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Public relations is about keeping your organisation highly visible to all your stakeholders. That means three things. 1. Set an affordable budget for PR. If you cannot set a budget then stop reading now. PR is a long-haul. It is like the sales process – get rid of your sales process and you’ll see a decline in revenue. Stop doing PR and you will see your profile drop below the horizon. Having a well-executed low-level PR programme is better than having nothing for months interspersed with occasional manic activity. That will just puzzle the press and make you look at best inconsistent, at worst desperate for publicity. The media, analysts and stakeholders such as users or shareholders judge you by performance and consistency. If they hear nothing from you for months then suddenly receive ten press releases alarm bells will go off and you will end up under the type of scrutiny you’d rather avoid. 2. Set aside enough time from senior executives in your organisation to act as spokespersons to make the PR programme work. Make sure you have senior people who want to get in front of the press. We will train any who need to be media-trained with some simple rules and sound tips borne of our long experience. You’ll be astonished how well your spokespeople will perform. We have trained people from zero press experience to successful appearances on CNBC in just one week! The media want to talk to interesting people – it’s what brings your brand to life in front of them. 3. Develop your key messages. PR can be a very powerful 'sense check' on the direction in which your business is going, through the constant evaluation of how your key messages are being received and interpreted by your stakeholders. Many organisations find, as they begin the PR process, that different parts of their organisations are using different, often contradictory messages. This adds to customer/client confusion and damages their brands. It is essential that all front-line staff are using the same methods of describing you and your services or products. PR must be strategic in its implementation to influence the media properly but it first has to start with clear messages delivered with conviction and clarity. We help you construct those messages and, more importantly, keep them up to date as circumstances in the market change. If you do not have compelling messages, you will be stuck at the first hurdle for ever. The PR process always has to start with a clear vision of the organisation in the context of the market as a whole. We outline this in our initial PR plans for clients. This is again where the 'sense check' element of PR comes in since it is always better to find out what others think of you. Very often you will find that what you thought 'obvious' is not so ‘the case to your target audiences. For example, in IT often it is the technology which is being sold to stakeholders instead of the business benefits of implementing the technology. This process is one which needs to be monitored throughout the life of the PR programme. PR is not just about about media coverage. It’s also about the bottom line. It’s about monitoring and, if necessary, modifying, the delicate perceptions of your organisation constantly being made out in the market by all your stakeholders. How important each layer of stakeholders is depends on the dynamics of your business: are you a startup, mature business, in good health, bad health, raising funds, cash-rich, about to be sold or about to take a big risk? All of these states provide their own stakeholder viewpoints and dynamics. You have to be aware of how they are ebbing and flowing on a regular basis and which ones to highlight. Bill Boyle, managing director of WHB Communications, has been a senior journalist and communications consultant in IT for the past six years. As well as twenty three years' news experience on trade titles, consumer press, regional and national newspapers, he is a past editor of Computing, Computer Reseller News, Internet Dealer and PC Week. He is also an experienced radio and television broadcaster appearing weekly on Sky TV and LBC radio. Prior to founding WHB Communications he was Principal Analyst at a major PR and communications agency dealing with companies such as 3Com, RSA Security, Palm Inc, Samsung, NEC Mitsubishi, VNU, Ziff Davis Europe, South African Tourist Board, Ecademy, Pumatech and many others. He is an expert media trainer. In early 2002, he founded WHB Communications Ltd. WHB Communications works as a virtual agency, hiring the skills of consultants, marketers, journalists, designers and research specialists as required. You therefore do not pay for unproductive staff because we don't hire them – you pay for time expended by experienced professionals hired on your behalf. Pan European reach We pride ourselves on our knowledge of technology markets, our understanding of the client's businesses, and the journalists and publications that cover them. Some of our collaborators are; Sarah Roberts-Bowman corporate social responsibility and public sector PR specialist, David Wilford national freelance journalist and Ross Sampson senior marketing advisor. We also have a Pan-European network of PR freelancers who we use as and when required. Pan European no longer has to mean perversely expensive. This does not mean that we know all markets, all journalists and all publications. However, it does mean that we have a very good working knowledge of our core markets, a short learning curve based on our experience and a sound method of working. It also means we can shift gear out of Hi-Tech when we want to. WHB Communications supported Wadworth the brewery during its recent promotional campaign for 6X beer. Current clients of WHB Communications include: Elcom IT; Anglia Telecom, StratusFi, 3C plc, Connect-Spot; HotSpot Directory, IDT Europe; Toucan, Mazingo, DesignLinks, Infocube, Wadworth Breweries and The Dixons Group (PC World). Clients who have used us on a project basis include British Telecom Enterprise, BT Openzone, and The Wi-Fi Alliance. Contact: bill@whbcommunications.com |
