At the best of times PR is a misunderstood profession in India. It is viewed upon something like a dirty tricks department rather than an organised and professional part of the marketing plan of a company. Even the so called corporate organisations, who should know better evaluate a PR firm or a consultant's success in terms of the amount of media coverage they will manage to obtain. So at the time of interviewing a prospective agency, there are questions about the size of coverage and the pedigree of the publications and TV channels. Why not buy ads then?
PR consultants too get caught up in this insidious game, and come up with their own set of preconditions for obtaining such coverage. If you remember your economics theory lessons from school, for every theory there would be a set of preconditions-often couched in the words"other things remaining the same". Likewise PR consultants try to ensure any shortfall in promised coverage is attributed to the neglect of certain precondition. This leads to a sort of an adversarial client-consultant relationship where the former tries to see how much print space or time they are able to wring out, and the latter are focused on trying to increase the number of news items that appear, irrespective of whether it is in the best interest of the client.
The last couple of years have been rather rough for most businesses and at times such as these PR and advertising agencies often get the rough end of the stick when it comes to receiving payments. Delays are endemic and quite often full payments are never made. This leads to agencies insisting on advances , which in turn results in loss of business. The worst casualty of the whole process is that something as vital as advocacy and organic promotion , especially in economically stressful times does not receive the due attention it deserves.
Instead of getting fixated on something as abstract as coverage both marketers and PR consultants need to wake up and smell the coffee and realise that there is something called a digital universe, which is completely and totally ROI driven and accounts for every single penny spent. There is no scope for vague and unrealistic expectations here. Businesses worldwide are beginning to realise the that this is the way they can get a huge bang out of every buck spent and in a minutely calibrated fashion too. PR consultants need to upgrade their Internet marketing skills and understand the nuances of this game. You don't just issue a press release to a mainline newspaper or even to an online news portal any more. You need to go to authority bloggers. Your online press release is no good if doesn't have back links. What sort of online reputation does the client and indeed the PR consultant have?
Top drawer professionalism and familiarity with cutting edge technology is the only way forward in the times ahead. As Internet penetration gains even more traction both businesses and PR agencies need to upgrade their skills and leverage the immense possibilities. The time to squabble over traditional media coverage may soon be over.
PR consultants too get caught up in this insidious game, and come up with their own set of preconditions for obtaining such coverage. If you remember your economics theory lessons from school, for every theory there would be a set of preconditions-often couched in the words"other things remaining the same". Likewise PR consultants try to ensure any shortfall in promised coverage is attributed to the neglect of certain precondition. This leads to a sort of an adversarial client-consultant relationship where the former tries to see how much print space or time they are able to wring out, and the latter are focused on trying to increase the number of news items that appear, irrespective of whether it is in the best interest of the client.
The last couple of years have been rather rough for most businesses and at times such as these PR and advertising agencies often get the rough end of the stick when it comes to receiving payments. Delays are endemic and quite often full payments are never made. This leads to agencies insisting on advances , which in turn results in loss of business. The worst casualty of the whole process is that something as vital as advocacy and organic promotion , especially in economically stressful times does not receive the due attention it deserves.
Instead of getting fixated on something as abstract as coverage both marketers and PR consultants need to wake up and smell the coffee and realise that there is something called a digital universe, which is completely and totally ROI driven and accounts for every single penny spent. There is no scope for vague and unrealistic expectations here. Businesses worldwide are beginning to realise the that this is the way they can get a huge bang out of every buck spent and in a minutely calibrated fashion too. PR consultants need to upgrade their Internet marketing skills and understand the nuances of this game. You don't just issue a press release to a mainline newspaper or even to an online news portal any more. You need to go to authority bloggers. Your online press release is no good if doesn't have back links. What sort of online reputation does the client and indeed the PR consultant have?
Top drawer professionalism and familiarity with cutting edge technology is the only way forward in the times ahead. As Internet penetration gains even more traction both businesses and PR agencies need to upgrade their skills and leverage the immense possibilities. The time to squabble over traditional media coverage may soon be over.
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