Public Relations Ideas

Public relations (PR) efforts, like advertising, can help to build business and product awareness among target buyers and end users, often at a fraction of the cost of advertising. Many small and large businesses consciously utilize PR as a way to obtain free advertising about their products and services. PR can be an effective way to generate valuable word-of-mouth advertising, sometimes due to the greater credibility and availability of information provided in editorial articles and interviews with your company personnel.

How persuasive is PR? Free media publicity was largely responsible for the brief (1989-90), frenetic ground swell for consumption of oat bran as an anti-cancer food. Melatonin, a naturally produced substance that aids sleep and may be an anti-aging product, is another PR craze, with newspaper, magazine, and electronic media discussing positive preliminary research results. Health food companies cash in on this free publicity, without spending funds for advertising, promotion, or public relations.

Snapple, the tea-based beverage, achieved sales in the hundreds of millions with zany PR programs that generated millions of dollars in free publicity. After the Snapple brand was purchased by Quaker Oats, the zany PR stopped and sales declined. The Body Shop, an earth-friendly, pro-community/people cosmetics company with hundreds of millions of dollars in sales, works only with PR events to promote its business.

PR can leverage advertising and promotion programs. PR events can leverage the effects of advertising and promotion programs by tying all these marketing elements together. For example, a local on-site PR event for an automotive service company could include erecting a hospitality tent for company sales personnel to entertain key buyers at a local auto race. The local chain store buyers and car-owner end users could be exposed to ad messages on billboards, from announcers, and on race cars with the company logo.

Buyers and end users could be given a free promotional sample to take home and try in their cars.

Public relations is an ongoing process and must be worked at every day on every level of your business from the way you deal with your employees to how quickly you shovel the snow from in front of your establishment. Make it a habit to constantly consider the image you are projecting. It's a good one to have.

For more on PR, see our discussions on:

• PR program execution
• press releases
• public service activities
• special events
• company vehicles and materials