PR Success Equals Five Times Be
So just what is the difference between marketing and public relations? Are they the same thing?
Actually, they’re two different yet complimentary disciplines. Marketing is a process within which the practice of public relations can be a highly effective tactic. PR, as it’s more commonly referred to, most often uses methods that exclude paid advertising. It’s not surprising that as advertising costs increase and media choices multiply, many companies, including public transportation organizations, are using PR to get their messages out.
When it comes to PR there are many tactical choices such as newsletters, brochures, news releases, media events and so forth. Certainly creativity plays a role in making PR effective. But to be consistently successful requires an underlying PR philosophy I call the “5 Be’s”. Here they are for your consideration:
1. Be Principled. Honesty, accessibility, fairness and accuracy make for an ethical foundation on which to build a credible PR program. A good example of ethical principles is the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) code of ethics. PRSA members are required to subscribe to the code which you can check out at http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/ethics/preamble_en.html. Even if you don’t belong to PRSA, these ethical guidelines should serve you well when conducting PR activities.
2. Be Focused. Focusing on the recruitment and retention of riders or on your organization’s reputation provides not just a conceptual anchor for your PR efforts, but a basis for measuring your results.
3. Be Aware of Your Audience. Just like any other marketing effort, PR programs require the discipline to identify and communicate to a target audience. Messages and activities need to be crafted to deal with those audiences. It may be a simple as geographically “zoning” a news release for service changes, or as complex as creating advocacy communications pieces for multiple audiences.
4. Be Integrated. Your PR efforts should always be consistent with the messages used in your ads, internal newsletters, and other points of contact you have with target audiences. The net result is that each marketing tactic reinforces the other making your entire communications effort much more than the sum of its parts.
5. Be The Brand. If your brand personality includes excellence, reliability, friendliness, etc., then the people who represent you in word and deed should be emulating those qualities. Branding isn’t the sole responsibility of the marketing department, but every one in every corner of your organization who comes in contact with your customers. In essence, it’s the “public” part of public relations. When choosing spokespeople, outreach specialists, customer service representatives, operators and anyone else who becomes your public face, be sure their personality matches your organization’s brand personality.
Keep the thread going by adding or modifying the above principles, or by sharing a story that relates to one or more of the “Be’s”. Let me hear from you!
Joe Caruso is Senior Consultant for Brecon Hill Consulting. He’s the former marketing director for the Milwaukee County Transit System (WI) and has over 32 years of transit marketing experience. He welcomes your comments at jcaruso@breconhill.com.