“If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.”
We may be biased, but we’d tend to agree. Bill Gates spoke the words above, and we’d like to reiterate them in today’s blog.
Of course, as a PR agency you’d expect us to say that, but hang on! Wait! Let us tell you why!
PR is all about managing a company or person’s reputation within the public eye. Making sure every angle of their being is ‘covered’ – be it their sustainability credentials, ethical practice, palatable opinions, and many other factors, all of which equate to their brand identity and voice.
Often, people think of PR as just securing a news piece in a tabloid or broadsheet, or press conferences with football managers post-match. And they’re not wrong – it covers both these things, but it is also so much more.
PR is everything from producing press releases for print and online publications, to securing interviews and preparing companies’ spokespeople for them, plus everything in between. Researching titles and securing appropriate placement for editorial, plotting social media strategies, working with influencers, collaborating with brands and creating campaigns that boost brand awareness, and even handling crisis communications for a company when things go wrong are all services a good PR agency can offer.
PR, put simply, can make or break a brand by its power to leverage public perception. There have been many examples where agencies have been brought in during a crisis to help salvage a brand’s reputation. In 2015, Volkswagen were found to have lied about the eco credentials of their ‘clean diesel’. The international car manufacturer went on to hire a number of PR agencies to manage the aftermath of the scandal across the world after an initially dramatic slump in sales. Without this PR work, the brand would be a great deal less successful today.
But PR done badly can be worse than having none at all. Pepsi’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ response back in 2017 landed the brand in hot water, after the campaign starring Kendall Jenner sharing a can of Pepsi with a police officer was said to trivialise a serious issue.
Bill Gates had it right when he spoke about the importance of PR – saving brands from reputational ruin and catapulting them in front of the right audience. To do that successfully, you’ll need a PR agency that have their finger on the pulse of not only your industry, but current events and the wider media.
At Honest Communications, our PR campaigns are carefully planned and considered, to ensure your brand hits the right note with your customers and builds your brand in all the right ways.
If you’re keen to start building your company’s PR strategy, get in touch to have a chat about how we can help!
