Filed under: Business columns, Economic | Tags: marketing, media relations, PR strategy, public relations, recession, target audiences, unique value proposition
It took economists a long time to declare us “officially” in a recession, but just because economists seem slow to react to market conditions doesn’t mean businesses should be.
The common denominator of organizations that succeed – especially during recessions – is that they provide obvious, unmistakable value to their customers and clients. Defining that value and communicating it to your stakeholders is essential during a recession — more so than at any other time.
Therefore, a strong business communications plan is one of the tools that should be considered by those businesses or non-profits that plan to emerge from the recession in a strong position. Public relations cannot take the place of real value, but if done effectively, it can make sure your stakeholders recognize that value.
Whether or not you’ve been using a well-planned public relations strategy, dire economic times are a good reason to re-assess what you offer and how you communicate it. In other words, if the recession has you worried, start with a blank slate when it comes to your communications.
Re-think your business objectives: It could be that your business objective during lucrative times was to achieve $100,000 in sales for three consecutive quarters, or expand your clientele by 35 percent. As the economy contracts, revisions almost certainly are in order. However, even if your business objectives can stay the same, rain or shine, that doesn’t mean the rest of your communications don’t need an overhaul.
Refine your target audiences: During a recession, it’s almost always the case that people grip their money more tightly; each purchase is considered more carefully. As we work our way through this trough, there is no shortage of news stories detailing how even the rich are watching what they spend. It could be, therefore, that your target audience has changed due to these economic realities; maybe targeting middle-class wage-earners is no longer practical because your product or service has started to fall into the “non-essential” category for these folks. This might mean you need to target those with more disposable income.
It’s equally possible that the economy has necessitated a refocus of your attention to a non-customer audience. For example, you might discover an urgent imperative to implement a communications plan that targets your investors, to convince them that your company is on the right track. Maybe you have to target your employees, whose morale is falling because there are rumors of layoffs and they’re nervous about who might face the axe.
There may be multiple audiences that need to be addressed simultaneously, and a plan that takes them all into account ensures that you keep your messaging consistent and meaningful.
Adjust your messaging: With a change of business objective or a change of audience, the messaging must be re-examined and almost certainly will need to be adjusted. For example, if you are in the position of retailing “luxury” items or services — which may have fallen off the radar for many people who are watching their budgets — you have already decided whether you can continue to target the same audiences. And, either way, messaging must change.
If you shift to targeting a new audience, you need to keep in mind what their needs and wants are, and recognize that they might be very different from those of your previous target audience. Similarly, if you stick with your original target audience, they might need to hear something entirely different from you during these lean times. It’s unlikely that anyone wants to hear that what you offer is an indulgence or something that’s “exclusive.” These are the first things to go when household or business budget-cuts are made.
One important caveat to keep in mind is that shifting your messaging must be done carefully; you can’t suddenly turn your high-end wine and cheese shop into a bargain booze bin or your exclusive jewelry store into a bucket-o-bracelets emporium. Instead, you make adjustments that focus on the value you provide, rather than on the attributes of what you sell. Speaking of value…
Always focus on value: When people have to make difficult decisions about where to spend their limited resources, they want to know they’re making the right decision for themselves and their families. That means your job is to identify your unique value proposition — the one thing that you, and nobody else, can offer. And it has to be something that has a positive impact on your customers’ lives.
Think about the things that matter most to everyone, and it is likely that you can contribute to at least some aspect of it: family togetherness, a bright future, easier or quicker work, long-term savings, immediate savings, safety and security, fun and laughter, good health, peace of mind, long-lasting use, less environmental impact, more free time, meaningful contributions to the community. The specific characteristics of your product or service are important, but not as important as what they enable people to have or provide for their families.
When it comes to non-profits, especially those that depend on the generosity of donors to continue operating, the focus on value is even more important. When people donate to a cause or an organization, they must feel like they are becoming a part of something greater than themselves, and that they are able to see direct results from their contributions. In order to demonstrate value, non-profit messaging must be visionary, transparent, and accountable. In other words, present the grand vision of your organization (whether it’s safe housing for the homeless, food for families, or intensive therapy for at-risk juveniles), show exactly where the money goes, and detail the good works you’ve done with other people’s money.
When it comes to local businesses that focus on local clientele, then your messaging and value proposition might be well-aligned with people’s concerns if you point out that spending their dollars with locally-owned businesses (rather than trying to save a few dollars at the big chain store) makes the local economy healthier.
Make the most of “free” media: It’s painfully true that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. However, there are plenty of public relations techniques that allow you to get your messaging across with minimal financial outlay, as long as you’re willing to substitute time and effort for dollars and cents. Just a few of them include:
· Press releases: Inventory all the things you do, and think about what would be newsworthy. New hires, promotions, awards, expansions, new equipment purchases… scan the business pages of your local paper to see what types of stories they run, and see if your business could offer something similar. Keep in mind that poorly-written material can do more harm than good — if you don’t know how to write news stories, hire someone who does.
· Talks: Lots of civic organizations (business associations, chambers of commerce, Rotary, etc.) welcome speakers from businesses. Tell them about what you do, but not as an “infomercial.” Instead, give them information that is interesting and helps them improve their lives.
· Internships: Bring in promising high schoolers to learn about what you do; this can help you get things done and convey your message of competence and community-mindedness.
· Expert sources: Identify a few of your top people who can provide background information to local reporters on stories. If you’ve ever read a news story about your line of work and thought, “That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” then you might be a good source for local journalists.
· Volunteer: Your employees care about the community. You care about the community. So why not all get together and do something positive as a group? People like spending their money with an organization if they know it cares about its neighbors.
One final word about communicating your value: be sure that the value is actually there. Nothing will alienate customers more than the perception that your words don’t match reality. In the end, good public relations is not about “spin,” it’s about effectively communicating the truth. Rest assured, you can never afford to be stingy with the truth.
Filed under: Business columns, Customer relations, Political | Tags: advertising, Ben and Jerry's, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Customer relations, marketing, marketing communications, marketing to children, public relations, RBGH, RBGH-free, Susan Linn, toy advertisements
The purpose of this blog is to provide insights and miniature case-studies to those who are interested in public relations and marketing, and although this particular post does contribute to the overall purpose, I must admit up front that I’m emotionally invested in this topic and therefore label some of the players involved as morons.
The story is about a letter-writing campaign by parents who are asking toy manufacturers to stop producing advertisements that appeal directly to children. The title alone (“Parents’ Plea: No More Ads for Toys“) is enough to make me cringe. It pressures companies that make toys to redirect their marketing efforts to audiences that don’t have as much impact on the companies’ bottom line, and more importantly, it shows how completely some parents have abdicated their responsibility to raise discerning kids that have a modicum of self control; in effect, they’ve given up and are asking to be relieved of duty.
When it comes to placing the responsibility for self-control on the advertisers rather than on consumers, this is a disturbing precedent for anyone who wants to communicate with their target audiences. The underlying assumption is that if your communications become really effective, it is somehow predatory and “unfair” (a word actually used by somebody in the story referring to the kid-targeted ads). This passage of the story describes the philosophy behind the ad-ban proponents:
The director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, psychologist Susan Linn, said she and her colleagues don’t expect toy companies to stop advertising — rather, they want the ads directed at parents.
“It’s cruel to dangle irresistible ads for toys and electronics in front of kids — encouraging them to nag for gifts that their parents can’t afford,” she said. “It’s just not fair.”
I studied the psychology of advertising in college, and in fact my bachelor’s degree is in advertising and one of my minors was psychology, so I know that most children lack the cognitive ability to differentiate television ads from television shows. That’s why TV stations for decades have been required by law to delineate when the show has paused for a commercial break (“We’ll be right back after these messages!”), and when the commercials are over and the show has resumed (“And now back to…!”).
But Susan Linn apparently looks at the world as though children are sitting in front of the TV, wads of their parents’ cash in-hand, being ordered by their favorite cartoon characters to spend the mortgage payment and grocery money on a Wii. Nothing can change the fact that advertisements are simply commercial messages. And nothing can change the fact that parents can – if they are indeed worthy of the title “parents” – turn off the TV. Or, if they lack the spine for that simple move, they can – again, if they are indeed parents – tell their kids that getting all those (or even any) expensive toys is simply not possible.
If they can’t take these simple (although possibly difficult) steps, it is absurd to expect advertisers to do what the parents themselves refuse to do.
In the interest of full disclosure, my biases should be clear: I am not only a professional communications consultant, and therefore have a stake in being able to communicate clearly to whichever target audience is most appropriate, but I am also the parent of three kids, and we haven’t had TV in our house for many years. And, when times have been economically tight, we have simply told them that we can’t afford this or that toy. It’s not easy, but it’s our job to do things that are difficult; that’s what parenting requires. I don’t need the CEO of Toys-R-Us to help me exercise self-control, or to pass on that ability to my kids.
For companies or other organizations that wish to communicate to their target audiences, this trend of shifting responsibility away from consumers and onto communicators is potentially dangerous. If, for example, you advertise a product or service to disadvantaged minorities, there are “advocates” like Susan Linn who may well decide that you are being “unfair,” because your ads are so effective that they somehow prompt people to make decisions about their own money that the “advocates” think are detrimental to the consumers’ well-being. In such cases, they may – in the interest of “fairness,” – call for your ads, press releases, speeches or whatever else to be made less persuasive, or to avoid speaking directly to the folks who you want to hear your message.
If they get really riled up about it, they could start advocating legislation that would require you to communicate less effectively. Sounds absurd, I know. However, it was done to tobacco companies. It has also been done to nutritional supplement companies. The producers of recombinant bovine growth hormone are lobbying to do it to dairy product manufacturers, believe it or not. They’re trying to get laws passed that would prohibit Ben and Jerry’s and others from labeling their products as being “RBGH-free” because they don’t think it’s “fair.” Ben and Jerry’s – and many other dairy retailers – know that their customers want to know about RBGH, but it only takes some savvy lobbying by people holding “fairness” up as their goal to ensure that blatantly unfair laws are passed.
Commercial communications are, in my opinion, a matter of free speech. But, when personal responsibility for one’s own spending habits are taken out of the equation, absolutely any kind of restriction on speech is possible in the interest of “fairness.”
Filed under: Political | Tags: islamic extremists, marcomm, marketing, munasaha, public relations, radical islam, re-programming, saudi arabia
Although it’s technically not marketing or public relations when a government takes on the task of “de-programming” Islamic extremists, there are elements of PR involved, in particular when it comes to messaging. A fascinating NYT Magazine article notes the Saudi government’s work toward bringing former radicals back into the fold of society, and illustrates a key point of marketing and good messaging: make people feel like they are a part of something great… something they can identify with and call their own.
The Saudi initiative is fascinating from a communications standpoint, because it is one of the most high-stakes communications programs ever. While it would be hyperbole to say that the stability of Saudi Arabia as a nation is hanging in the balance, the fact that so many resources have been mustered behind this effort is evidence enough of its importance, and communications is at its core, as this passage of the story notes:
The Saudi government thus finds itself in the awkward position of needing to defend the principle of jihad to its citizens while discouraging them from actually taking up arms. One step it has taken is simply to talk to those who have proved to be most vulnerable to the temptations of jihad, the captured militants themselves. As Jilani put it to me, “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the confidence to fight thoughts with thoughts.”
The Saudi program to defuse the militants involves intensive periods of discussion about religious principles, including those surrounding the complex concept of Jihad – when Jihad is warranted, which Muslims are capable of discerning when Jihad is proper, and how and against whom one executes Jihad. While this type of discussion is going on, the inmates of the program are made to feel a part of Saudi society by being given the trappings of a “normal” life: clothes, a watch, a car… often a job, and sometimes even a marriage can be arranged.
In effect, this is marketing the idea of how attractive it can be to live the life of a law-abiding citizen. It’s an extreme example of the marketing and public relations efforts that companies and other organizations perform all the time: present convincing information about what you do, what you represent, and lead your target audience to the conclusions you want them to believe about your organization. And, if you’re at a trade show, give them take-away visual reminders of what you stand for: branded pens, pads of stationery with your key message on them, brochures, etc.
Giving somebody a keychain with your key messages on it isn’t the same as providing them with a car and a wife, but the technique is similar and the objective the same: achieve belief and buy-in.
Filed under: Business columns | Tags: advertising, comparison ads, comparison advertisements, economic crisis, marketing, media relations, public relations, retail marketing
One oft-quoted truism in the corporate communications field is that economic downturns change the rules. In the face of a widespread tendency for companies to reduce public relations and marketing budgets when times get lean, marketers and other communicators quietly wonder – among themselves only, of course – whether people have lost their minds; after all, during an economic slump it’s more important than ever for your company to be the one people see the most, right?
This “when times get tough, the tough get going” mindset is not lost on large retailers. They know that when consumers’ decision-making processes are pressured by a rough economy, competition for dollars needs to get fierce. Messaging from these companies reflects this ferocity, as noted in this Wall Street Journal story from today’s edition. The pugilistic approach is characterized by comparison ads, in which retailers poke competitors in the eye over various product attributes. Burger King chides McDonald’s over the size of its not-so-Big Mac. Campbell’s soup takes Progresso to task for using MSG.
From a public relations standpoint, this type of corporate messaging is a potentially useful approach – consumers want to know what makes some products different from others – but there are risks. If they get too nasty, it could affect the company’s image negatively. And if there’s an extensive back-and-forth between competitors, consumers can lose track of which benefits accrue to which product. Like in the Campbell’s ad – consumers might find themselves wondering, “Which one was it that had the bad ingredient?”
A common mistake made by newcomers to public relations and/or marketing (and sometimes veterans of the business, unfortunately) is assuming that consumers really and truly care a lot about one product or service versus another, because it exceedingly rare that this is true. The erroneous thinking is that if only the benefits of my product or service are communicated properly, people will buy from me in droves.
But the fact of the matter is that your product or service is only one of many available to consumers, and even if it’s a pretty big purchase for them (a car, a mortgage company, a computer), it’s only one small facet of their very complicated, busy lives. And, most importantly, your product is only one of many others that are also hitting consumers with messaging of their own.
The remedy to this cluttered environment, where everything in the world competes for consumer attention and dollars, is to set yourself apart (which comparison ads can help accomplish, if used well) and don’t get complacent. Don’t assume that a press release will do the trick. Nor should you think that the grand opening you held a month ago will keep momentum going. Business communications work best when (a) the messaging hits home for your target audiences, (b) it is repeated often, and (c) you do so through multiple channels (ads, news media, speeches, brochures, annual reports, presentations, sponsorships, trade shows, demonstrations, websites, contests, awards, and on and on).
And, when an economic downturn makes consumers grip their dollars more tightly, your best defense is to be the business front and center in their minds when they decide they have to spend. Comparisons with your competition is one way to do it, but that should be only one element of a broader campaign that focuses on enhancing your image and reputation.
