Public relations is gaining greater leverage and respect in brand marketing. Many companies and brands are bestowing a larger role on public relations in their overall marketing and brand management strategy, sometimes even a leading role.
More companies realize that:
- Successful marketing requires a multichannel effort,
- PR is especially well-suited for amplifying paid media through earned and social media,
- PR channels can reach consumers that paid media misses,
- PR is crucial for cause marketing,
- Organizations are now better able to measure how PR contributes to the bottom line.
An Integrated World
“More and more CMOs are recognizing the power and importance of PR, and I’m seeing more practitioners in the field being involved in integrated campaigns and that’s dramatically accelerated PR’s pace,” Harris Diamond, McCann Worldgroup chairman-CEO, told Advertising Age.
Coldwell Banker granted its internal PR department and PR agency CooperKatz & Co. a leading role it its smart home initiative. Coldwell Banker is confident that smart home tech will significantly impact residential real estate sales. Through PR, Coldwell Banker has formed partnerships with Nest, LG, CNET and Lutron.
“Our smart home strategy is a result of my challenge to our PR internal department and CooperKatz to craft a three-year plan that moves us beyond traditional public relations, and into the digital age and strategic partnerships,” Coldwell Banker Chief Marketing Officer Sean Blankenship told Advertising Age. “There is no better discipline than this in today’s transformative and interactive marketing landscape.”
Cause Marketing
H&R Block Chief Marketing Officer Kathy Collins agreed that PR is gaining more recognition in the corporate world. H&R Block, for one, is investing more in PR, especially on Dollars & Sense, its cause marketing program for improving teen financial literacy. It’s also relying on PR more for social media and its partnership with the NBA.
In addition, more companies understand the importance of maintaining and promoting public trust. It’s crucial for brands to monitor websites and social media content in order to protect their reputations, says Richard D. Pace at Everything PR. “Public relations can make or break an entity, as PR is the part of an organization that chooses what people see, how they see it, and even how they perceive it,” Pace states
Overcoming the PR Measurement Challenge
Top executives and professionals in other lines of work have traditionally had difficulty understanding how PR contributes to ROI. Unlike paid media, PR cannot guarantee placements. New media monitoring and measurement tools are helping PR overcome that challenge.
New PR measurement services can integrate the monitoring and measurement of traditional media with social media. They can monitor media mentions, determine how positive or negative the coverage was, and correlate the coverage to business objectives like sales. In addition, new PR measurement dashboards from services like CyberAlert LLC are easily customized to the needs of an organization and its different departments.
Bottom Line: Several ongoing trends are helping PR win a seat at the executive leadership table. More companies appreciate the substantial benefits of PR, and more robust PR measurement tools can help PR pros quantify those benefits.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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