Like their communications counterparts, marketing leaders have been forced by a lackluster economy to do more with less, lend more support to sales initiatives and sharpen their focus on the bottom line. And because PR is often part of the marketing function, with the communications head sometimes reporting to the chief marketer, as marketing goes, so does PR.
In Part 1 of our PR/Marketing series (PRN 05/03/10), PR News looked at the complex and sometimes contentious relationship between the two functions from the point of view of PR executives. The general consensus among those executives was that while the PR/marketing relationship had been strained in the past, the trend toward “integrated communications” was relieving the tension.
Now, in Part 2 of the series, we take a look at the issue from the perspective of the chief marketer. From their side of the fence, this “integration” is fully under way.
ALIGNMENT AT MOTOROLA
As the head of marketing for a unit with annual revenues in excess of $18 billion, Eduardo Conrado, SVP and chief marketing officer in charge of Motorola’s Broadband Mobility Solutions group, has no use for a marketing unit that isn’t fully integrated with communications. Within such a large, global organization as Motorola, you might think PR and marketing would be separated by silos, but that’s clearly not the case.
“Currently we are planning for one of the largest public safety events to be held outside of the U.S.,” says Conrado.
“Our plan for that event fully integrates marketing and communications,” he says, “and it really relies on functional expertise that involves both disciplines. That’s the same whether it’s an event or a product launch.”
Communications is fully embedded in the Broadband Mobility Solutions group, says Conrado. “There are some initiatives where communications takes the lead, such as reporting financial results,” he says. In turn, while marketing may be in charge of a product launch, communications is integral in support of that launch, he says.
“Both teams have to work hand in hand,” says Conrado. The way to do that, he adds, is through clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
COLLABORATION AT WESTERN UNION
While PR and marketing are separate entities at Western Union, they couldn’t be more joined at the hip, says Gail Galuppo, the company’s EVP and chief marketing officer. One reason why they might be close is that both Galuppo and Anne McCarthy, EVP of corporate affairs, serve on Western Union’s executive committee. “We work in close proximity to each other,” says Galuppo, “and we have like-mindedness as well.”
Ever since Galuppo joined Western Union two and a half years ago, collaboration has been the key word in describing marketing and corporate communications. Hired to relaunch the Western Union brand, Galuppo quickly partnered with McCarthy’s group for the brand’s repositioning. “They were involved with it from day one,” says Galuppo.
The PR/marketing relationship has evolved and improved over the last few years, says Galuppo. “We used to be heavily focused on the business side of PR—investor relations, for example,” she says. “I found that I needed help with consumer PR and driving buzz.”
So Galuppo and McCarthy developed a plan to drive consumer awareness and buzz for the company. “It’s not just buzz through the media, but on-the-street buzz through things like live events,” says Galuppo.
In control of PR’s budget, Galuppo has made sure that PR has the required resources to do its job. In fact, she has shifted more dollars toward communications within the last year to build Western Union’s brand with stakeholders and to drive more consumer awareness.
Social media, which some argue should be within the realm of PR, is another example of collaboration at Western Union. Marketing and PR have driven successful CSR campaigns via digital platforms, says Galuppo. But there are still questions about the best ways to use social media on a global scale that the two functions are trying to work out. “We’re finding that local social media strategies are not going to work for a company with a presence in 202 countries,” says Galuppo. “We’re thinking hard about reputation and having a border-less communications platform.”
Galuppo’s bottom-line philosophy around PR and marketing? “In these times, with budget and resource constraints, I’m a resource hog,” she says. “When I find talented people in the organization, my approach is bring them in. PR has so many great ideas and the ability to execute them—marketing must recognize and leverage that.”
THREE-PRONGED ATTACK
Chris Zegal, VP of marketing at Wausau Financial Systems, a mid-market payments and receivables processing company, agrees with Galuppo that PR is a key platform. But as a B2B marketer, Zegal views PR through a slightly different lens. “I see communications as an important channel we use to drive campaigns, solution sales and business objectives,” says Zegal. “Because of the longer sales cycle in B2B, PR’s main task here is to build communities of interest around the needs of our customers.” For Zegal, who oversees the company’s PR efforts, successful marketing is all about the driving the customer buying process, with the ultimate goals of generating higher revenue in key market segments and increasing shareholder value. At Wausau Financial, Zegal models his marketing program around two key concepts:
1. Alignment with corporate revenue objectives. “There must be clarity about those objectives, and you need to take a holistic view of how you’re driving the customer buying process against those objectives.”
2. Effectively integrating buyer process perceptions. “Do we really know what those perceptions are?”
Zegal believes that often companies can’t answer that question. “They don’t take outside-in look at their business, and therefore don’t know what levers to pull—PR, marketing or sales,” he says. The integration between the three functions, continues Zegal, is key to overall success.
“Integration is driving the customer experience,” he says. “Ultimately the customer is touched by PR, marketing and sales, and that synergy should be seamless.” PRN
CONTACT:
Eduardo Conrado, www.motorola.com; Gail Galuppo, c/o [email protected]; Chris Zegal, [email protected].