How Can PR Help Your Business?
PR builds your company or product’s image so it’s top of mind and desirable for your potential customers. If your company or product isn’t well known, PR is an excellent way to boost your image, frame your reputation, and get noticed. PR strategies can refresh a tired or invalid image and support your top talent, so others recognize their expertise and influence. And, of course, PR can lighten the impact of a crisis and, with the proper communications, maybe even turn that crisis into an opportunity.
But what might surprise people is that PR can help solve actual business problems, especially when companies and PR pros get creative. That’s why we like to ask our customers what keeps them up at night so we can work our PR magic to find solutions.
Here’s a Ship-Sized PR Story.
Our CEO, Paul Wilke, solved a big problem when he worked for a global container shipping company in Asia. To stay up on PR needs, Paul regularly connected with each country manager to discuss what issues they faced in their countries. When chatting with the country manager from India, Paul discovered the government was not allowing large ships into a critical port where the company needed to enter. He suggested creating an event surrounding the maiden voyage of a new ship to make its first landing in the Indian port. It would be a positive event for the government and the shipping company.
He and the country manager created a plan for the big event incorporating media and communication to promote it globally. The manager presented the idea as a business proposal to promote the government as welcoming to business and growing commerce. The government agreed. The event made the news, made everyone look good, and the positive coverage made the port more receptive to bringing in large ships.
This story is a big example of communications solving a significant business problem. Your problem doesn’t have to be ship-sized. Smaller challenges also benefit from looking through a communications lens. Bring your communications team into the discussion early when making changes or solving issues. Be open-minded and see what your communications team suggests. Problems aren’t solved in isolation. Ideas come to life by facilitating dialog, and PR teams are already outside the box, so see what they think.
When Should You Ask for PR Help?
If your organization doesn’t have the resources in communications and PR, consider bringing the pros to help solve your business dilemma. Many options exist to support your team, from large global firms to small firms and solo practitioners. To find communications support that fits your needs, ask your network of contacts who they’ve worked with. When you see solutions, campaigns and coverage you’re impressed with, find out who did the work. Of course, you could reach out to us too!
Thank you for checking out this Upright Uptake.
We have many other Uptakes episodes on our YouTube channel and blog to learn how PR can support your company.
If your organization is looking for PR counsel, please get in touch with us at uptake@uprightcomms.com. We’d love to help you find solutions that make your business stand out.