3 July 2023
Because we have a better view (and we don’t have favourites)
It’s a bold claim, but what does it really mean?
Allow me to unpick it for you.
When we look at putting together a PR programme for a client, we naturally want to know, first of all, what they want to achieve.
This may include sales enquiries, higher media profile, bigger voice in the industry, being seen as thought leaders etc etc.
We then look at what they have that we can work with to achieve these objectives. Product USPs, R&D, innovation, case studies, whatever’s needed.
Now, sometimes a company’s view of their strengths or where they think they’re good doesn’t actually play out in the marketplace or, even if it does, all of their competitors are saying the same things.
What we need to look for are real differentiators that make them stand out from the crowd.
Basically, we look at a business from an outsider’s perspective and have a clearer view of what makes them special.
And when it comes to promoting products a similar situation can arise.
We look at products that are the most marketable, the ones that stand out and make a difference to how a company might be perceived. These might not be the same as the products that make the company the most money (their favourites).
But, by including them in the PR programme, they do more to focus attention on the company and its entire product range than, say, commodity products that are actually the bread and butter of the client’s revenue.
This is particularly important in brand building, supporting thought leadership and being seen to be different or innovative.
That’s not to say we don’t include the ‘workhorse’ products in the PR programme. We do. But we won’t try and deliver a ‘wow’ PR story for a ‘me too’ product. It just won’t work.
We’ll look for an angle that truly sells a unique benefit or get other people to say why they swear by these product or, maybe, focus on why customers like dealing with the company (it’s often the case that the way a company handles itself is the main attraction, rather than the merits of the product itself, certainly in the case of commodity products).
All-in-all, it’s easier to get a better picture of a company from the outside looking in, than from the inside looking out. And because we haven’t invested time and emotion building the company or developing the products, we can take a more dispassionate view, focusing predominantly on what works in PR terms.
