A Window into the PR– PA Interplay and its importance for Success in Business

Is there a denouement to Public Relations services? Those familiar with the realm of Communications are well aware that the extent of the effects in this industry does not suffice to having an impact on consumer behavior, nor gaining an adequate position in the minds of consumers! This express train has yet another trump card; the interplay between Public Relations and Public Affairs procedures. In this article, we will be talking about the bilateral impacts of these two fields and the success of the business.

Many of the well-known, familiar companies, whose products we consume on a daily basis, look for specialists to strengthen good relations within the corridors of power and among authority officials, or simply initiate laying the ground work to this end. These companies are challenged by the inconsistencies between current thoughts and regulations dominant in the country and their business profit – and honestly speaking they are right in many cases. So where does the problem lie? Is it that such responsibilities and positions are not appointed to the right experts, or that decision making in such organizations is yet confined to traditions, hence slow and from top to bottom?

Whatever the answer to the above is, Public Relations is still the trump card designated the responsibility to resolve this corporate concern. Bringing forth the core point of the previous articles, we would come to remember that Public Relations stands as an inevitable, yet time-consuming and vast course of action, which requires a smart strategy. Upon corporations’ acceptance of this fact, the consequent chapter can easily be detailed.

In many cases, creating a news wave requires numerous infrastructures. Public Relations services can be likened to a clock, tuned in time through transparency and gaining trust within media outlets. Which, over a specific course of time, 2-3 years for instance, would record large amount of documentation about the impact of our corporation’s activities on the society. In other words, in this point of time, the society would comprehend the benefit operations of our corporation hold for local communities through the objective lens of journalists and media, not that of our own platforms. They will also realize the extent our business stands as necessary to the society.

While such a mission is achieved, Public Affairs specialists would be enabled to enter sensitive, upstream negotiations with a weightier support. Hence, coordinating meetings with the heads of the pyramid would accelerate, helping the PA make their statement; since the decision makers are now well aware of the fact that dissatisfaction with your business, would translate into negative consequences across the stakeholder chain.

A number of implicit case studies would help further illuminate such a theoretical discussion. The following lines would be elaborating upon a number of first-hand experiences in my very own interactions with prominent companies, in order to dig deeper into the advantages of this practical technique; the “PR-PA interplay”.

The First Case Study:

I used to work with a company active in the FMCG industry. Over the course of the initial days of our collaboration, we had inherited a toxic reputation prevalent across the stakeholder chain – from consumers to media and the corridors of power. At that point in time, any result displayed through the Google search engine narrated the various rumors regarding the nature of the company’s operations and its origins, locally and internationally. Despite the fact that the country could benefit from their advanced and up-to-date expertise in the industry, the company representatives could rarely deliver any ideas in their upstream decision-making sessions as their international experiences had proven futile.

This is while, the brand’s state-of-the-art technology and international quality were driving the sales of this giant to the extent that it was the market leader in the local, related categories. However, organizational maturity led this well-known company to introduce customer equity as a key indicator, not falling pray to marketing Myopia; hence, considering the sustainable development of its business and future sales as a priority.

As a result, subsequent to ceaseless collective efforts across all areas of the business over a 4-year period, including Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, R&D, and etc. the page gradually turned to our favor, kick starting visits from the HO and factory by highest ranking state officials. Forward looking proposals were presented and numerous MoUs were signed. With the government's aligned approach toward the company, the media were persuaded to report on the company’s current actions and manufacturing operations, and eager to prove the company's commitment to the country in the face of sanctions and its positive impact on the society.

I vividly remember that in the third year of the collaboration, a social activist with hardliner orientations, made an effort to harm the company’s image through the production of a video and a number of articles. Under such a circumstance, without any attempts from the company’s officials, the ministries of the Industry, Mine, and Trade and Culture/Islamic Guidance through a letter requested the critic to refrain from spreading further rumors given the company’s outstanding initiatives in line with the well-being of the society and the exemplary transparency the company had displayed in performance. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a number of facts cited in the letter included the efforts made through Public Relations to position this international company in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Second Case Study:

Given the complexities and significance attributed to the pharmaceutical industry, this industry is directly linked with national security and public satisfaction worldwide. Years ago, a negative news published against one of our largest accounts in this industry, triggered the interest of various media outlets toward the numerous aspects of the subject, which consequently led to public opinion disconcert, locally decreasing the sales of this European company’s vital medicines.

In the wake of the company's concern to maintain its reputation, it was understood that patients struggling with rare and intractable diseases were hesitant to purchase their medication manufactured by the company, which had the highest quality in the market. Given the circumstances, in addition to the patients’ lives that were endangered, the issue had raised authority officials’ sensitivity as well; hence, threatening the company’s business continuity in the country. At the end, with the entry of Public Relations department, a vast scope of measures aiming for transparency across the broadest levels of communication and the publication of an official Position Statement, maintained the storm, restoring peace at the company.

During the final stages of this crisis management campaign, the Public Relations team succeeded to persuade the then Minister of Health to comment on the disputed drug and the safety of all products available in the market in an exclusive interview, thanks to our effective communications with the largest government-owned news agency in the country.

A grand achievement that seemed improbable even to the company’s country managers, considering the fact that this medical-pharmaceutical crisis involved a specific, foreign medicine. This achievement not only ended the crisis, but also increased the sales of the company's products to higher targets prior to the crisis.

P.S. The above crisis was among issues in the company’s record, which was not communicated with the Public Relations team. Hence, the company was not pre-prepared for a crisis of such nature.

Conclusion:

As discussed, in many cases the power of Public Relations would help strengthen the activities of External Communications and vice versa. Hereupon, as experts in this field, we must instill this belief among the chief management that creating value in Communications requires a lot of hard work in the heart of the organizations. As conveyed through the case studies elaborated above, in the absence of close connections with state officials through the Public Affairs team (in the first case study) or with media outlets through the interactions of the Public Relations team (in the second case study), and most importantly in case we had stood witness to the absence of fruitful inter-departmental interactions, high-level corporate crisis of such nature would not have been solved to this quality. As the saying goes: “The crisis you have to worry about the most, is the one you don’t see coming.”

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