Holden P.R., Wilde N. Marketing and PR on a Shoestring
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One of our clients picked up the phone and had a ten-minute
conversation with the local BBC office about how one of his
products could help in the fight against childhood obesity.
There are usually times to avoid ringing, such as the morn-
ing of the print deadline, but you always have the option of
sending an e-mail as well.
How can you measure the output of our public
relations activities?
We’ve already hinted that you need to consider the value of your
public relations activities. If they are an investment, what is the
return?
You should be clear that public relations is not just about pub-
licity seeking and, as with all the other marketing tools, you should
set clear objectives.
One way of assessing the value of PR output is to measure it in
terms of ‘advertising equivalency’. If you manage to get a piece on
the front page of your local paper, then you can easily calculate the
size of the piece and how much that area of the page would cost if
you had placed an ad.
Most of the market research activities explored in Chapter 3 can
also be used to monitor and measure the effects of public relations
activities. If, for example, you were concerned about the perception
of your products within the air conditioning industry, then your
research might also include asking customers and potential cus-
tomers (as well as other stakeholders such as journalists) about your
image and reputation.
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A picture saves a thousand words
In order to support the great story you have developed for your press
and news releases, you can also supply photographs. These are
almost essential since they immediately add impact to your story
and present the editor with an additional reason for including it.
They also make your item far easier to find on a page and more
memorable.
An increasing number of companies and their public relations
agencies are creating photo opportunities for their stories. There are
many examples of organisations setting up mini-demonstrations to
make a point to the media, or even creating spoof events. There is
considerable expertise needed to make this happen so it could be in
your interests at least to consult an agency.
And before you start ordering a fancy dress outfit and parading
through your local high street to create ‘an event’, think carefully about
the image you wish to portray. It might not be the best option
for the upmarket restaurant/computing/engineering business –
well, let’s face it, it’s probably not right for any business.
The first step is actually to consider the message (remember your
insight, your brand) that you want to get across. The design com-
pany Allofus designed an exhibit for the Science Museum. It was
to help introduce visitors to Einstein. The exhibit included a large
caricature of Albert Einstein riding a bicycle. It was so striking that it
was carried on the front page of several national newspapers and
gained the equivalent of several thousand pounds of advertising and
a readership of over one million people
8
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Generating leads through sponsorship
There is plenty of research to show that sponsorship is successful, but
many writers in this area will now tell you that it can only have an
impact on sales if it is co-ordinated with other promotional activities.
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However, from a small business perspective there are other reasons
to invest in sponsorship.
Before you spend money, you should again consider your main
stakeholders. Do you sponsor the local football team with a new set
of shirts, or would it be better to give up some other resources to
help them out. Perhaps you have a spare room on your premises that
they could use for club meetings, which would help them to reduce
some of their outgoings?
Perhaps your engineering firm would gain more from using its
expertise to help a local group, rather than spending £400 on new
kit for the under 12s. Could your restaurant be a subsidised venue
for the local wine club, or mother and toddler group? Or what about
making netball posts for the local women’s netball team?
A word of warning. Sponsorship opportunities are often offered
to businesses without any concept of the benefits to each party.
Always make these decisions with your head – referring back to your
strategy. And be careful about sponsoring a sport simply because
you enjoy it; there might be a better cause to support. Remember, it
only adds value to the business if it adds value for your customers. If
in doubt, ask your customers; you could even ask them to vote.
The benefits of sponsorship are that it generates considerable
goodwill for your company and helps you forge closer links with your
community. The estate agent that always sponsors the local primary
school fete or the restaurant that provides food for a homeless char-
ity are seen as different kinds of business as a result. Of course, as
your brand is based on truth it goes without saying that sponsorship
agreements shouldn’t be taken on lightly – and certainly the nega-
tive publicity of suddenly ‘dropping’ charitable support when the
budget is tight needs to be seriously considered.
You will need to set some objectives, such as increased media
coverage, improving the reputation of your company, or in some
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cases opportunities to reward your staff and customers with tickets
to see the local rugby team that you have sponsored. Working with
the local community should help raise the profile of your company
and make stakeholders look upon you more favourably.
Creating events
Events can range from small corporate events consisting of a few
clients to large outdoor events organised for the general public.
Events can be used to talk directly to customers, staff or indeed
most of the stakeholders we have identified in this chapter. But they
can also create a wider sense of excitement and interest, enabling
customers and others to learn about you.
Crucially such events should be completely in keeping with your
brand – your aims and values – a ‘brand experience’. A whisky
distiller offers places at its ‘whisky school’
9
– why isn’t there a
plumber that offers short evening classes in the local church hall
about how to cope in an emergency? Why don’t car dealerships offer
safety classes for women who drive alone? Events offer a great
chance to showcase your business and make people feel as if they
know, and trust, you a little more.
Being a good citizen
The community in which your business operates is a stakeholder too
– or rather several thousand stakeholders. Your community is
important because it’s where your staff live, where neighbours can
choose to report if your shop is being burgled and, crucially, where
people will complain if they believe your business is irresponsible or
undesirable.
Being a good citizen is all about generating goodwill with people
who might not be customers, but could be, and who can influence
others. It’s a mistake to think that the people who walk past your
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business are ‘just’ customers (or worse still, unimportant because
they’re not customers). Indeed the more you have researched them,
having read Chapter 3, the more you should be growing to like them.
You should certainly take an interest in what matters to them; their
community.
What options are there for your business? How closely do you
work with the local community? Could you help the local school or
college and create some media attention for your business? How
about allowing your staff to take some time out every week to help a
local charity? This isn’t a gimmick to gain short-term publicity, but
can be a genuine way to help motivate your staff.
There are numerous opportunities and demonstrating your sense
of corporate social responsibility contributes to your business being
distinctive and genuinely liked.
Decisions, decisions
You may well be asking, which is the best option for your business?
If in doubt, go back to your earliest decisions. You’ve decided
how many customers you need to gain (and their value) and you
know what you have to offer, your brand, your position and how you
want your business to be seen.
Your acquisition plan should therefore be based on the most
cost-efficient methods of getting this important information to the
highest possible number of ‘your’ customers. This is the only criterion
for the choice of communications methods. And remember, the
budget has to be allocated in the most efficient way.
You start with the most direct methods. You create opportunities
for potential clients to interact with you, by meeting them or giving
them the information that they need to make their decision (again
as directly as possible). Then you consider more ‘distant’ methods –
always making response as easy as possible. Then, if you can, you
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may use some of the indirect methods to help warm up the market –
to make targeted customers (and influencers/decision makers) more
receptive to your message.
The truth
Just a reminder about what should be at the heart of all your market-
ing activity. The truth is what your customers will find out after they
have bought from you, perhaps the very first time they use you. And
if there is any difference between what you promise and the truth,
they will lose some faith in you. Eventually they will go elsewhere.
So, make sure you have a ‘good truth’ to tell, that you always
deliver it (that’s Chapter 5 in a nutshell) and that your brand image
and all your communications always promise it.
What next?
You are now in a position to start putting together your action plan
for getting new customers. Remember that in some cases this means
stepping outside of your comfort zone and inviting new people in to
do business with you.
You will be aware of the need to be realistic in your target setting
and to be sure that all of your staff are aware of the implications of
trying to attract new business.
Winning a new order and then not being able to fulfil it can send
out disastrously negative messages to the market and impact on
your ability to win further new business.
You should be building a plan that involves actions focused on
the top of your ‘customer pyramid’ seeking to hit the easiest targets
first. Then you may be working your way down using other, less direct
methods helping you establish new contacts, acquire new customers
and increase awareness and understanding of your brand among
the stakeholders you have identified.
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Notes/References
1. In truth, the base of this pyramid could be ten times wider than
we show here. The number of ‘your’ customers out there who are
reading or viewing the mass media is tiny. Don’t chase big audi-
ences; target your ideal customers as precisely as you can. In the
end it’s the cheapest way too.
2. The Direct Marketing Association (www.dma.org.uk) has useful
free publications that give you advice on best practice and the
rules and regulations that govern direct marketing. The Direct
Marketing Association, DMA House, 70 Margaret Street,
London W1W 8SS; tel. +44 (0)20 7291 3300; e-mail
info@dma.org.uk.
If your business depends on direct marketing, you might find it
useful to join the Institute of Direct Marketing (www.theidm.com)
or go on one of their numerous courses. The Institute of Direct
Marketing, 1 Park Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0AR; tel.
+44 (0)20 8977 5705; e-mail enquiries@theidm.com.
3. Just in case it’s not obvious, you should be aiming for more ‘keen
buyers’. So it’s useful to see if there is any obvious difference
between the segments you’ve identified. It could be anything; age,
profession, type of company (for company clients) or it might be
unknown. In this case, you will have to continue recruiting both,
perhaps do some more research, but perhaps also modify the
AMC to make the ‘careful buyers’ a little more profitable.
4. www.sethgodin.com
5. Ehrenberg Bass Institute for Marketing Science
(www.marketingscience.info).
6. Click on Vision’s website to see the ‘Guide to Branding’ and other
useful information (www.brand-vision.co.uk).
7. David Tebbutt, a respected journalist and trainer in media skills,
gives some very handy tips in his interview by Alex Bellinger on
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the small business podcast (www.smallbizpod.co.uk). Other pod-
casts at the same site are as interesting and useful.
8. www.allofus.org, a design company with some outstanding and
innovative work.
9. www.whisky.co.uk/distillery/whiskyschool.html
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7KEEPING IT GOING
In our final chapter, we ask you to consider the decisions
you’ve made so far and show you how your plan might look.
As you put it into action, we suggest how you can keep it
fresh and alive so that you constantly challenge your own
assumptions and decisions.
We make a shameless plea to you (and our publishers)
for a second edition – one in which you might provide the
examples. And we reveal the dark secret at the heart of
marketing.
Marketing isn’t a one-time fix
You may have spent a long time on this book and the work we’ve
given you, but you’ll spend less and less time on it as your plans
swing into action. Careful. Don’t lose sight of the great things you’ve
learned (that in fact, we would argue, you’ve taught yourself) as
you’ve gone through this process:
your vision, your business, the brand that is uniquely yours
your insight into the market, who the customers are and
what they need and want
your sense of direction
your marketing objectives – the ones you worked out and
prioritised; keeping and growing customers and/or
gaining new ones
your strategy – your unique way of achieving your
objectives that will reinforce your values
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the great ideas you had to make the strategy real through
recognising customers’ needs and their cost, convenience
and your communication with them
the commitment that you’ve made to see these plans through
So keep an eye on these things.
Strangely, you should start at the bottom of the list and refer up.
The last question is really about the execution of the plans (did I do
what I said I had to?), then up to the plans themselves (were they
right, were they realistic?), then your strategic ‘direction’ (did I
research thoroughly?), then your objectives.
But most of all, refer up to your clear statement of values – the
things that you really care about. If you’re no longer in business for
the same reasons, then you need to rethink your values. If the busi-
ness is growing and it’s making money but you’re not happy, why
might that be? And what can you do about it? Another hairy
potato anyone?
Your plan into action
If you’ve been following the previous chapters closely and actually
applying what you’ve learnt, then you should have made some pro-
gress. We hope you’ve tried to work with the simplified strategic tools
we’ve suggested and produced your own plan.
Let’s repeat what we said earlier, there isn’t ONE plan that will
suit all businesses. What you should have is a plan developed by you
(and your co-owners and staff) that reflects your unique position in
your marketplace.
Your plan should start off with a clear statement of your values
or your aims; the reason why you are in business and why you are
different. With luck, you will have described your market in a way
that none of your competitors have and you will have a unique view
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