (206) 282-4923 ext. 115 or [email protected].
“It doesn’t matter what you said, it only matters what they think you said.”This quote underscores the importance of coverage analysis and understanding how your messages are resonating with marketplace audiences. Analyzing media coverage is an often underutilized tool that can help you determine how your messages are being perceived. Armed with this information, you can then adjust your messages accordingly to ensure they have the most effective impact and help you accomplish your business objectives. It also helps you learn how the marketplace perceives your business in relation to your competitors. This is critical in order to ensure that you maintain differentiation in the market.
Here are some best practices to follow when developing a coverage analysis report:
1. Develop search terms to track coverage that include your company’s name, product or service, competitor names and any other industry relevant terms that will help you to gain a birds-eye view of marketplace activity.
2. Review the stories. Analyze how your company messages are framed in the context of the marketplace and in relation to competitors.
3. Determine which of your messages are being communicated and which ones are not.
4. Identify messaging discrepancies and use them as opportunities to contact reporters to set the record straight and develop a relationship.
5. Record the name of the publication, the article, the date and the author and categorize whether the article and their tone is positive, negative or neutral. Look at the percentage of positive, negative and neutral articles. Consider using a pie chart to bring this information to life.
6. Compile a report that includes an executive summary, a definition of the methodology and the related information.
Coverage analysis is the key to help you develop more effective media strategies and ensure that your audience gets the message.