Talking press relations

Introduction
Approaches to PR vary. Many companies, for example, retain a professional specialist agency, while many more adopt a DIY approach. Some, of course, simply ignore the issue.

And each approach can be perfectly legitimate - even, though it pains us to say so, the last. PR is not for everyone. But, whichever camp you’re in, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing the right things, either to help your agency work effectively on your behalf, or to get the best results from the programme implemented by your internal team. If you’re in the “don’t do anything” camp, you’ll probably want to ensure you’re not missing out.

Yet not everyone is equipped to optimise the PR process in this way. In fact, of all the tools in the marketing communications toolkit, PR is, in our experience, the least well understood. Not only do people - and it’s sometimes those who are, or should be, closest to the process - frequently have only the haziest notion of the objectives their PR programme is intended to achieve, they often have a very tenuous grip of the mechanics behind the process of achieving these objectives.

Which is why we have drafted these notes. First though, you’ll want to know whether they’re likely to prove useful to you. So let’s quickly run over what you might take from them.

Theory vs practice
Well, to begin with, they are not intended as a broad introduction to the world of Public Relations. There are lots of books on PR in the wider sense, and if you’re looking for a primer, you’ll be better off browsing one of these.

But, though many worthy texts are available, most of them are quite general in their approach, and aimed at those in the consumer environment. Often, there is the tacit assumption, heavily implied by their subject matter, that you’re only doing “real” PR if you’re constantly dealing with national television, or handling crisis situations within a multinational, or other weighty matters. Written with a suitably serious tone, to underscore the seriousness and complexity of their subject, the authors of such tomes frequently seem to be more intent on demonstrating their worldliness than imparting anything which could actually be useful. Theory, the subtext seems to be, is all.

Well, here we take a different view. For us, practice is everything. PR is about knowing what works; not what should work. In fact, of all the misconceptions which exist in the PR world, the invidious idea that success derives from applying theory is among the most persistently inimical to success. PR is not an intellectually rigorous discipline.

It is also worth pointing out that the remarks in these notes are aimed at those in the business-to-business environment. Also, they place a clear focus on Press (as opposed to Public) Relations. And the purpose of these notes is essentially, and overridingly, practical. They are intended to address issues and questions which commonly arise during the everyday handling a typical business-to-business PR account. Most importantly they look at how practice can often diverge (very considerably) from theory.

And they recognise that, often, good PR is about perspiration rather than inspiration.

But that’s for later. The first question is: why bother?

The point of it all
First, let’s remind ourselves of the fundamental purpose of Press Relations - to encourage the press to write (positively) about your company. Let’s also remember that it’s not advertising. You’re not paying (directly, at any rate) for coverage. It’s free!

If you’re thinking: this sounds good, you’re right to think so. It is. There’s no more cost-effective way to build awareness and credibility. But there’s a downside: you are relying on journalists and editors to write nice things about you. So you have to play their game; by their rules. If you don’t, you’re wasting your time. Worse, badly implemented PR can result in negative (heaven forbid!) coverage.

Actually, that’s pretty unlikely. You’d have to be doing something pretty ghastly to suffer anything more dire than being ignored by the press community. But being ignored is bad enough. And there’s no need for it. After all, in a sense, journalists rely on you as much as you do on them; stories have to come from somewhere. And most of the editorial community are grateful for clear, well-presented information sent by you. So much the better if it is timely.

Of course, news is news. More to the point, bad news is bad news. And it will usually get into print, with or without your involvement. If you work with a big, or big-ish, company, and something not altogether helpful to your cause happens (e.g. redundancies), you might as well face it; some journalist somewhere is almost certain to find out about it. You can’t beat them; so you might as well join them. Don’t wait for them to come to you, go to them. Get your retaliation in first. This is the basis of the concept of “spin”. And it’s a skilled practice.

But that’s another story. Here, we are more concerned with companies, whatever their size (often small!), with a business-to-business focus and which have positive stories to tell. They want these stories told in what they see as “their” press. Usually, this means particular sections of the trade or business press - and sometimes the nationals. However, we’re not (in the main) dealing with sensationalist journalism; there’s precious few paparazzi in the trade sector. Generally speaking, trade journalists aren’t looking to catch you out. They just want good stories for their readers.

But - and here’s a common error - don’t think, because you’re dealing with the “trade press”, that you’re somehow dealing with a small, unimportant, unprofessional sector of the press, serving the anorak brigade. Because you’re not. The trade sector is not only big, it’s very important to most companies and it’s (generally) extremely professional. And if you want them to take you seriously, you have to be professional, too.

In the next issue: How?