From the entire array of integrated marketing communications vehicles, PR is most often cited as being the most flexible, cost-effective and, most importantly, strategic. In fact, many Fortune 500 clients consider marketing public relations the strategic marketing communication weapon.
PR has become far more than a simple tool to generate positive media exposure; it often serves as the unifying link to all constituencies, the underlying "glue" to the marketing proposition. In example after example, from Gillette to IBM and from Taco Bell to Microsoft, it is PR that frequently gets the jump on shaping perceptions about brand value and managing the all-important brand relationships.
Let's take a closer look at how marketing-based PR works within the context of integrated marketing communications and why it is uniquely qualified to contribute to brand management broadly, with high-impact and keenly customized messaging.
As an important backdrop, we can all agree that reaching and motivating consumers today is no walk in the park: It's a fiercely competitive world out there, complicated by quick-silver technological advancements, the complexities of an expanding global marketplace and the uncertainties of fragmented and greatly expanding media channels, both traditional and new.
PR - and, specifically marketing-based public relations - has become the smart marketer's most potent and leveraged asset. Gone are the days when PR was viewed simply as a way to extend an ad campaign or generate publicity for publicity's sake.
Effective PR programs create the context in which a brand exists - and even shines - for each critical audience. It establishes the relevancy to individual lifestyles and life stage needs that, ultimately, evolves into a powerful and enduring emotional bond. The kind of bond that drives customer loyalty, long-term customer retention and a lifetime of measurable customer value.
In the end, we are all consumers, and we know only too well that the power and value of a brand exists in both our hearts and our minds It must hold meaning for us and provide real benefits that over time can translate into value.
As Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Ph.D's and co-founders of the Colorado Graduate School of Business IMC Program point out in their newly published book, "Driving Brand Value," a brand's core value is made up of the combined attitudes and beliefs of a vast array of relevant stakeholders, gatekeepers and influencers - from industry pundits and Wall Street to the pharmacist at the counter, the locally elected official, the power brokers on Capitol Hill, academia, or even the latest sports hero. Stakeholders are employees, suppliers, the retail channel, the media and whomever has a reason to have an interest in your brand or who will somehow impact its success or failure.
And because brand value is the culmination of all of this stakeholder support, each brand possesses a dizzying and exciting array of potential points of contact between the brand and each stakeholder. There are opportunities to connect - not just in specific, one-time transactions - but within the context of a thriving and growing relationship. Enter marketing-based public relations. Imagine the creative and diverse communications approaches and vehicles that can increase and maximize the points of contact with the brand and key target constituencies. Properly conceived and executed, marketing-based PR programs deliver where other disciplines simply do not.
The far-reaching capabilities of PR - marketing communications; regulatory, governmental and public affairs; crisis and issues management; corporate communications; financial and investor relations; employee communications and business to business/industry communications all carry with them the ability to communicate in-depth and in compelling ways to reach and persuade key stakeholders, gatekeepers and influencers.
At the heart of marketing-based PR is a disciplined and thoughtful process, grounded in research, that facilitates the development of strategic insights that in turn drive high-yield strategies on which to hang a myriad of creative tactical executions that leverage, extend and work with other marketing communications tools. The end result is 180 degrees removed from the cookie cutter approach to PR.
If you are tackling a strategic PR plan within an integrated marketing communications landscape, here are some pointers to keep in mind:
1. Begin thinking of yourself and your PR team as an equal partner in the entire planning process rather than just as the inheritor of programs that are already set in stone or as simply the "publicity machine" for advertising or promotional campaigns.
2. Get smart. Search out marketing and target audience research, consumer-use tests, brand studies, competitive material and other relevant data.
3. If needed, conduct public relations formative research such as gatekeeper audits, concept and message testing and so on. Show that you can add value and contribute both thoughtful and differentiating concepts that impact business growth.
4. Respect all of your IMC team members and the benefits of their disciplines. Come from a position of trust and teamwork, which is the ultimate position of strength.
5. Be flexible in your thinking. Never upstage your IMC partners or just try to "sell service." Instead, demonstrate your commitment to achieving success for your client by leveraging the strategic capabilities of PR.
Barbara H. Hines is executive VP of brand marketing at Porter Novelli. She can be reached at 617/587-2008.