he crisis is the time of peculiar expensive specialists and high-quality bright ideas. PR-market is not an exception.
All of a sudden, it became surprising for many people that namely the companies with stable reputation turned out to be the least exposed to crisis. This is reflected, for example, by deposits inflow at almost pre-crisis interest rates against increased programs of other banks. Now is the time to show the owners and top managers the difference between truly effective and unjustified PR-costs.
Let me cite a very illustrative for today example of pre-dialogue with one of the PR-directors of the well known Holding Company: “Irina, I want you to understand, that the most important for us now is the result.” – “Excuse me, but how it was before?” – “Earlier, we precisely performed the requirements of management, but now they have noticed that there should be a feedback.” – “O.K., and what is the criterion of efficiency?” – “And what, to your mind, could impress?” – “Whom, you mean yourself?” – “No, I mean our clients.” – “And who are they?” – “In general, they are representatives of middle class. We need the tools of wide profile, but the multi-purpose and effective ones.” After hanging up the phone, one thing I knew for sure – now, if not these woe-professionals, then there more adequate colleagues and top managers will not only listen to PR-managers, but will also hear them, will go deeper into the reputation efficiency criteria, rather than brush aside and say: “Simply, make it beautiful”.
In the end of last year, the players at the markets, where the reputation is of high importance, got sure that the policy «of total savings on communication strategies» is malignancy. To the credit of a number of banks and insurance companies, they were the first albeit forced who did not hide their heads in sand from the angry customers, with a hope that it will be over soon.
Others cut PR-budgets and reduced the staff, forgetting in fever, that these «expenses» also form the «income». It took such «reducers» not long to start sending their requests to PR-agencies. The negotiations began in early spring. Some our new clients have experienced PR-support for the first time: “Everything was O.K., we had enough clients, and now we feel the lack of them. Let's do something”.
The crisis has become a weighty argument in favor of low-budget tools. Suddenly it was remembered, that press-releases are one of the most «trump» cards in the deck of PR-manager, and the results of inform-occasion coverage in media depend on their high-quality. For example, during the panic around the Nadra Bank, they issued a record number of press-releases which prevented from information vacuum, which would only worsen the situation.
Another budget and very effective tool is the participation of speakers in the role of experts in the thematic events. The company gets an opportunity to announce the important messages, to position itself and to share the news. Here the main task for PR-manager is the correct organization: event should coincide with the interests of company audience, and forecast resonance is to be confirmed.
We recommend to save on shape, not on content. The advice is banal, but following it brings very tangible benefits. For example, a presentation for the media can be replaced by a press-conference, realization of which can be modest, «without the ribbons and balloons», only for providing the media with the information and direct access to experts and heads of companies.
But if too magnificent presentations and business events became obsolete (or set aside for better times), than clever sponsorship, your own and special projects are justified tools, despite its relatively high cost.
Many companies follow by fashion and have begun actively to use the opportunities offered by Web 2.0: made a corporate blogs, introduced there selves into social networks, begun to participate in forums with entire teams, distributed video-releases, etc. And now one of our customers has lost in thoughts, when we had driven his attention, that 200-thousand-audience, which made them happy, turned out to be a company of students and young professionals. That was before, but this question was not asked, and staff was reported only for some activities.
One of the main trends of the communication market is a mixture of technologies. In Ukraine, the functions of marketing and PR has traditionally separated, but are likely to appear new universal agencies or PR-holdings.
In fact, some of the client’s companies have already changed the names of their organization departments: Department of Public Relations, some called the Strategic Communications Department, the others - the Department of Development. What does actually reflect the nature of new challenges for the PR-industry, of course, it is checking up by effectiveness.
Irina Filenko, Director of PRT Communication Group, “Companion”
