And, some corporations just do not understand PR, and think that a blog will take the place of all that is needed.
Last week, a (surprising) column appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle that was anti-A Day Without Immigrants (yep, a relatively conservative column in the Bay). Well, anti might be a strong word, but the columnist goes point-by-point through the day and how A Day Without Immigrants was a PR nightmare. If it was supposed to shut down all of the city of San Francisco, and other cities with high immigrant populations ... it did not. Unless you were on Market Street in the City, you had no idea what was going on. In the Financial District, everything was opened, I could not hear any protests or marches or slogans, and the day was like any other day. That, in a word, is a failed PR campaign - when it really has no affect, when everyone was supposed to be affected. Oh, and in the 21st century, most of the US isn't too hep on the hammer and sickle imagery, or the socialist whine. Well, outside the Bay Area, and even here I don't think it plays that great outside the fringes.
Now, corporiations that just do not get what PR is. Well, this seems to be a Web 2.0
extravaganza, but they will learn ... and come running to PR when the shit hits the fan. Trust me, they will.Or, they will appoint their dog as the PR person. While cute - and, well, Labradoodles are cute, if not the sharpest knives in the dog drawer - it is also insulting. Let's shove our dog out there as the PR representative! Well, reading the site, I guess the dog is also the copyeditor. I hope he has his own copy of AP Style Guide, and if not, he needs one fast.
The poor Labradoodle comes from Condoblin, a small country town in NSW, Australia.
ReplyDeleteThe town is otherwise famous for producing Shannon Noll, the runner-up in the first 'Australian Idol' competition. He's released a few terrible singles and been busted for drink driving.
The PR firm will probably get more ROI from the Labradoodle than if they'd picked up the other famous Condobliner...
Director of Public Relations. Pleaase it should be Director of Greetings - we appointed ours in January:
ReplyDeletehttp://stuartbruce.typepad.com/bma_pr_news_room/2006/01/leedsbased_pr_f.html
I got nothing against dogs - heck, my Dogster profile is on the blog - but come on, can we devalue PR any more?
ReplyDeleteGreeter - now that's appropriate. You don't have that disclaimer on inappropriate sniffing. ;)
Hey nice thinking there. What about PR people being the hunters and the journalists the hunted. Looks nice to me this way- some of us here think like that in Public Relations India
ReplyDeleteIt really is fascinating that in this day and age some companies are still way behind when it comes to Public Relations.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that it would be one of the first departments they develop after getting their core operational processes set up.
A key issue that companies need to address is to fix the problem before it starts. They need to practice TQM (Total Quality Management) so that they are putting out the best product one hundred percent of the time and they are not wasting any money on fixing a broken product/service or spending a lot of money on warranties. Since PR is often seen only when a crisis arises the idea of TQM may some what cancel out the need for PR but that is not the case at all.
PR should be use to boost the company/firm's public image and get that firm involved in the community. PR does not have to strictly deal with Crisis management.
More and more frequently in the media there are allegations about unfair labor practices nationwide and globally. It should be PR that can recognize the potential threat of unfair labor practices and work to handle the issues before they arise. Companies that can't avoid the bad press should have a spokesperson out on the front-line immediately recognizing, explaining and providing evidence as to how the company is working to deal with the situation.
The worst this a company can do is not address the issue at all. Not addressing it and staying silent is the worst thing a company can do so I would recommend not staying quite.
Speaking up and admitting error is one of the best things that a company can do for itself in a time of crisis. PR plays a vital role especially in today's world and the thought of a company not having a PR division just makes no sense in my mind.
We are a PR company in the UK - and we are called PR Dogs! We have three real dogs on the payroll, and they are the meet and greet team. We wouldn.t be without them.
ReplyDeleteYou folks need to really think about getting a life, your politics are totally skewed and you need to come back down to earth! You Have no true idea of PR and crisis management! Please pay attention!!!!
ReplyDelete