Getting the good news across

1 Good news stories can contain much of the above list, plus one or two others. First, don’t expect any story simply to sell itself. It may be a brilliant idea, but not everyone will be enthusiastic. If an issue might not attract enough interest from journalists, invite customers along too and alter the event so that it serves the needs of both targets.

2 Once again, don’t be afraid to be imaginative and adopt consumer based techniques – indeed any techniques that will help get the message across. Watch for emerging trends in the press and latch on to them. Also ‘steal shamelessly’. A writer once told the story of a woman on a course she was teaching who refused to use a thesaurus to find alternative words to brighten up her prose style. When asked why she wouldn’t she responded by saying that it would be ‘cheating’. So keep an eye open for good public relations ideas and learn from other people’s experiences – even from the experiences of people who work in other disciplines such as sales promotion, direct mail and advertising.

3 That said, the wheel doesn’t have to be reinvented every day of the week. It’s good to be creative and win awards, but that shouldn’t put anyone off turning to the tried and tested. Many tried and tested ideas keep being used simply because they work. Doing things well is what counts.

4 Take newsletters, for example. These are a well-tried technique, but one which seldom stays the course: the history of business to business public relations is littered with newsletters which lasted only two or three issues and then died a death.

5 When Royal Mail launched a newsletter aimed at various selected bodies with an influence on public perceptions of direct mail, at least one public relations contact scoffed and said it would never work. Newsletters, he said, were pathetic, the last refuge of people devoid of ideas. By adopting more direct marketing than public relations based approaches (especially in the creation of the mailing list, and in the use of market research and a pre-launch teaser campaign), and building in a seminar programme and other one-off ideas into the project, the newsletter has succeeded. Why?

6 The original problem was how to influence a diverse but influential target group comprising local trading standards officers, Citizens’ Advice Bureaux (CABx), local press journalists and industry representatives with an interest in self-regulation (about 3300 in total). In the past it had proved difficult to react quickly to small stories about direct mail in local media. At the same time trading standards and CABx often had a jaundiced view of the medium as a result of the fact that ‘cowboy’ and ‘rogue’ mailings were what they saw of the industry. Nobody, after all, complains about well-targeted, creative and imaginative mailings, do they?

7 Using humour to overcome initial reader negativity and by keeping the Royal Mail branding low key, Direct Mail Matters has been able, in two years, to maintain a loyal readership and to influence them with key messages about the effectiveness of self-regulation in the direct marketing industry. An independent survey has shown that 93 per cent read at least half of every quarterly issue and 40 per cent read it all. In terms of perception, 83 per cent said that it had helped to improve their understanding of direct mail and how it worked (including a massive 88 per cent from trading standards officers to this question and 93 per cent among CABx). A small consumer leaflet explaining how the various key regulatory bodies in direct mail work has also been a hit thanks to the newsletter, with over 8000 copies requested by readers and a further 10,000 distributed through other channels. A second, expanded version is soon to be trailed using lessons learned from the production of the first version.

8 Direct mail is also part of the next case study. In late 1991 Royal Mail ran into a spot of bother regarding accusations about the non-delivery of direct mail items in one particular area. This quickly resulted in a local media campaign – quite vociferous – and a great deal of poor coverage on direct mail itself – mostly around the well-worn track that nobody would miss it anyway. This issue never became national – though we were ready for that – but didn’t send business customers any good messages about what was going on and something had to be done. Having taken the local media on the chin as best we could, we searched around for some solutions.

9 The balance was ultimately redressed with a local direct mail competition targeted at customers in the region with a link up to the local paper’s business page. It was simple enough in itself – just send us your direct mail items so we can judge which is the best in the region. The competition was also used internally to promote the medium – with news of appropriate entrants and their successes being fed back to employees via the relevant local communications vehicles. We even incentivised staff to find competition entrants. The results were good coverage of key points about the importance of the medium of direct mail, some very good local coverage of the winners, some good pick up of the story in the trade press (which had also commented on the original story), a chance to gain local radio coverage and, finally, the re-enforcement of our commitment to provide a quality service for business users.

10 Since then the campaign has been rolled out developed by other Royal Mail public relations units – with new developments added, including external seminars and internal poster campaigns backed up by team briefing materials. A constant feedback of results and a sharing of best practice between various units rolling out the campaign has ensured its development continues, and that it stays alive and grows organically rather than stagnates. It also enables regional public relations units to add their own unique local flavour which gets better results all around. Feedback from customers and co-suppliers locally is also excellent. Indeed, the campaign overall has now taken on a new life of its own. Originally devised to try to rectify a local issue, it has now become a stand-alone campaign that helps promote the medium of direct mail, and strengthens the image of the medium both internally and externally.

Joining forces

Activities don’t have to be carried out alone. In product marketing, companies often come together for the purposes of a mutually beneficial promotion, one which can strengthen the brand values of each product on offer. This can work in business to business public relations as well. In Royal Mail’s case the partner was the promotional Handling Association (PHA). Their need was to heighten the awareness and understanding of this specialist area of response handling and to highlight just how crucial it was to get it right – most importantly to use a professional company, and one, where possible, which was a member of the PHA. From Royal Mail’s point of view it offered a chance to form a closer, mutually beneficial bond with a valuable group of customers and to highlight the vital job they did, one which was becoming increasingly important as more FMCG companies and others came into the market, and boosted the need for effective handling of on-pack promotions which were linked to the building of consumer databases.

A two-year programme was developed. Case studies were created, sponsorships arranged, media opportunities exploited. It was a rock-steady, tried and tested, knocking on doors and creating opportunities programme. But it did work. The number of companies saying they’d use a PHA member for handling work rose by over 10 per cent in the first year alone and the body is now regularly approached for press comment. Media coverage has been positive and strong on the right messages, and handling is now part of the marketing media’s annual agenda.

Conclusion

Without doubt customer demands for greater and greater service levels are going to be with us for good. That goes for domestic customers and business customers alike. Just as they grow to expect more from those people who service their needs in the home – from supermarkets and other retailers to suppliers of everything from the telephone line to the rented television – they are also demanding more from those who service their needs while in the office. They are less loyal than they used to be and more willing to shop around. They are also more vociferous than they ever were before, and will complain loudly and clearly if things are not right or not put right as swiftly as they can be.

Added to that, service has become a part of what a company uses to differentiate itself from the crowd. In a highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, service can make or break a customer-client relationship. The reputations of good service providers need to be defended and promoted; the reputations of those who seek to join them need to be enhanced and built.

In this environment PR can help – both in the ‘traditional’ manner through proactive media work and the protection of an organization when under attack, and by developing communications links with key target groups, and working to develop new approaches to handling a company’s key clients and influencers.

Here are some points to remember.

· Creative ideas are exciting and can win awards, but simple ideas can yield rewards when well planned and skillfully executed.

· Use every communications device at your disposal to put across your message.

· Borrow the best ideas, even those from other communications disciplines, and learn from the most successful campaigns.

· Don’t be afraid to join forces with other organizations where there are mutual benefits.

· Don’t just track media coverage, establish measurement techniques that find out what customers really think – talk to them. Having gauged their perceptions, set about changing them if they are wrong.

· Keep on top of the issues and developments that surround your organization. It will help you to compete and innovate.

(Anne Gregory. Public Relations in Practice. – Kogan Page, 2001. – P. 109-122)

Exercises

XII. Discuss the following questions.

1. According to the author, what changes can we see in today’s financial services sector?

2. What potential problems can be encountered in business to business public relations?

3. What is the author’s attitude towards extensive trade press coverage?

4. Why should a public relations practitioner pay special attention to trade press?

5. What factors can bring an organization success when making a difficult announcement?

6. What arguments are presented in the text stressing the point that the PR specialist has to act fast?

7. What does the author say about communications channels? Which of the techniques mentioned can be most successful in your opinion?

8. Does every good idea sell itself? How do you understand the author’s words ‘steal shamelessly’?

9. What is your idea of newsletters? Why did the newsletter launched by Royal Mail succeed?

10. What problems did Royal Mail have to overcome as regards its direct mail campaign?

11. How did the company manage to obtain good results?

12. Why is it important to join forces in product marketing?

13. What can be generally said about the attitude of both domestic customers and business customers to the level of service?

14. How can in author’s opinion PR help in this environment?

15. Do you think, business to business public relations are growing in importance nowadays? Give your examples.

II. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:

How do you know it works?

… this … (para 1, line 10)

… they … (para 1, line 11)

The trade press

This … (para 2, line 5)

Getting it right

They … (para 8, line 7)

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 644