Brand-building, Economic Uncertainty, and PR
Actionable visibility. Believable claims. High degree of trust. Preserving market share. These represent but a few benefits of a strategic public relations and reputation management outreach, even in the midst of economic uncertainty.
When a bear market rumbles, CFOs and managers look to converse cash and reduce fixed costs. When the budget axe swings, marketing and advertising may appear as easy targets. But as short-term cost savings mount, companies can pay another price.
What options are available to change up a marketing mix and spend to ensure marketing footing, even advancement?
As marketing experts – including positioning legend Al Ries – will confirm, strategic public relations builds brands. Advertising–including digital marketing–can make claims all day long, but the third-party endorsement achieved from your company or product or service appearing in preferred media enhances believability and heightens credibility. (And of course, advertising and digital marketing remain effective tools and platforms. The point is that targeted media relations and PR support can make advertising budgets work harder.)
Even though it’s harder than ever to achieve (it’s called “earned media” for a reason), scoring worthy media coverage can result in an elevated and enhanced brand when companies re-purpose the coverage on social media platforms. People still have preferred platforms that they trust and standing that aura of trust benefits your company.
Trust and brand strength
Since trust directly relates to brand strength (and brand primarily lives between one’s ears in the mind), a positive media appearance can both raise top-of-mind awareness and add a critical degree of believability to advertising and marketing product/service claims. A trusted brand promotes vision and reduces uncertainty.
Facing a cluttered media environment where your story doesn’t naturally fit? Influencer positioning, thought leadership, and downloadable gated high-impact content (like actionable how-to white papers) can push a product or service to the forefront.
Here are some thoughts to consider:
There is no such thing as effective “faucet” PR. Public relations – particularly media relations – lives in healthy, sustained, day-to-day relationships. “Turning on PR” (where there’s been no prior respectful outreach) will likely be marginally effective at best, and may even be brand-bruising. A multi-level strategic approach will generally yield the best results, even in uncertain economic times.
Brand-building through targeted credible awareness – A few years ago, a small rural Indiana county was trying to pull together the resources to establish a tech park in an then-isolated region. MEK was tapped to assemble and execute a targeted ongoing PR plan to elevate awareness and attract state agency influencers, investors, supporters, and technology tenants (including successfully engaging a major university). The high-impact strategy was recognized with top awards and the now $100 million certified tech park — with the MEK-established brand of the WestGate@Crane Technology Park — is a major job creator and economic driver in the region.
“Blast,” non-personalized email pitches can brand bruise (and even get you blocked for spam). If you trying to score inclusion in a publication, TV, blog, or other media, do your research. What are the journalists/bloggers/commentators talking about? Reflect that research and sharpen up your outreach. Match your outreach to established interest.
Avoid the fatal non sequitur. If you’re reaching out to journalists, podcast hosts, or bloggers, consider first what are their readers, listeners, or viewers are interested in. Pushing out a generic press release (or an ad making claims) that is irrelevant to a writer or media gatekeeper will likely produce a quick delete. You don’t want vanity metrics in terms of emails sent – you want to be read and reviewed.
Creative, targeted, rewarding content creation wins, and can win big. Regardless of whether you are pitching a story or assembling a white paper, producing highly actionable, readable, and enticing content will put points on the brand board and elevate your key market awareness.
Be very careful about using AI-generated content. Online AI editorial assistants can churn out copy in seconds, but simply more words – lots more words – doesn’t equate with success (especially if it’s “master of the obvious” quasi-content served up in stale passive tense). AI content may be good idea starters (or useful in some functions), but it’s not a strategic overall quick fix. AI content can of course be sculpted, but – caveat emptor – guidance is required (Note: when “asked” for PR “advice” in a recession, our MEK AI editorial assistant suggested that “you might want to focus on providing value for money.” That is not made up by the author.)
Effective internal communication energizes the heart of any change management initiative. PR professionals focus on internal communications to inform, persuade and lead with believable and actionable content that demonstrates leadership. “One size fits all” does not work in internal communications. Understanding the different needs of specific audiences and devising effective tactics to satisfy those needs represents a public relations specialty.
Answer these three questions. A legendary successful media trainer – a pro who advised major CEOs of public companies and a plethora of leaders – once emphasized to this author that the most effective communication always strives to answer three simple questions: “So what?” “Who cares?” and “What’s in it for me?” Not very lofty or intellectually sophisticated, but worth consideration.
Don’t forget proactive reputation management. As the saying rightly goes, “If you don’t manage your reputation, someone else will.” Reputations take years to build, but can be severely damaged overnight. A forward-looking reputation management program can help influence and amplify your story—and gain greater control over where it fits within the current complex media landscape. This includes managing star-ratings and monitoring online activity (ever been tashed in a Reddit post that was shared everywhere?). Consider this simple example: a healthcare client moved their offices to a beautiful new facility. Around the same time, one of their prominent providers retired and left the area. Months passed. Patient volume decreased. When we later conducted brand research and focus groups to test concepts, we found a surprise. Some people in the community thought the healthcare provider had closed their facility and left the area. Not the intended not the preferred outcome.
Be prepared for crisis. Few people want to think it might happen, but in volatile times a well-planned, tested, and updated crisis communication plan is nothing short of a corporate necessity.
Don’t disappear
Not convinced? Need validation through some believable third-party endorsement? Check out this timeless article from Harvard Business Review. Being in uncertain times doesn’t mean to simply slash your PR and marketing budgets. As HBR says: “This is a time not to stop spending money but a time to change how you spend it” (emphasis added). Don’t disappear – leverage uncertainty and elevate attractiveness.
(Want more detail? Contact us!)
By Michael Snyder, Managing Principal, MEK. Snyder holds a honors MBA in marketing from Cal State Los Angeles and is professionally accredited in public relations. He has worked in PR & advertising agencies at the executive level for three decades, and has led clients through multiple recessions.