The economic downturn has proved difficult not only in a business sense, but also in a media relations sense. PR professionals are thinking long and hard about what types of stories will resonate with the media, particularly when corporate reputations are suffering.
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PR News has been examining story categories and their effectiveness in moving the reputation needle for several months, with help from proprietary data from PRIME Research. In our May 31 issue we reported that CSR articles ranked lower in tonality than categories like positioning, management and productivity.
Now, new quarter-ending data shows that “product” stories have proven to be the most positive over time (see graph).
Thus, is it safe to suggest that product news—launches and reviews, for example—can be a safe harbor during tough times? Media relations experts are on the fence.
“When times are tough, the tough get louder,” says Mo Moorman, director of PR at Jockey International. “A suffering economy is a great time to announce a new product, because you’ve got to give consumers a reason to buy, and because your competitors will be sitting on their hands. You should take advantage of the quiet and boldly broadcast your wares.”
Yet Moorman cautions that you should push product news only when you have something to say, “in good or bad times,” he says.
CAUSE AND EFFECT?
Mark Weiner, CEO of PRIME Research, says that from PRIME’s experience of tracking corporate and brand reputation, there is a reciprocal and interrelated effect: “Positive brand news contributes to corporate reputation just as positive corporate news can lift the brand,” says Weiner. “However, if either the brand or corporate news is negative, everyone suffers.”
OR ECONOMIC NECESSITY?
Gibbs & Soell president Luke Lambert sees product news a bit differently. “Those stories can help, but don’t chiefly serve to inoculate an organization’s reputation during uncertain times,” he says. “The spikes in brand messages occur during downturns because businesses channel their efforts on moving products out the door.”
So is it ever not a good time to push product stories—when there are layoffs or when a dividend has been suspended? “Dialing back on product news when other areas of the business may be suffering is an abandonment of customer engagement,” says Lambert. “It’s doubtful that Dairy Queen customers would stop buying Blizzards if parent company Berkshire Hathaway’s stock price took a bad hit.”
And what about the findings over time that shows product news trending toward positive, while CSR stories are largely negative? “While it’s hard to pick apart a new product launch, it’s easier to pick apart a philanthropic initiative,” says Moorman.
As an example, Moorman cites Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent donation to the Newark, N.J., public schools. “Journalists reported that the donation was made to thwart the negative portrayal of Zuckerberg in the film The Social Network, like it was a PR-led distraction. It’s a sad day when a $100 million donation to a school system is viewed with such cynicism.” PRN
CONTACT:
Mo Moorman, [email protected], Mark Weiner, [email protected]; Luke Lambert, [email protected].