#prdr

My season 6 favourite contestant - BenDeLaCreme! Not that I adore her outfits, but oh boy is the man witty, intelligent and sweet!

And her bug costume was just something else!

To say the lines between public relations, marketing and social media have blurred is an understatement.  Digital media has required those of us in the profession to be agile as dancers as we choreograph these three once distinct disciplines with precision.  Some call it being a jack of all trades and a master of none; others call it integrated marketing communications (IMC).

Raman and Naik offered our favourite IMC definition in 2005: ‘’an IMC program plans and executes various marketing activities with consistency so that its total impact exceeds the sum of each activity. It is a strategy in which different communication tools like advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling work together to maximize the communication impact on target consumers.’’ (Naeem, B, 2013)

In a way the client won the day agencies embraced IMC because deep down all they ever wanted was cost-effective convenience.  They have long grown tired of going to one agency for ads and another for social and yet another for public relations support. They're wise to the benefits of an integrated roll out but they won't debrief multiple agencies if they can get the same results under one roof.

The ramifications for dealing with multiple agencies are huge, especially as competencies, creativity and turnaround times vary with each shop.  The frustration these scenarios generate can force a company to in-source, even to the detriment of the good agencies of the lot. However, at the operational level, one man’s convenience is another man’s conundrum.  Being a one-stop-shop has implications for billing strategies, for example.  Under the integrated model agencies will try to provide additional services economically for the client.  However, companies accustomed to these discounted rates often struggle when they have to purchase services on the open market again, much to the chagrin of suppliers.

As an agency takes on this wider scope of work per project, juggling clients without reducing the quality of work provided to each means scaling your talent resources without breaking the bank.  This is a discussion worth having among PR agencies even as the theory of IMC evolves. 

The Reality of Media Relations in Barbados in 2016

Recently client and partner conversations about the media seem to carry the same tune: do we really need the media?

CTRL - Control the narrative

Senior executives especially are quite frustrated with the lack of adequate coverage they have been receiving from news releases; the lack of attention the media gives to them beyond the releases they generate; the disappearance of the beat journalist who studied their sector and asked pointed questions; and the blatant misquoting of their statements, misspellings and all.  The biggest complaint these days seems to be that the media is bent on sharing mostly negative coverage, with neutral or positive stories being drowned in a sea of stories on crime, violence, impropriety and frivolity.

On the other side, I’ve heard media representatives complaining that companies call news conferences when they could have sent a release; don’t make adequate accommodations for them (seating, microphone outlets, catering, etc.); fail to give adequate notice of their initiatives; and use public relations persons to hide the bad news from an unsuspecting public. 

Public relations professionals often get caught in the middle of this shouting match between clients and the press.  Mediation is certainly a valued skill so as to bridge the gap between what enhance our clients’ reputations that the media will also consider newsworthy.  

The extremes of this triad between the press, public relations practitioners and their clients often come with serious ethical considerations.  At one extreme, PR persons try to make friends in the newsroom.  However, should a news release or feature be run on the basis of those relationships or on the merit of the release?  At the other extreme, should media houses cover every gory detail about a company or a country, even if it means undermining the socio-economic attractiveness of the destination to potential visitors or investors?

ALT - Alter your media strategy 

In this chaotic media environment, owned, rented and paid media are growing in importance to businesses seeking to control the narrative around their reputations.  Owned media, i.e. websites, blogs and online forums on owned company domains are replacing third party media channels as the primary outlets via which to disseminate information.  

With a strong, well-resourced corporate communications team, companies are able to have their own in-house newsrooms through which to create video, audio and print news for release first via their owned channels, starting with their staff.  The more frequently this approach is used the easier it will be to socialize the media and other publics to this way of gaining company news.  Similarly, posting to rented platforms such as social media before on a consistent basis before releasing to the press can become a strong communication strategy in the long run.

In the face of continuous doubt in the motives and intentions of the press, advertorials and other paid announcements are the way to go to ensure an untampered message.  Yes, the media will write stories as they see fit but a deliberate and preemptive strategy ensures that all obvious concerns are laid to rest before questions can be asked.