A strong brand name means everything in marketing. Having a recognizable and trusted logo can move mountains for companies – especially in tough economic times. Yet many believe—erroneously — that building brand awareness is solely related to advertising and not other components of the integrated marketing communications portfolio. I’d like to highlight ways in which public relations can assist in building brand awareness and even enhance brand loyalty.
This post is not intended to say that advertising does not aid in brand awareness. In fact, it plays a major role in the overall campaign. But there are many other ways that PR can help too. Together, advertising and PR can help drive brand awareness and loyalty through the roof.
By definition, one of the overarching concepts of PR is to build and strengthen relationships between an organization and its publics. This can be done in a number of ways including developing relationships with reporters and relevant industry analysts; placing contributed articles/case studies/white papers/opinion pieces in targeted outlets; using social media tools to comment on industry happenings, share company news and connect directly with customers and others; securing high-visibility speaking engagements; crafting winning award submissions; and so much more. Using multiple channels to reach intended audiences helps grow brand awareness and strengthen brand.
Throughout the past year, we’ve seen changes in the media landscape as the economy has shifted. The news coverage has focused more on the declining sales and revenues of companies than the positive outlook stories (in fairness, these have been few and far recently). At times, it felt like the only way to secure coverage was to have a poor financial outlook story. (And who really wants to promote that?)
As communications budgets – which have largely been focused on advertising spend - declined over the past twelve months, communications professionals have been challenged to explore “out-of-the-box” ways to keep their companies in the spotlight despite the economy and negative sales figures. What better way to do so than proactive efforts to build thought leadership? Using bylined articles and case studies that are focused on industry trends and timely issues are two powerful ways to keep your company top of mind in the press and position them as a leader and/or innovator in their respected areas.
These types of campaigns should be implemented throughout an annual PR campaign – not only in a negative economy. For one of our clients, InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, we consistently work to secure one thought leadership piece per month in a targeted industry publication. Each month has a theme. September’s theme was precise marketing, and we placed a featured article in Target Marketing. In November, we placed a story in Mailing Systems Technology Magazine that focused on ways to increase productivity in mailrooms.
What does this mean to a PR campaign? It’s simple – there are more ways to get a brand name out there than by featuring a logo on an ad or placing a quote in an industry article. Sometimes what companies need is an ongoing effort to showcase thought leadership. Simple, but consistent, efforts to write and place bylined articles or secure third-party validation with a customer case study can go a long way. And these are just two possibilities.
Looking forward to seeing your byline soon…
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