What is Public Relations (PR)? According to the Canadian Public Relations Society, “Public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals and serve the public interest.” However, Public Relations is more than just its definition, it is more about its impact on any given organization or brand.
The questions organizations should be asking are “what is being said, “how is it being said,” and “when is it being said? These three questions should be the focus of any organization trying to influence customers, internal staff, the general public, donors, partners and possible investors.
These three aspects are the foundation of PR within any successful brand or company.
PR helps develop the key message that consumers and the public see or hear. PR practitioners help identify how those messages are presented. Timing of the message is just as important. The overall goal of PR is to give the brand a positive outlook in a timely way to the eyes within and outside the organization and credibility within the marketplace or society.
POSITIVE PR MESSAGING, ACTION AND TIMING
Let’s take Johnnie Walker Whiskey as an example of how a brand can create positive PR for itself at an opportune time. , From the beginning, Johnnie Walker has been iconic for its logo and sold the vision of class and masculinity to their customers. In March 2018, Johnnie Walker changed its iconic logo with their black silhouette on their whiskey bottles to promote gender equality and equal representation.
The legendary whiskey company decided to appeal to another genre of clientele and introduced a limited edition whiskey named Jane Walker. This was a big change but welcomed with open arms as a portion of the sales were donated to organizations that supported women’s empowerment and representation across the United States. This transition was introduced to the public on International Women’s Day and the timing couldn’t have been better.
This modification was met with extremely positive feedback on social media channels and website traffic. This innovative idea created great publicity for the brand on a national and international level with television coverage on major news networks. This campaign answered the three questions: what, how and when. The brand’s message of supporting gender equality and representation was exemplified with the change of a logo on the bottle. The brand needed to connect with a new demographic to buy its product, affecting sales of their business. The launch of the product and campaign on International Women’s Day was timely amidst a bigger social movement for women’s empowerment.
NEGATIVE PR MESSAGING, ACTION AND TIMING
The infamous Tiger Woods scandal in 2009 is a good example of how bad PR can destroy business relationships and deliver a gut punch to a celebrity’s image. At the peak of his career,
Woods was the ideal athlete, loyal husband, family man and exemplary spokesperson for Nike. Then, allegations of infidelity emerged, shattering his brand. Two days after the National Enquirer story, he crashed his car. He released a statement on his website apologizing about the accident but refuting the allegations of adultery as “false, unfounded and malicious rumors.” As we know now, this was only the start of his long reputational demise.
As the days went by, the story started to show its diverse layers of deception with numerous women coming forward about alleged affairs with the famous golfer. The problem, his adultery, was compounded by how his PR was handled – it was never genuine, heartfelt or authentic.
As stories came out, more statements were released and it seemed to the public as if they were carefree. As the story continued, major companies and brands decided to distance themselves from the star golfer because of the broken image he was now portraying. It wasn’t until almost three months later that Woods made a live statement taking accountability for his actions and expressing great remorse; by that point, however, his credibility was lost in the eyes of fans, media and partners.
From the start, Woods would have been better off admitting his faults and coming clean about the accusations before they started to trickle out. Transparency and honesty would have served him much better than the way his PR team handled the situation. What was being said was inaccurate and misleading. How it was being said was not genuine. And, the timing couldn’t have been worse as it seemed forced in the eyes of the public.
These two examples show how PR can improve a brand’s reputation or destroy its credibility.
WORKING WITH PR PROFESSIONALS
Effective PR can have an enormous impact on a company or brand if utilized correctly. It has the ability to create strategies specific to a message or demographic of people the company wants to attract or target. Working with PR professionals and building a communications strategy can help businesses grow, raise their credibility and define their brand.
PR is also a cost-effective way to build reputation, tell the organization’s story and grow business. Traditional advertising can be very expensive and ineffective. PR teams can be imaginative and gain attention via other avenues or partnerships. With connections within the media industry, PR professionals can share information with newspapers and local news stations to promote a positive image of that brand or company. This attention can be utilized on the company website, social media platforms or press conferences within the community.
PR departments within an organization help companies create an image to consumers, potential investors, public and even donors. Their vision can amplify positive aspects of the company or brand but also address negativity effectively to reduce damage to the brand. No company wants to be associated with negative reputation and an effective PR team can make sure this reduces negative impact on customers or company culture.
Written by Mitchell Denman
Mitchell recently graduated with a Bachelor of Professional Arts focusing in Communications through the University of Athabasca. He has volunteered with the CFL in a communications role in the 2018 Grey Cup, one of his proudest professional accomplishments. With a passion for sports and athletics, Mitchell is pursuing a career in public relations, communications and social media in an entry-level role.