I wanted to talk to you about PR today, and why I think, sometimes it has a bad reputation for being about spin. It’s also made famous by TV shows like Absolutely Fabulous, The Thick of It, and The West Wing. So our perception is skewed of how PR can be used to help businesses grow.
More recently, there have been some reports of darker uses of Public Relations to create a negative reputation of a rival company as well.
But, many good PR firms, consultants, and individuals uphold strong ethical codes of conduct and continue to support a fair and professional industry. I am here to tell you that it is one of the best business tools you can have in your arsenal—done right, of course!
So I bust three big myths today. If you are embarking on a PR programme in your business, this episode is for you.
Here are the links I mention in this episode.
Edleman Trust Barometer 2021
https://www.edelman.com/trust/2021-trust-barometer
The Times investigative news story about allegations around the World cup 2022:
Guardian story on the allegations surrounding the Pfizer vaccine and paid influencers
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PS – Did you know? Communication Strategy That Works is in the top 90 UK Small Business Podcasts you must listen to in 2021, by Feedspot.
Full Transcript (unedited)
Emma Drake: Hello, and welcome to this episode of Communication Strategy That Works with me, Emma Drake. Hi everyone. Thanks for tuning in today. I hope everyone is okay. It’s very hot here in the UK. I hope everyone that’s listening who’s in the UK is getting to enjoy a little bit of sunshine this week.
So for those of you who have listened to the podcast for a while now would know this, but just in case you’ve tuned in today, I’m Emma and I’m a communication strategy expert and external advisor to businesses. I’ve worked with many types of businesses, but I love to work with businesses that are funded to grow and have ambitious plans to be bigger companies one day.
I’m making it my mission to help you break down some of these big topics in communicating your business and help you work out how to implement these into your business, to create value, build trust and save you time, money and energy.
So today I wanted to talk to you all about PR and it can have a bit of a bad reputation for being about spin. It’s made famous by things like the TV shows like Absolutely Fabulous, In The Thick of It and The West Wing, et cetera.
So more recently as well, I think there have been some pretty dark reports of public relations being used by a few bad big agencies to actually create some negative reputation of a rival company. So I just wanted to highlight these today and then talk you through some of the big myths that I’m going to bust for you.
One notable example is the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and the scandal that started around that in 2015. And allegedly, a whistleblower revealed that a PR firm was hired in a dirty tricks campaign to run these black operations to sabotage the rivals competing to host the tournament. And this is all according to documents leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the UK.
And these emails from the whistleblower apparently showed how the Qatar bid team paid a public relations firm to pump out fake propaganda about its main rivals, the United States and Australia. And this was all during its successful campaign to host the world cup. So they were actually successful in doing that.
More recently, more worryingly I think, a similar scandal has erupted over, I think it was a Russian PR firm, that was allegedly hired to engage influencers to rubbish the COVID 19 Pfizer vaccine and scupper its rollout. And this was reported by the investigative team at the Guardian newspaper in the UK.
What is wrong with people? First of all, why… What goes through people’s minds to think that is a good idea. You can only think that it’s driven by money and greed, can’t you? Anyway, these horrific examples and worrying uses of public relations, they feel the thought that PR is all about spin and it’s a dark art. So we become conditioned to think about it as it being about creating a good profile, no matter what.
Well, I’m here to tell you today, that’s a load of rubbish. There are many good PR firms, consultants and individuals that uphold ethical codes of conduct and continue to support a fair and professional industry all across the globe. And it’s actually one of the best business tools you can have in your arsenal done right of course.
So I’m going to talk to you today about three big myths I thought I would bust and these are a little close to home. So let’s dive in.
Myth one, PR does not stand for press releases or does it mean being seen in the media. It’s short for public relations and that covers everything you do and say as a business. This includes how you and your employees act as a brand, how your projects and your businesses are perceived by the outside world and how you are perceived by your audience. It encompasses everything you promote, everything you say and all the content you put out. It is arguably at the very heart of your business.
So the word public in public relations in that sense, is everybody from people in your supply chain, to your customers, your staff, funders and shareholders.
Press releases on the other hand, and speaking to the media and being seen in the media, is just one tool in the wider PR kit. And press release is in particular aimed at informing journalists about news or breaking news regarding your company, product or service. That is a sole purpose they serve. Is to connect with uninformed journalists of your company news. And they are an excellent tool when written and executed well. But public relations is not something you only use when you have something newsworthy you want to share with the media.
This leads us on to myth number two, PR is all about promotion. Well, this is wrong too. Public relations is primarily about reputation. So what does that mean? It’s about affecting every single way your business is perceived and impacted by every single personal entity you interact with, as they form an opinion about you. Based on that interaction, it’s actually quite simple to understand.
So when you interact with brands or you buy their products and services, you form an opinion about that brand. I do. And it drives why you buy that product or service. So public relations activity can help you manage that opinion, but in a good way, it can protect your reputation and promote your brand. So it’s a really important tool.
This leads us on to what I started the podcast with today. And that’s PR is all about spin. And I covered this a bit at the beginning, but here’s a story a little bit closer to home.
So when I was a post-grad in 1999, one of the books on my reading list was called Toxic Sludge is Good For You. It’s a great book. And it sums up this misconception about PR, I think really well. And it was of its time. We’re talking 1999, things were a lot different. The internet was only just being invented. So this is very different times.
But generally speaking, spin in this sense is not a good approach to public relations. Spinning a very negative situation into a good one is not a best practice approach. Creating a positive brand experience is. And what do I mean by that?
So, as I said, we live in an age where people can find out stuff about us, at the swipe of a finger, on a screen. Stuff about you, stuff about me, stuff about our businesses, just at the swipe of a finger on a screen.
So don’t pretend, don’t lie and never spin a negative situation into a positive one if it really isn’t. The best approach, even in a negative situation is, be open, be honest, be transparent and if something goes wrong, be clear and honest and act ethical about what you’re doing to fix it. Even if you work in a challenging sector, your customers place a really high value on trust. And it is on the rise. Open then link in the show notes by the Edelman Trust Barometer.
It surveys global companies and consumers and it talks about how we trust different bodies, such as governments, businesses. And in businesses, it’s actually on the rise. So people trust brands that do a really good job.
So today, what have you learned? What have you learned about PR? Well, what is PR? It’s paying attention to everything you say and do in your business. It’s managing your reputation. It’s building trust. It’s being open with your customers, your team, your suppliers, everyone who comes into contact with you and your business. It is a hugely important part of your business.
So if you want to understand a bit more, you want to talk to me further, you can drop into my Facebook page, over on Facebook at Comms That Works. I’ll put a link in the show notes. But you can also DM me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn.
So finally, thank you for listening to this episode of Communication Strategy That Works. Don’t forget to check my show notes for those links that I mentioned. And I’d really love it if you would subscribe to my podcast and leave me a review. And also if you think there’s someone that could benefit from listening to this podcast, please share this within your networks. So I’ll just say bye for now and see you next time.