As a matter of fact, it is hard to get the attention of people these
days. Each and every single one of us faces a flood of information day by day –
just as you leave the house, switch on the TV or pop over to check your E-Mails,
tons of advertisements and offers for services, companies and organizations will
be trying to convince you that THEIR offer is just what you have been looking
for and the very best you can get. Some will even satisfy needs which you
didn’t even know you had so far. I for example never knew how much it bothered
me that I couldn’t use my arms when covered with a blanket until I discovered
the Snuggie.
Admittedly, getting through to potential customers really is a challenge.
Imagine you really do have a brand-new, innovative product or service which
would make peoples’ life so much easier. Now how do you let the publicity know?
And even more importantly: In which way can you stand out from all the other
offers/ advertisements/products that already hit YOUR target group?
It seems like some companies made “Any PR is good PR” their guiding
principle to get out of this misery. This might get people talking about you
and eventually overcome the first hurdle: rising awareness.
However, this thinking is a bit too short-sighted: PR is not only about
being well-known, but about being well-known for the right things. The simple
fact of many people knowing you will not necessarily make customers trust you
or make them use your offers or services in the next step.
Even worse, bad publicity will cost companies much more than no
publicity at all. For instance, once was made public that a popular
manufacturer of sports clothing treated employees in Chinese factories
unethically, the company had to struggle for a long time order to make up for
that. Only after several campaigns, people were ready to trust and buy their
products again. However, you might also loose clients forever as they suspect
your communications and campaigns to be merely greenwashing.
Due to that, the planning PR measures should be done carefully and well
thought-out, so it will be communicating the right values honestly to the right
addressee. Conclusion: “Only good PR is good PR.” – and that is what we are
here for.
Comments