The decline of mass marketing and proliferation of new media seems to be one of the factors resurrecting the age-old debate about whether public relations and marketing should be part of the same
function. With companies jumping into experiential efforts like YouTube, Second Life, MySpace and other online phenomena, it seems that more and more public relations
practitioners are being asked to promote the marketing of a product instead of the product itself.
Given this blurring of the lines between marketing and public relations, it does not matter - or, it matters less and less - if marketing reports to communications or the other way around, as long
as there is a strong communication and collaboration between the two departments, and as long as they are both working toward the end game of driving consumer consideration.
Here are the benefits of maximizing the relationship between your communications department and its marketing counterpart:
Regular dialogue means more opportunity. Frequent communication is key. I have found great value in attending the weekly staff meeting of our marketing directors. I know what they are up
to, and they know what the communications department is doing. If you are not doing this now, you should. Invite yourself to the meetings if you have to.
Develop joint promotional plans. Public relations and marketing need to work together in formulating a product's role within the product or brand portfolio. Marketing can bring to the table
research information on consumers and competitive products, while communications can provide media analysis for past products and competitors within that segment. This also helps ensure that there is
a consistency of message between marketing and communications.
Stretch your budget by leveraging marketing events. For better or worse, marketing budgets usually end with more zeros than public relations budgets. But the savvy public relations
professional can tap into that marketing money. Get their event calendar and see if you can add a media component to an already planned customer event. Many times you can use their existing
infrastructure (product displays, subject matter experts, catering, etc.) to hold a media event with little cost to you.
As an example, in today's wired, online world, it's amazing how much influence old-fashioned trade shows still have in the purchase decision, and most companies participate. Whether it is a
business-to-business show or a consumer show, a lot of them attract trade media. It is less costly to organize a press conference or host a media breakfast when your pals and peers in marketing have
already put a lot of the pieces in place.
The crown jewel is consideration. There is a great opportunity for marketing and public relations to team up and make a real difference in the business, if they make the effort to
collaborate with one another on a consistent and cooperative basis. And that opportunity lies in driving consideration of a product. Consideration is that key stage of the sales process between
awareness and purchase. Obviously, for consumers to consider purchasing a product, they must first become aware of it. Creating that awareness is where marketing typically shines.
Where public relations and communications come into play in this process is increasing the believability of your product or brand message. On a scale of credibility, having your company say what a
great product you have is one thing. Getting the media to say good things about your product is obviously better. But the Crown Jewel of credibility is when other consumers extol the virtues of your
product to people who are considering purchasing. And that is where the public relations professions' expertise with blogs, forums, social networks, etc. comes into play as a platform for people to
voice their experiences and opinions.
In a time when customers are inundated with thousands of promotional messages everyday, public relations and marketers can and should work together to move beyond mere customer engagement, and
develop powerful methods for putting consumers in control of the message.
CONTACT:
Robert Minton is communications manager for the Fleet & Commercial division of General Motors. He can be reached at [email protected].