How to advertise in 2011, based on lessons from the Great Depression – Public Relations

To understand the Great Depression and how it affected people, it is important to understand some of the psyche at the time. Travis Scott Luther, President of Luther Media wrote a really good piece a few years ago which described the economic climate:

During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, a backlash against corporate America gained more traction than the bull of the 20’s market ever had. Citizens displaced and bankrupted by the financial fallout of the markets came to call on government for strict regulation and oversight. …

Understanding the increased challenges they faced in earning not only the populations’ business, but their trust, corporations were forced to find ways to bridge the widening gap between themselves and the consumers they so desperately needed to continue to operate. Deconstructing a world-view of large corporations as anti-person, evil teeth gnashing machines grew a new industry usually retained by government, “public relations.” One PR man told Standard Oil Company it would have to alter fundamentally the way it explained itself, saying “Identify yourself not with bondholders,…Wall Street, but with labor, with Americans.”

Public Relations is an element of marketing which is used to build relationships with customers, employees, investors, and other stakeholders. Public Relations may be called corporate communications, media relations, investor relations, or community investment.

Community Investment is perhaps the most visible form of Public Relations. This includes financial sponsorship or active involvement in community programs.This typically works best when it is closely aligned with the corporation’s target market and their interests.

For instance – McDonald’s Restaurants involvement with the Ronald McDonald House has very close alignment with their target market (families) and their interests (their kid’s health).

Lesson #1 from the Great Depression … Public Relations is important.

Responding to Social Media Buzz - Step #5 ==> Craft meaningful responses

What is a meaningful response? A meaningful response:

• Lets the person know they’ve been heard
• Let’s the person know who you are and that you represent the company
• Thanks the person for their feedback
• May ask for additional information (perhaps in a phone call)
• May attempt to offer an explanation and an apology

(The rest of this section refers to “blogs”, but that applies equally to vlogs, tweets, reviews, and so on. Whatever the Social Media is, you should respond to the Social Media using that Social Media. If the original contributor creates a video about you, then you should respond with a video.)

Here’s how you do it:

1. REALLY read the blog … Seek first to understand what is being written about you.
2. Keep your emotions out of your response ... Count to 10. Personal criticism – or in this case, criticism of the business you are standing in front of - is too easy to take to heart, and difficult to really listen to and understand. Put down your shields and defenses. Stay objective. Focus on the content, and get prepared to listen and enter into a productive conversation.
3. Seek first to really understand ... Perhaps your first response should include a variety of non-confrontational questions like: "Can you give me more details …”. Additionally, it should make use of appropriate Active Listening techniques such as restating key points, and asking permission to resolve the situation. Through asking and listening you should attain concrete and constructive details.
4. Accept the criticism ... No matter what, the criticism is somone's feelings - right or wrong - of your company’s performance. No matter whether you agree or disagree with the criticism, it is time to accept it, and get ready to respond. By letting go of your own resistance and resentment and becoming at ease with criticism and disapproval it is easier to learn lessons and comfortably assert your own perceptions.
5. Thank the person for the feedback ... This has a triple impact with your critic: (1) the critic hears that you heard them, (2) the critic's perspective of you is raised, and (3) it gives you an opportunity to "count to 10" again, and set up your questions.
6. Have a discussion about the issues ... Check your "Lecturer" hat at the door, and engage your critic in a conversation. Ask, listen, chat, discuss, with a focus on open-ended questions. Listen carefully to see if you can understand the problem, and then seek a solution together.

PR is a very important ingredient to building brand value

Research by Text 100 (a PR firm) called "Media Prominence: A Leading Indicator of Brand Value. How Effective Public Relations Contributes to Brand" shows that PR builds brand for complex products better than ads.

Key findings from the research were interesting:

• "Media prominence accounted for 27 percent of differences between the brand values of Interbrand’s Best Global Brands.
• "The relationship between media prominence and brand value depends on “product involvement” – i.e., the degree to which customers research a given product or solution prior to purchase. Media prominence was more associated with brand value for “high involvement”products compared to “low involvement” products. Advertising expenditures, however, were a leading indicator only for “low involvement” products, and accounted for very little brand value among “high involvement” products.
• "Media prominence was a particularly important component of brand value for computer-related industries, such as software and hardware manufacturers, as well as computer and Internet service companies, accounting for 48 percent of differences between companies’ brand values.
• "The results suggest that, in general, media prominence accounts for approximately one quarter of brand value, although this value is often higher for high-involvement brands, and particularly so in technology. This underscores the importance of managing and growing brand value through public relations efforts."

I wonder ... the results show that PR heavily influences brand perception, and this result was delivered by a PR company. Hmmm ... Okay, not that I really doubt it, but it is kind of humorous.

I believe that a key important point that needs to be made is that Public Relations is a critical type of communication that needs to be managed by a company as part of its overall media strategy.