Market Summary - Public Relations

At a Glance

Advertising is what you say about yourself:

PR is what others say about you:

Hot Topics

Measurement:

No matter how successful a PR campaign appears, marketers still struggle to measure the results effectively.

As with all marketing activities, driving a Return On Investment (ROI) is critical.  PR can use different ways to measure campaigns: i) Evaluation of media coverage ii) audience barometers (i.e. how perception & attitudes have been shifted) and iii) direct business impacts.  H&K uses all three depending on the nature of the project.

Digital:

The rise of digital and social media bring plenty of new PR and marketing opportunities, all at a much lower cost than other traditional types of media.  However, understanding what your doing and why is very important versus doing it for the sake of it and because everyone else is.

Damon Jones, head of influencer marketing at P&G: “We’ve been able to show that PR is in the top three most cost-effective disciplines for a variety of brands measured over a few years.  The value of PR is so much more than the cost of the space.”

What is it?

Firstly, what it isn’t…..the top PR Myths:

• PR is just media relations
• PR is rounds of long lunches and drinks
• You can’t measure PR
• PR is not as valuable as advertising
• Editorial is guaranteed
• If you advertise, you’ll get editorial
• PR is a ‘nice to have’
• The more press releases we put out, the more coverage we’ll get
• The media wants to help promote your business
• When a client speaks, journalists listen

PR versus Advertising - what's the difference?

• PR coverage is free vs Advertising which is paid for
• PR is editorial written by a third party vs Advertising which is written by the buyer
• PR has no guarantees vs Advertising which is all pre-agreed
• PR is a dialogue vs Advertising which is a monologue
• PR can deliver multiple messages vs Advertising which works best with one 

Ten reasons why clients may choose PR:  

1. To build, manage and protect reputation at global and local levels
2. To communicate core corporate and/or brand values to a wide variety of stakeholder audiences
3. To create a positive environment in which to do business and to sell more products
4. To help us through a period of change internally and externally
5. To educate and influence customers and their views about products or services
6. To communicate with and motivate employees
7. To prepare for a potential crisis or to handle a real crisis
8. To extend the reach of local/regional marketing activities
9. To shape public opinion about a topic, an industry, a brand or an issue
10. To correct misinformation in the market

How Does it Work

Some examples of when to use Consumer PR:

• New brand launches
• Communicate complex messages
• Add credibility into a brand

-H&K helped B&Q message it’s energy policies

• Re-launch or breathe new life into a brand
• Leverage sponsorship assets

-An iconic campaign, raising the profile for Association of Tennis Professionals, Terracotta Tennis

• Hijacking an issue

Key Features & Benefits

The Benefits Of Consumer PR:

• It provides a communication platform for effective brand marketing
• It supports and amplifies brand values
• Through third party endorsement, it can help shape attitude and substantiate brand claims which leads to great credibility and believability

-H&K worked with Tango and Dom Joly to ‘Save Tango’

• Builds the context and the story around the brand and the ‘reasons to believe’ in a product or service
• Issues management – critical counsel and preparation to help deal with difficult situations in an effective manner and tone

-H&K Hill & Knowlton developed a communications plan to support Administrators, Zolfo Cooper, through the collapse of major budget airline, XL Airways.

• Cost effective, when compared to other marketing disciplines
• All together, and done effectively, it can help build awareness, educate and influences target audiences to achieve a business impact (i.e. increase sales, shift perception etc.)

Key Audience Strength

What people say about PR:

"Roughly six times as many people read the average article as the average advertisement. Editors communicate better than ad men." - David Ogilvy, advertising guru.

"If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on PR." - Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft.