(This week, PR News editors Phil Hall and Courtney Barnes question whether the message, the messenger or even the audience is to blame for unsuccessful PR
campaigns.)
PHIL: Back when I was in seventh grade, my friend Mark once came running into homeroom to announce that a fellow classmate (a tall girl with a rather pronounced
resemblance to Olive Oyl) was hit in the head with a flying chair during a melee in the school auditorium. The entire class absorbed Mark's news and burst into laughter. This
very inappropriate response clearly surprised Mark, who looked upon his nasty classmates (yours truly included) with utter shock - how could everyone be so cruel? Now let's take
this "Lord of the Flies"-worthy anecdote and plug that into PR. Specifically: How should a PR professional react when delivering a communications message and receiving a reaction
which is completely opposite of what was anticipated? Do you blame the message, the messenger or the audience?
COURTNEY: Of course, the saying "don't shoot the messenger" usually determines the person who often receives blame. PR professionals are in effect the ultimate
messengers; they control the delivery and, often times, the message itself. The point is, how often does a PR exec think he or she has anticipated each and every possible outcome
and then BAM - all hell breaks loose once the message reaches public hands? The answer, unfortunately, is more often than anyone would like to think. The communications
professional needs to prepare for something utterly unexpected.
PHIL: How about test marketing? And not within the confines of the office or agency, where iconoclastic opinions are often stamped out in favor of a conformist culture.
If time and budget allows, having focus groups weigh in on a possible campaign can work - provided that the PR professional doesn't try to skewer the results to justify their
planning (and, yes, that occurs).
COURTNEY: That is an effective way of testing possible outcomes, but bigger questions must be asked as well. For instance, PR executives must be sure they are reaching
out to the right market in the first place; otherwise, they might get a baffling response solely because they were off target. Audiences that aren't familiar with a brand or a
company's reputation are more likely to react with confusion, no?
PHIL: It goes back to research, which often seems like a lost art. PR professionals who fail to properly research every aspect of their campaigns (and I do mean
every) before they launch should not be surprised if their message is ignored or even reviled once it is out in the world. That was one painful lesson I learned in the
midst of the chair throwing at my old school: if you don't do your homework, you fail.