What do you want PR to deliver?

A few days ago, I was watching an interview of a young mathematician who teaches at Harvard. When asked that why do most people get cold feet at the idea of learning mathematics, he said that’s because they have never been told what mathematics can do for them in their everyday life. They look at it as a chore.

That response stayed with me. Not because I am great at math; no sir very much part of the cold feet club, but I could relate to the bit about looking at something with immense potential as a chore.

Public Relations is one such function whose potential remains largely unexplored. It is largely seen as a tick box item on the list of things a company’s marketing team needs to do. Why do you want to hire a PR firm: To be seen in the press; to sustain visibility; for media to write good things about us etc. etc.

Sounds familiar?

Public Relations is not about getting free coverage, it is about how a company talks to its clients, customers and its people. Press coverage is a means to achieve an objective, it’s not the end result. Adhoc coverage can in fact be counterproductive.

Look at PR as a tool to create well thought out structured stories that clearly articulate a company’s vision; elaborate a government’s agenda; applaud a sportspersons’ achievement or even kick-start a movement. Stories that resonate with people and help bring real change.

Think more tangible and specific objectives as the reason to exercise PR. Think sales, think engagement, think reputation and above all think about creating a bond with your audience.

Here are some tips to get you started in the right direction.

Set the agenda: As the saying goes, garbage in garbage out. Work on giving a precise brief; agree on the objectives and the measurement parameters.

Ignore AVE’s: For some reason Advertising Value Equivalent's (AVE) refuse to go extinct. Do not judge the success of your PR efforts by looking at this worthless multi million-dollar figure. Instead, identify the top messages and the target audience of your organisation at the start of the campaign and evaluate the impact basis how many of those messages were successfully delivered.

Creative idea: Look at the PR function as the initiator of a creative idea. Creativity is not a mandate for your ad agency only. Fortunately, this trend has already started to change, especially in western markets.

So next time when you are drafting an RFP to hire a firm or looking to fill an in house PR position, ask yourself, ‘What do YOU want PR to do for you?