|
by
G.A.
"Andy" Marken
Marken
Communications
(Continued)
Too
frequently PR people waste their
efforts because they are so busy
"practicing" public
relations they forget their
primary mission. All too
often the success or failure of
their "practice" is
weighed by the pound: how many
print, audio and video clips, and
how many Web site mentions/hits. Since
they weigh more, too many PR
people rationalize that fifty
media scores that don't further
the company's goals are worth more
than five that support and extend
the company's brand franchise.
Wrong!
Effective public relations is much
like a three-legged stool: a)
understanding the company's anchor
value, b) understanding the
customer value propositions, and
c) understanding the marketplace
positioning of the products or
services. Understanding the three
legs will help the company better
benefit from sales, profits and
other long-term returns.
Anchor Values
The
company's anchor values should
control and guide every strategic
and tactical PR activity.
From the day it opens its doors,
every firm is based on specific
purposeful and fundamental values
that highlight the company's
strategic ambition, direction and
plan for the future.
Without a good understanding of
these values, it is impossible for
public relations to honestly and
effectively deliver for the
company. Without a clear
understanding of what the company
is trying to achieve, public
relations simply goes through the
motions. But by being on the
same wavelength, PR and management
can ensure the right basic message
is always delivered, that it is
delivered to and through the right
channels, and that it achieves the
desired impact and objective.
Customer Values
The
second leg of a sound PR program
is to clearly understand what the
anchor values mean to the
consuming public. This means
you have to translate the
company's values into general and
product/service-specific customer
values and benefits.
All too frequently PR people tend
to list the tangible, technical
and functional benefits and stop.
Referred to as specsmanship, the
focus is a one way stream from the
company to the marketplace, rather
than giving the effort to
understand and project this
information in consumer terms.
More importantly, PR people often
list the tangible values and stop.
Even in business-to-business there
are intangible values -- the
emotional areas that must be
satisfied. In the early
computer days there was a common,
never-listed line item on purchase
orders: the intangible value that
no one was ever fired for buying
from IBM. In recent history,
Intel Inside has been used by PC
and notebook manufacturers to give
the buying public added
reassurance with their system
purchases.
Intangible and tangible customer
values must continuously support
each other, and support/reinforce
the company's anchor values.
Positioning
The
third leg of the PR program is
product/service positioning, which
will vary from market segment to
market segment. If the
dotcom trials and tribulations of
the past year have shown us
anything, it is that there is no
such thing as one global market.
Using Intel as an example, there
is a different positioning
proposition for dealers, first
time buyers, corporate buyers,
professional users, software
developers, video/multimedia
developers, computer manufacturer
management, engineers and buyers,
as well as other micro markets.
The same positioning process holds
true for consumer products and
business/consumer services.
Auto manufacturers tailor
different messages for dealers,
fleet buyers, people in different
age groups, men and women, and
even different nationalities.
Online services that survive are
quickly learning to micro manage
their positioning messages.
Service organizations like legal,
financial, venture capital, market
research and, yes, even public
relations are tailoring their
messages to specific market and
client segments.
Next page > A
Program with Legs > Page 1,
2, 3
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