This missing link you are now thinking about and that will round up the whole story is public relations. Despite all the plagues that have afflicted the market, every developing and ongoing business story deserves to be told in a way that it will present who you are and what you represent. Each company, product or service are just like an individual, unique and special. It is this unique and special quality that we all want to underline: highlight our best features and become recognizable.

It is the public relations specialist’s job to recognize your story and to make it closer to the right people, in the right way and at the right time. The most common way to approach your target audience is through media who will recognize the potential of a good story if it is told in a way they can understand. The media is still the most powerful means of communication, a channel that every day reaches millions of people. If you manage to get the reporters and the editors interested in your story, you will have done a great job, since they are the ones that listen to your audience and know how to attract their attention. Interest or indifference to the media could be a great indicator whether you are going in the right direction: if you manage to place your story in the media, your service or product will definitely have their customers.

However, a few media appearances do not mean that you have developed a relationship with the public. A constant presence, professionalism and availability demand time, strategic planning and resources. Some stories should be told on TV, some are excellent for the online media and some are ideal for the printed media. Should I even mention that nowadays, if you do not have an online profile it is as you didn’t exist at all? Google is the first tool your clients or potential business partners will use when they search for more information about you. Why shouldn’t you then take the matters into your own hands and be in charge of the online content connected to your name or your company? It will remain available online forever.

Communication on social networks and the opportunities they create are a completely separate area that offers immense possibilities, but should be left to the professionals unless you are really skilled and  know all the rules. The amount of time needed for a two way communication on social networks also should be considered. You also should not neglect the need for professional crisis communication, employee relations, developing relationships with B2B community and key stakeholders.
Public relations will often open new business opportunities not only to the end users, but also to potential business partners both in your country and abroad. The way you approach the public relations will be a way from which they will be able to evaluate your business potential.
In the end, looking at a bigger picture, it is the public relations job to help you gain and maintain the reputation or a way you want to be perceived. Experience proves that set goals, designed communication, strategic planning and dedicate work inevitably result in success.

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How can you identify the right strategy that will make your business soar? Preparing a press release and sending it to a list of media is simply not enough. Most of them finish up in the Recycle Bin even before they are read anyway. This is a far more complex process that requires clearly defined objectives by a company or a brand, which, like any other form of strategic planning, should be determined for a longer period of time, sometimes even for several years in advance.

It is important to remember that these goals should be realistic and obtainable, feasible and effective, and above all it is necessary to understand the target audience and the specific people you are addressing. What do we wish to tell them, through which channels and in what way? Not all of them are always available. In a world congested with all sorts of messages, ever growing competition and smaller budgets, key messages should be clear, concise, easy to remember, and most importantly, reliable.

One of the greatest challenges for every PR company is to develop a successful strategy for a company or a brand. In a world where everything has already been seen and tried and nothing is shocking, the challenge is to arouse interest, but it is more challenging to encourage a large number of individuals to get involved. This is of crucial importance for a successful campaign. Creativity and the ability to adapt to a situation comes into focus now, since it is clear that not everybody has the means to stage a campaign such as, Felix Baumgartner’s space jump which was made possible by Red Bull.

Opportunities are all around us and all we have to do is notice them and find a smart way to use them. Exact sciences teach us that not the strongest survive, but those who learn to adapt. Also those who, we might add, just like us, look for communication opportunities with our eyes wide open.

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Smaller PR Agency

+ Have more detailed local shopper insight and contact directly with agency’s CEO.
+ Collaboration is quicker and usually more productive.
+ Prices and quality of local sub-vendors are usually better and less expensive.
+ The same team works on the project from pitch to execution.
+ Everybody in the teams knows how to do everything, small agency does more multitasking.
+ Team’s are usually more flexible and go above and beyond agreed workload.
+ Easier to adapt and deliver on a small budget.
+ Value client more.
+ Bring more out-of the box ideas.

– Capacity
– Prepayment might be required

Bigger PR Agency

+ Client has access to bigger number of creative PR people.
+ Client feels more secure to hire global agency who already worked for large clients.
+ With bigger budgets larger agencies can prepay immediate project expenses.

– Quality of PR teams hugely varies from country to country, especially on smaller markets.
– Learning new skills takes longer as everybody specializes in one specific field.
– Much less flexible to adapt to clients budget or specific small market need.
– Different teams present the project vs. those who execute.
– Clients with smaller budgets often get junior team members to work on project so project
execution quality suffers.

Even though each of the listed pro’s and con’s has it’s merits at the end of the day, what matters most are the people. Those people who really know, love and do their job passionately are those who do it exceptionally. This seems to be the rule for both large network and smaller PR agencies.

When we asked our clients about pro’s of the agency they worked with they always named their accounts name and spoke emotionally about what a great job they did.

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Another simple, yet shocking piece of research revealed once more the true position of most women in the world. TheAutocompleteTruth, a campaign initiated by the UN revealed what the score were on Google and that the fight is not nearly finished. Beyonce, one of the world’s biggest stars, did the oldest trick – she surprised her fans, her competition and the media when she secretly recorded and released a new album. While her team definitely deserves all the compliments, word is that Beyonce might have just invented a new way of releasing an album. In order to have all eyes set on them, that is, on the technology that allows us to control a mobile phone with our eyes,  Samsung challenged their users to try it and convince themselves that it was possible. Without as much as a wink of the eye, Apple declared that smart phones and an iPhone already existed.   Our favourite campaign of 2013 was the Romanian government’s response to their British colleagues’ message not to come to the UK, because things there are actually  horrible. The Romanians therefore invited them over! You can watch video here.

Still the biggest change in the PR direction, and a campaign that is actually without competition comes from a completely unexpected place – the Vatican. In just a couple of months, Pope Francis managed to turn the world’s reservations towards the Catholic church into respect. Time magazine named him Person of the Year and the Esquire magazine placed him on the best dressed list(?!). His every move is followed and analyzed, while communication experts cannot find one flaw in his appearance. He even made a „selfie“ which encouraged a younger generations fascination with him. We will be following him in 2014 with great interest, since there is still some demanding and serious work ahead of him.

We at Ambrela communications are extremely proud of the numerous campaigns we have accomplished together with our clients in the last year. One of the campaigns we will remember for a long time is the one for the brand Dreft, in which we included ladies from the Kamensko association. For a short while we managed to put a smile on the faces of the women whom neither life nor the system have treated fairly, when we asked them to sow red promotional scarves for the Dreft Fashion Week in Zagreb, and  contribute to the Croatian fashion industry. Watch our video here. After this campaign ended they recieved an even bigger order for scarves from a different company.

Which campaigns did you find successful?

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