Public Relations seeks to create innovative communication strategies, capitalizing on the brand’s differentiating values to captivate the target audience and increase sales.
It was World Cup time. Mexico was preparing to host one of the biggest events that brings the whole world together every four years around a passion, football. The work of convincing FIFA that it had the sports infrastructure and suitable technology to host the Mexico 86 FIFA World Cup had been arduous but paid off. However, not even the experience of having organized the Mexico 70 World Cup could save it from an earthquake that left it literally in ruins almost a year before the long-awaited event.
The whole world watched the images on television of the devastating quake, and wondered whether it would be prepared to cope with all the logistics that an event of that kind involves. Contrary to what many thought, Mexico knew how to rebuild itself and was ready to welcome all its visitors.
The warmth and hospitality of Mexicans, the technology that was used, and the excellent communication with the press from around the world —placing journalists in its most representative cities such as Guadalajara, Puebla and Querétaro and setting up press rooms so that information could be handled quickly and efficiently— turned this event into a successful Public Relations (PR) case.
In crisis situations, to strengthen the brand in the minds of its consumers, attract future customers, improve reputation and create a favorable climate for sales, Public Relations is a set of highly creative communication techniques that emphasize a company’s interesting aspects and build a profile to position it as a trusted authority in its field, with recognition and trust among its target audiences.
The public relations professional, within a Public Relations agency, establishes direct dealings with the media in order to show them the novel and interesting side of a given product or service, so that they share information of value for the general public and, more importantly, for its specific market.
The best-positioned technology companies in the market use this interesting tool to announce their launches or to communicate interesting aspects of their brand that should be highlighted or known by their target.
Imagine you are the director of a cloud solutions company, and unlike the competition, your “cloud datacenters” are located at strategic points on the continent guaranteeing quality service, your technical support is entirely in Spanish and permanent (24x7x365); and you have just created a tool that will make your service more powerful and benefit users. What can I do to get the target audience interested in my solutions? Will announcing only on social media or sending an email to my customers be enough to promote my brand?
Obviously, social media and sending an email to customers to announce your product will serve to a certain extent. However, these actions do not contribute to building brand reputation, do not position the product in the minds of consumers, nor do they create the emotional bonds that lead a user to choose between one product and another.
Why, if my brand has very notable differentiating values over the competition, does it fail to outdo it? The answer is simple: your competition uses all the Public Relations techniques and strategies that make it possible for the consumer to always keep it in mind, because they heard the CEO or General Manager’s interview in a media outlet, because they read a press release with corporate information, or because it held an event aimed at its internal audience, its employees, and publicized it in a newspaper or magazine, which creates a good perception of the brand.
Just as human relationships are based on trust, a brand’s relationship with its audience must be anchored in an environment of harmony and friendship that brings them closer together and becomes a win-win relationship. On one side the user obtains satisfaction; and on the other, the brand builds customer loyalty.
Against that backdrop, Public Relations seeks to create innovative communication strategies, capitalizing on the brand’s differentiating values, highlighting its services and telling a success story, such as that of the Mexico 86 World Cup, that puts the company one step, or many, ahead of the competition.
It is important to stress that both the Public Relations agency and the client must make ongoing efforts to generate communication strategies or to build relationships with the media that strengthen their relationship.
An innovative and sustained Public Relations strategy can greatly benefit your company or one of its products. On cost-benefit alone, the experience will be worth it and will pay for itself. In addition, you will see that PR can contribute to your company’s growth and deliver tangible savings in your marketing budget.
