Public Relations in a crisis !
I recently read an article by Dali Singh that said ‘Public Relations is a wildcat marketing strategy, which implemented correctly can yield tremendous results’. In spite of being a discipline and a practice in itself, separate from marketing the value of PR is only really realized in times of crisis.
PR is employed by organizations and individuals in order to maintain and build their public image; however PR also steps in when
the same public image is in jeopardy. When Johnson & Johnson was accused of using Cyanide as in ingredient in Tylenol tablets causing a number of fatalities in USA it was an effective step by step in-house PR plan that made Tylenol bounce back as a trusted and popular medicine. Similarly in India Cadbury chocolates were found to contain insects which resulted in a huge drop in sales and loss of brand loyalty. In answer to this Cadbury came up with an effective PR campaign that involved celebrity endorsements and FDA approvals and today they are back on track.
PR is employed by organizations and individuals in order to maintain and build their public image; however PR also steps in when
the same public image is in jeopardy. When Johnson & Johnson was accused of using Cyanide as in ingredient in Tylenol tablets causing a number of fatalities in USA it was an effective step by step in-house PR plan that made Tylenol bounce back as a trusted and popular medicine. Similarly in India Cadbury chocolates were found to contain insects which resulted in a huge drop in sales and loss of brand loyalty. In answer to this Cadbury came up with an effective PR campaign that involved celebrity endorsements and FDA approvals and today they are back on track. There are a number of examples that elucidate the effectiveness of PR in a crisis situation, and honestly it is the crisis’ that have given Public Relation’s its elevated identity. For a long time PR has hidden in the shadows of marketing, a lot of the credit due to PR has been termed and passed off as ‘Effective Marketing Strategy’; this maybe because of an organization’s structural break-up or hierarchy that always clubbed PR under Marketing. In spite of playing such a monumental role a PR person still struggles to get recognition within the upper echelons of a company’s organizational structure.
Be it Alastair Campbell for Tony Blair or Max Clifford for England’s numerous celebrities, PR persons are the first people they run to when a scandal breaks out and one needs to do serious damage control within the media. They maybe called spin-doctors and maybe accused of manipulating the public via the media, but it cannot be denied that in the past they have also managed to put a ‘spin’ on numerous crisis’ and subsequently save the day.
3 comments:
Good points made, and well, it's true. It's always PR to the rescue, and PR shaping your reputation... Title's interesting... Made be think that PR is in a crisis, and not how PR alleviates a crisis! Catches the user's attention, and makes them think... Good stuff :)
Blog looks nice as well - neat, minimal and aesthetically pleasing!!
It's true that people have always run to a pr professional in times of crisis, but it is thru their effective handling of these crisis situations that today more and more organzations are realizing the value and importance of public relations. No longer is has it remained as just a tool for dealing with a crisis but slowly it is becoming the new marketing way for comapines.
I dont feel that PR is used by firms only in times of crisis.B eing a student of Advanced Marketing myself, I feel that the role of PR stretches much beyond the conventional types, ie to save a company form a tarnished image, like the Cadbury Case. PR,today is being widely used by firms all over to publicise a product or service, mainly because of its low cost, as compared to advertising and also becuase it effectively reaches the masses because of a face-to-face intercation.
Post a Comment