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PR doesn't stand for Press Release! (By: Zeeshan ul Rub Jaffri)
Not very long time ago, when I met a big
business group of Pakistan regarding their public
relations need and described them the various
long-term benefits associated with a comprehensive
PR strategy, they gave a instant blank look. When I
described them the whole PR strategy that I
developed for them, they were more interested in
knowing the expected expenses rather than being
interested in the image of their group, and how
their business can benefit from it.
When told that a long-term PR strategy would
cost them only 20% of their yearly advertising
budget and would bring far better positive results
for the groups overall standing, they hardly agreed
to roll-out a press release in media regarding their
new venture.
In Pakistan people still think that PR or Public
Relations is all about meeting people, socializing,
creating contacts and entertaining oneself. This is
absolutely incorrect. Few of our entertainment gurus
have jumped into this business and to the contrary
of its real genesis have made it all about meeting,
socializing, partying, and entertainment. Organizing
cocktail parties and gathering up few celebrities is
termed as a typical PR activity and photographs of
the same are published in few fashion magazines and
reported back to clients.
We still need to educate ourselves that Public
Relations is about image. It is not about
socializing or directly marketing the products or
services, instead it is about marketing the image of
the company or the group among the targeted audience
through a variety of activities and media mix.
When we meet people in businesses, what they
want is a marketing brief to be published in shape
of a news item. Corporates in Pakistan are least
concerned about their long-term corporate image.
They still see a press release as a perfect solution
to their PR needs. Marketing persons and brand
managers are more interested in short term gains for
their brands when it comes to public relations,
instead of working out a long-term strategy to
create brand loyalty and enhancing their
organizations image amongst the target audience, an
image that would ultimately help them achieve their
marketing targets and goals.
There is no denial of the importance of
rolling-out a press release to achieve the PR
targets but it can workout best if blended with a
mix of supporting activities. When a client set up a
state of the art manufacturing facility, first of
its kind in Pakistan, they were advised to work on a
long-term strategy that can be more beneficial and
client can also enjoy media support for creating
favorable awareness about their new venture, but
having listened the whole strategy the client again
settled on a press release only. Had they agreed to
work on a long-term strategy and plan a proper
activity to disseminate the information about their
state of the art facility, they would have remained
alive in media for much longer time than for a
single day as is the life of a press release.
We need a corporate-image-driven approach to
Public Relations, ensuring that Public Relations
strategy is reflective of the clients core values
and also focus on supporting overall marketing
objectives rather than a simple feel-good factor.
Public Relations is a mix of activities, backed
by a comprehensive media management support in order
to create the favorable awareness about the
operations, services and products etc of the
organizations. A blend of different activities, such
as seminars, workshops, conferences, road shows,
meetings and other PR stunts, and their proper media
management could turn out to be the most beneficial
of the strategies in terms of gaining the masses
support for organizations ventures and winning
their confidence.
Businesses need to learn that with the growth in
their profits, their image among the stakeholders,
such as; partners, shareholders, employees, vendors,
suppliers, industry, regulatory bodies and the
government should also grow. The best strategy to
enhance the image of the business is to engage the
targeted audience in properly planned activities and
keep the media posted with all positive developments
of the business so that it keep the targeted
audience abreast regarding the progress and
achievements of organizations or business groups.
In order to create goodwill and positive image
at corporate level as well as among masses,
organizations, apart from their satisfactory
services & products, should plan yearly PR
activities to ensure that their progress and
dynamism continues to reflect and media continue to
support their objectives.
According to a well established definition,
Public relations is about reputation - the result of
what you do, what you say and what others say about
you. We need to understand that public relations is
about selling the image of the organization.
Succeeded in selling the image to the targeted
audience in todays competitive market will make you
stand out from the crowd and gives you a competitive
edge over your competitors.
Published in Synergyzer Magazine
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