Ten Words That Build Consumer's Trust

Do you think one short sentence at the end of your ad could cause a major increase in the level of trust customers place in you? Believe it or not, it’s true. Researchers found that placing the following statement at the end of an ad for a auto service firm caused their trust scores to jump as much as 33%!
“You can trust us to do the job for you.”
Seems simple, eh? Almost something that doesn’t even need to be said, since the implication in any ad or relationship is that if you give the firm a job to do, they will do it. There’s no claim of doing it right, doing it better, doing it quickly, or even doing it with a smile.
Nevertheless, that phrase caused people to rate the firm in the ad higher in every category:
Fair Price – Up 7%
Caring – Up 11%
Fair Treatment – Up 20%
Quality – Up 30%
Competency – Up 33%
It’s quite surprising that as nebulous as the “trust us” statement was, it produced major increases in very specific areas of performance.
So, if you want your customers to trust you, remind them that they CAN trust you. Try it. It will work. You can trust me.

Why you still need that PR agency.

A few weeks out of the agency has made me to discover so much that an agency does better than the Corporates.
One of the strongest quality of an agency is their ability to identify and cultivate mutual beneficial relationships with influencers.This used to be confined to “the media” but now includes bloggers,twipple, Facebook Group admins,and even You tube specialists.

They are also good at spotting and pocking their nostrils in all communications both private and public. (e.g., “we noticed someone on Facebook has a beef with ; and they have 4000 friends, let’s respond ASAP with a note like " We are sorry for the inconvenience caused we will resolve the anomaly shortly"
Their big picture thinking is also evident by the virtue that they work on several lines of business at a time, which provides a perspective that is commonly missed on in-house communication teams.They will probably be able to cross-pollinate the different clients to get mass publicity for all. This can help you if your name is even remotely associated with other large, well-known, good companies.

They also seem to be good at writing,making follow-up. And reporting results be it financial or brand audits.
Though rare, good PR companies have mounds of examples and/or experience they can draw upon to generate new ideas to help your company get out of its PR comfort zone.

A good publicist should know what works, what doesn't, and can probably find new and creative ideas that you never thought of.
In conclusion the Agency should be the organizations PARTNER, they should be given the chance to handle assignments ranging from Social Media Marketing Strategy, to Policy Development & Training, to Outreach & Response,
Thats why they end up being becoming the unofficial voice of the corporation because they can impact on customer service,Business strategy or even Sales.

A month I’ll never forget

There has been more change in the last 30 days of my life than most people experience in five years. Since I haven’t updated this blog in ages, I want to use it as an outlet to recap this whirlwind of a month.

Moved from Agency to Corporate – The days of cracking briefs from different clients with exaggerated time lines came to a sudden end in August.I wont say that am done with deadlines but right now am fighting deadlines of more than just the agency but also internally with my team. It’s an exciting opportunity with a very prestigious company. I am really grateful for all my previous opportunities – the positions I’ve held and the people I’ve met – as they have led me to this point.One thing I have learnt is that in corporate PR you can really sink your teeth into your industry and get to know your subject

There isn't a heck of a lot of difference when it comes to skills, because the basic tools in our business are pretty standard, Crisis communication, for example, has certain guidelines whether you are dealing with an intermittent network server or a misquoted press story. They are handled from basically the same PR perspective.

Both sides of the business do require the same set of basic skills,although differences in culture has made me to device different approaches to practicing public relations in my new job

There’s my life in a nutshell. I can’t wait to see where the road continues to lead me.

PR should be more strategic

A few months ago I happened to have worked for a client whose CEO used to have a philosophy about PR that he repeated often.

"PR," he would say, "is the best form of free advertising there is."
I mention it for two reasons:

1. it’s a comment I still hear all the time.
2. He was wrong: PR is definitely not advertising—and it sure isn't free.
What he meant though is obvious. The costs of creating a press release, of delivering it to a list of reporters and editors, and of having someone available to answer questions if the release is picked up are minimal. And for that little amount, lo and behold, you get a nice few column inches of space in a publication—space you paid not a single cent for. (And of course, today, let's not forget all of us who create press releases that are picked up only on our own web sites.)
But creating press releases is the least significant element of what PR is all about.
PR, strategically, is the process of controlling the public perception of your company and the people who work for and run your company. It is a concerted, continual effort to maintain positive, self-sustaining relationships with the people who influence the marketplace. Who drive public opinion.
As a statement of purpose, that's a long way from "free advertising."
Press release pickup is the easy part. And the least credible. Your target audience understand that you created the release, you planted the release, you pitched to the editor to publish the piece . . . they recognize that it is in fact fundamentally promotional.
Where the real PR should be
The real job of PR is get the industry influencers—the analysts, and the trade and mainstream press—to watch you on their own, consider what impact you have on the industry and report on you. That puts three burdens on you:
1. You have to cultivate relationships with these groups.
2. You have to make sure that what you do is worth covering.
3. You have to make sure that what you do is going to generate positive instead of negative press.
Oh, look. I've just listed the key components of strategic public relations. And, not surprisingly, there's not a word about press releases and backgrounders and corporate overviews.
Achieving those goals is what you pay a PR agency six-figure monthly retainers for. Not for backgrounders and press releases and corporate overviews. Any good copywriter can write a press release in an hour.
What to expect from a good PR firm
A truly strategic public relations firm focuses on those three goals: on controlling your image in the public eye. And that's what they should be talking about when they pitch you. Not to suggest this is the only criterion, but I'm extremely suspicious of firms that come in with a portfolio of press cuttings and articles in the local dailies Personally I would look for firms that focus on developing you as a company to watch.
As in all things, setting the goal helps you determine the objectives to reach it. A goal of press pickup—at its most enticing and flattering, a feature story in the Daily Nation is wrong-minded.
That's a core truth for most companies—when you're competing for mainstream press with Michael Joseph and James Mwangi. . . well you know who's going to get the ink.
Rather, a goal of positioning you with the press and analyst community as a company to pay attention to, and of working with you to ensure that what they find when they do pay attention is positive and valuable, is where the strategic road should take you.
Tactically, this involves press and analyst presentations, industry event participation, strong positive image for key players, and more.
That's a whole different ballgame. And worth its weight in retainer.

Good PR starts with a good website

These days, every business has to have a website, a website is often the first point of contact between a future client and yourself, and, rightly or wrongly, it can make a difference on how you are perceived by them.
A website is so important to branding that many PR people include it as part of the initial branding, along with the press kit.
But theirs is a world of difference between having a website and having a good, useful website that engages your client and supports your brand. You don’t want to spend good money on a website only to have it end up looking crappy and less functional.
If you’re in a business that needs a good website, then you need to be as specific and as intimate with your Web designer as you are with your hairstylist for the women and your mechanic for the men.
So, here are some bullets points of what to do when dealing with a Web designer
1. Provide examples of websites you like to the designer as a basis of discussion.
However, discussion means both sides have a say. You may think a fancy elaborate introduction page creates drama and tells your story, but much of the time it just gives the viewer a warning that the site is going to suck and to click away as quickly as possible.
2. Have a budget in mind and ask your designer exactly what can be done with that budget. If you don’t have a lot of money, then be realistic about what can be done or be willing to spend more to have what you do need implemented.
3. Think of how your customers will use the site and make it easy for them.
A good website is designed for the person who is going to be using it and deciding whether or not to hire the company based on the ease of use. So make it easy to navigate. They’ll appreciate it.
5. Listen to your Web designer’s suggestions. They can help you make the site user-friendly and look great. http://www.taramichelleinteriors.com/
6. Make sure your designer is experienced and knows how much work it will take. A good website should take about a week. The reason it takes longer is often because the designer is inexperienced and needs to spend the time combing the internet looking for answers from more experienced Web designers.
7. Make sure you (or if you’re outsourcing this for another client) organize the content and actually write it. Some folks assume the web designer writes the content. Also, make sure the content is organized in one PDF or Word Document and clearly explains the website. http://www.whitehouse.gov/
8. Make sure to provide the designer with the best pictures possible.
9. Trust your designer. If you don’t trust them, don’t use them. If you have questions, ask them over and over until they explain in language you can understand.
10. Like PR, good web design inspires emotions. Don’t look at the web design as merely technical.
Share links to good websites you have seen locally…

Let PR pros handle Social media;It ain't you Strength Marketers

Last week was a challenging week for this young flack.In a bid to win business that we had pitched.I requested the company to let our PR team manage there social media account including the facebook page and their twitter accounts.

The advertising team thought that they were in a better position to manage the sites;their reason being that they spear head campaigns,we in PR only come in to support the campaigns.

All the same, I strong believe that PR should take the lead in social media.Here are my thoughts.

PR’s heritage isn’t selling. It seeks to influence and build relationships. This makes it more suited and better equipped to initiate, engage and hold a conversation.

PR is expert in content creation. They can’t be blamed for trying to get involved with social media but what expertise do media buying agencies have in content creation? Content creation is a central component of marketing and specifically social media.

The PR industry is subtle. The sector gets a lot of flack for spinning but subtlety is at the core of spin. Digital media requires subtlety, including the ability to understand context and respond accordingly.

The PR industry is close to the business leaders. The advertising team will always calls on PR in a crisis and is reliant on PR when the organisation’s reputation is threatened. PR has a central role to play in educating the top management about the benefits of social media and is a trusted advisor on reputation management, unlike other marketing disciplines.

Strategy is at the heart of good PR. It could be argued that PR has a been a little slow to come to the party. There are lots of reasons for this. PR’s approach is always circumspect, it has to add value when your dealing with corporate reputations otherwise its not worth doing. I think, this will play out well for the PR industry in the long term.

The culture of the PR industry is to allow others to create content. i.e. journalists. The industry has been built on this fundamental characteristic. The key message is designed to assert as much control as possible over the process of content creation. The approach changes in the context of social media but I think this is one of the strongest arguments in PRs favour. PR has never had control of the message when it comes to the end result.

Finally I think organisations need to adapt culturally to engage their customers in authentic conversations. I genuinely believe that the businesses that most effectively listen to customers and is able to incorporate their insights into product development and services will be the most successful. This, for me, is PRs biggest opportunity as the function that advises and implements change management strategies. PR has a great opportunity to take the lead in making this change happen – the outbound social media campaigns will become the natural output and realisation of this cultural and organisational change in business.

Over to you mobile telephony companies,FMCG's,banks and insurance companies.

Face book; yes it attracts but it doesn’t prompt action

Every new day comes with new inventions on social media. Just when some social media early adopters are starting to leave Facebook, the mainstream majority who reached a record breaking 500 million seem to be more hooked on the world's favourite social network than ever.

But here is the paradox; I’ve discovered a problem with Face book dependency amongst ‘first year students’ on the treasured site. A few weeks ago we tried organizing a burial fundraising on facebook; we became so confident because scores of people had indicated their commitment on Face book.
Little did we know that showing interest on social media is not in any way linked to committing to a certain cause? Did anyone show up for the fundraising day? No….We resorted to old-fashioned word of mouth to salvage our noble cause.
While Facebook's success is based on its recreation of the real world of friendship online, the process doesn't work so well in the other direction. It’s easy to get people to click but where's the commitment in this? Where's the engagement? Barring a few posters, the old-fashioned means of publicising an event were missing: personal invitations, stunts (forcing the staff members to contribute), media publicity (death and funeral announcements), even celebrity endorsement (inviting your local MP).

It appears the real world is an increasingly confusing place for Generation F (facebook).
This was a real life experience….

It is not the size of the PR firm that matters;It is their output

Many companies opt for publicity instead of advertising because they believe that “publicity” is free, while they must pay for advertising. Well, the truth is that if you get a story about your company or organization on the business segment of the 7 PM news or in daily newspapers, you obviously don’t pay for the story. But what did it cost you to get that story if a PR professional helped place it for you?

Good PRO's can be invaluable in getting your story told in the media. And a positive story in the press can lead to increased sales.

But unfortunately, too often the PR agency / client relationship sours and falls apart before it has a chance to take hold. Why is this?

There are several reasons. Perhaps it was a mismatch between the PR firm and the client. The client needed certain expertise and the PR firm didn’t have it. Or maybe the PR firm did what too many of the larger firms do, which is “bait and switch”. This means when the firm is pitching the account, they bring in the experienced smooth talkers. But when it comes to doing the work, they relegate it to young, inexperienced assistant account executives while the people you first met are off pitching more business.

Most of all, PR agency / client relationships don’t work out because clients don’t feel they are getting value for the money they are spending. Hiring a large PR firm today can seriously dent your marketing budget.

That is why many companies are switching to hiring smaller PR operations. A small firm has minimal overhead and can often produce higher quality work for less money. This is because smaller firms are headed by experienced PR pros who usually have worked for the large firms. They have the experience, but not the overhead, and can therefore give their clients more effort and produce more results for less money.

When searching for a PR firm, make sure you know what you are paying for. Will you be paying for the time, experience and talent you need to accomplish your objectives, or will you be paying for the PR firm’s fancy offices and getting inexperienced personnel to represent you?

The smart companies, of course, go for the latter.

We have no alternative, Social Media is here to stay.

Ignoring social media is like the early nineties secretaries who refused to enroll for computer classes saying that computers would never see the daylight while offices will never operate without typewriters.
Anyone who’s had just a passing experience or two with social media engines like Facebook and Twitter could pretty fairly conclude it’s a big swamp they don’t need to wade into. BUT, there’s strong reason to start heading in. The waters get clearer over time and the value grows more evident.
This sector is a community of common interests and concerns, and technology is enabling companies to build industry awareness and relationships, distribute information and solicit feedback rapidly, and at no real cost other than time.For instance Tahidi High,the local production on Citizen TV has over 58,000 members on its group.
If you think Facebook is for birthday photos and seeing what your high school buddies are up to, you’re right. But many, many, many major brands have strong Facebook fan sections set up with hundreds of thousands or even millions of people hooked in to them. It’s a forum to talk to customers, distribute information like videos and product launches, promote events, promote your people, and do recruiting. And a lot of other things.Look at Google Chrome the new product launched by Google a few months ago, I was surprised there group on Facebook has slightly below two million comments from users across the country.
With Twitter, a little knowledge and the right tools allow you to fine-tune the “stream” of content to your interest area. I use it to flag interesting articles I’ve read online, and read things that people I follow and respect say are worth my time. I know people who follow others for industry intel.
In other words, social is not going away, and if you’re not using it, you need to start.
But have a strategy and rules going in. I’ve seen a few corporate accounts run by junior staff, who think nothing of blending their personal lives into the messages. That can go sideways on you.

Marketers; measuring your performance at work

As we continue ranting about budget issues in our campaigns, we are constantly being tasked with showing our worth. We all know that the world of PR and marketing keeps on changing every new day and some methods of establishing metrics have become extinct and the need to show accountability has never been greater! Which leads me to ask, how do we measure our work and show worth at the same time?
As we look to redefine our place in the marketing communications universe, here are a few suggestions on how we can truly measure our successes and show clients and our bosses that PR and marketing is a lot more than fluffy press releases and wasted hours on blogging.
1. Re-evaluate your purpose as a PR & marketing professional. 9.5 times out of 10, we are hired to help drive sales, awareness and brand equity of a client or company’s products and/or service offerings. However, as a profession, we often lose sight of the big picture. Constantly evaluate your strategies and tactics to determine if they are working to meet the larger goals of your client or company.
2. Find out what matters most to your client. The days of defining success by getting the most media hits are long gone. Organizations now want to work with someone who can help meet all of their marketing goals. Before you finalize your overall marketing strategy, find out what your clients expect from you and create a plan that reflects those goals and objectives. Most importantly, make sure you have a way of measuring against the goals you’ve been given.
3. Stop focusing on impressions and ad equivalency – An entire blog post could be written about this topic alone, but I’ll try to keep it short and simple. The practice of measuring impressions is archaic for one major reason, it is not accurate! Impressions are based on total circulation rates and don’t account for the small percentage of your target market that actually read or see your story. Ad equivalency rates are not much better due to their limitations.
4. Learn how to calculate ROI! No matter what PR or marketing position you may hold, you need to be familiar with determining ROI, in the traditional sense, for your client or company. The standard formula that I like to work with is net profit / total investment × 100 = return on investment percentage. Showing ROI is not the end-all, but will definitely come in handy the next time you need to put some hard numbers next to your strategies.
5. Develop a new and relevant model of measurement. A sound measurement strategy should always include an integrated approach using tactics that will track the behavior of your target markets from the beginning of the campaign to the end. I like to use the AIA approach, which is described below:
a. Awareness – some examples could include increased Search Engine ranking, increased visits to your website, positive comments on message boards, online reviews, the number of times your online article has been viewed, etc.
b. Interaction –Intended communicative interaction is highly recommended.
c. Action – As the saying goes “Show me the money!” Everything from increased sales to determining the number of people attending an event can be measured when it comes to reporting on just how many people took action.
The key to success with this is… always have a call to action and a good way to measure it.

Public Relations vs. Budgets

Sorry; am one of the many patients infected with the World Cup bug but career challenges still linger.
Too often we get calls from multi-million brands who want to spend a few thousand shillings a month after having had bad experiences with other pr agencies. Let me understand – You have failed with other PR agencies to date by spending so little, and now want to continue to spend very little, but expect your next PR agency to succeed? Could that be part of the issue? Succeeding requires time (and therefore budget).
I simply cannot understand why companies spend so little on Public Relations: A recent client who spent 15 Million on advertising over a short term period complained constantly about the six hundred thousand shillings they spent with us over a two month period…This despite the fact that they agreed we did great work and had a major impact on their business.
Companies spend hundreds of thousands on trade shows, but don’t spend on their PR firm to support them at the trade show. Many companies spend tens of thousands shillings on an advertorial, but won’t spend those fees on a 6 month campaign because there is no guaranteed ROI. Of course, there’s no guaranteed ROI on advertorial either, and multiple opportunities to succeed with Public Relations… but “Oh, well”.
Companies spend thousands of shillings to develop logos, color schemes and graphics… but won’t spend for anyone to actually hear of the company in the media. Public Relations done right is a vital component in corporate success, but needs to be afforded proper resources and respect to win the right way. PR is often the most cost effective and reliable way for a company to utilize marketing budgets, but allow your PR firms the resources to win.

PR in Kenya 2015 and beyond

I gathered four friends( Media planner, two Journalists, a Banker and I )yesterday evening to discuss the PR industry trends and we concluded that the following salient points are going to shape near future of communication, marketing and PR trends before 2015.

* Social networks (facebook, twitter) are going to be used for accelerating the spread of "trusted" news and info. For instance, after the Safaricom twenty billion result would have reached thousands even before the one o’clock news had it been shared immediately after the press conference?
* Communication is going to be democratized as an organizational function both within and outside the organization .It will no longer be the role of the PR and marketing departments to communicate; everyone MUST be your brand ambassador.

* We are also predicting a drastic growth of mobile channels and services as the dominant e-commerce platform and sales driver, respectively. For instance instead of having billboards in Embu town because you are launching a certain product in that region, you can approach one of the mobile companies and pay them to send a broadcast text to people in that region only...

* The realignment of media relations wherein individuals, versus organizations, will have the ability to create a viral story ....An OpEd by a writer in the Daily Nation will lead to viral discussions to get the consumer oriented solution ....Media will only set the agenda but not necessarily sway our opinions. (ke-internetusers@bdix.net is already doing this)

Harnessing influence through PR.

When I first heard about Mark Earls (Author of How to Change Mass Behavior by Harnessing Our True Nature) one quote that stuck in my mind was his definition of influence, Earls defined it as not something done by certain people to other people, but the result of those people we call the ‘Influenced’ doing something in response to those we call ‘Influential’.
Influence is not something that is done to people. We PR professionals work on identifying the people we would like to reach and crafting messages that appeal to them in order to get the word out and sway publics.
To understand why your PR pitches may strike out, we will take a look at the three main components and six drivers of influence through a PR lens.
(1.) The content of your message
The promotional part of PR, must address what the product or service is and does to influence buying decisions. What is the function of your product or service? Who does it help? Is there a case study you can point people to that illustrates this point? How does this product or service make people feel? Another aspect of PR is concerned with informing people about the importance of an issue to convince them that your point of view is merited .The PSI campaign on the use of Mosquito nets is a good example of a PR campaign that has combined the above to get excellent results in Kenya.
(2.) The context where the conversation is held
This is crucial to the power of messages. Messages passed on within trusted networks have less reach and greater impact than those circulated through dispersed communities. Because in part there is usually a high correlation among people whose opinions we trust and the members of networks we most value. That why despite all the marketing campaigns and promotions that have been carried out most of us are still loyal to Ketepa, Kiwi, Omo, Blue Band, Elianto name them.
Old fashioned means of communication like word of mouth (gossip) and their online equivalents remain so important. A person with eight hundred friends on Facebook will only pay attention to the messages of a handful people next to him. The real influence resides with the small, close-knit network of trusted friends.
(3.) The identity of the person who sends the message
The person on the receiving end of a message, or influence, must trust the sender and believe that he or she really knows the product or service in question. While you may believe Fundi Frank when he talks about designer clothing, you may be less inclined to take a recommendation on a car purchase from him.
While one can only influence as many people as he has access to, those connections come with other connections in turn -- it's the people on the other end of those connections that carry that influence forward.
Trust and competence are the key concepts here. For this we do not need to worry, we are soon going to experience it as we observe how publicists will handle the red and blue constitution battle.
According to psychologist Robert Cialdini, the six drivers of influence are:
1.reciprocation
2.consistency
3.socialproof
4.liking
5.authority
6.scarcity

In actual sense am here to build and develop my influence over you.

Brand building must based on sustained communication

As a society we’re obsessed with quick fixes, instant celebrity and immediate gratification.
The corporate sector, being reflective of broader society, is no different; too often it approaches everything from a short-term perspective.
* 'I will shake all the corners of the country' NOW!
* Make me an authority in marketing. NOW!
* I want to be featured in the media. NOW!
Even social media – a still-emerging but already powerful communications (r)evolution – is bizarrely often treated in the same way as a TV commercial or direct mailer i.e. another channel to broadcast a one-way sales message. Weird, but that’s the way it is in a world where senior executives at large organizations don’t take the time to better understand the seismic societal shift that’s happening around them.
All of which, of course, is counter to the process of building a brand. All of which goes against the grain of building a company’s name and reputation in the market place. While it has always taken time, forethought and considerable effort to earn and retain the respect and trust of consumers, the case has never been better than in today’s hyper-connected commercial environment where transparency and authenticity are the ‘king and queen’ of communications. It’s the same with marketing.
Build your brand and earn respect over time – inch by inch, second by second, day by day.
However, this does not mean you can’t expect results any time soon, or activate campaigns designed to spark interest in your brand. Far from it! The odd campaign – whether below the line, through the media or event-based will always have a better chance of working if it’s
properly targeted, strategically sound and based around a solid creative idea that resonates with key audiences.
However, campaigns will work more effectively if they’re added over-and-above to a solid base of sustained brand communications. I’m talking a day-by-day/week-by-week proposition – a drip-feeding of PR-driven activity throughout the year. What do I mean by ‘sustained brand communications’?

If PR is all about communicating with the people who matter most to your business, then basically we’re talking about any activity that sits under this broad remit. And communications shouldn’t just be with end-consumers but also media, and other influencers and stakeholders (the audience groups will depend largely on the type of company you run and who you need to talk with on a regular basis).One thing I know is that you can only earn attention by creating
and leveraging strategic communication platforms or tactical ‘conversation points’ designed to get people talking via multiple channels.
THINK: ‘traditional’ media – news, feature stories, column pieces and opinion pieces ‘drip-fed’ over a period of time to newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programs (By this I don’t mean having a showbiz artiste on breakfast club when you know very well that the only people watching the show are house helps and the CEO's who have TV sets in their offices.......Do you think they will connect with Jua cali?
THINK: ‘live’ media –speaking engagements, roundtable briefings, sponsorships /partnerships, events, forums,seminars and Expos. Betty Maina of Kenya Association of Manufacturers can attest to this; a round table briefing has long term and far reaching impact than all the traditional media simply because it is soft and direct. Remember the PM's round table with Kenyan manufacturers?
THINK: ‘social’ media – blogs, podcasts, video, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, 2.0-enabled website and online newsroom etc.
If it’s sustained marketing success you’re after (versus merely short-term campaign-based ‘hits’), it’s important to understand the power of building a solid foundation of
brand communications.
This requires brands to produce and distribute interesting and relevant content, share ideas and information, and participate in two-way dialogue with the broader marketplace – on and offline. Again, I reiterate this doesn’t mean you don’t run any tactical brand campaigns using advertising, direct marketing or any other mediums that work for you. But it does require a broader scope of thinking and a willingness to do the ‘little things’ in a
communications sense – again and again and again…

PR Success; what are the benchmarks?

A few weeks ago , all the Public Relations consultancies were keen writing there Quarter One ( Q1) reports.All of them were trying to confirm if indeed the really achieved their KPI's .For my friends in agencies this is not news but for the corporate PRO's, KPI stands for (Key Performance Indicators);the noose that either hangs agencies and consultancies or builds them.

Any publicist in the midst of a PR campaign for a client has probably asked him- or herself this question: “Is my PR working?” And for a client who’s invested their money in your services, they’re probably asking the same question. Sometimes as publicists, we forget how PR works.
Evaluating a PR campaign based on sales or rate of return is all too typical. But here’s the thing: PR doesn’t work like that; it’s a long-term investment. As a publicist you know this already, but does your client? Sometimes you have to paint a picture for the client about what to expect. You have to make it clear that PR — when done right — will increase awareness of their product, service, book or expertise, to their target audience. And sorry, this doesn’t mean skyrocketing sales right away.

We’ve all heard that it takes seven touches before a person will buy something. They have to be exposed to your client’s product multiple times, whether through ads, word of mouth, a sales call or media placements, before they purchase. Well, PR is the most cost-effective — and brilliant — way to get these exposures.

You have to make it clear to your client (including your boss)— and sometimes to yourself — what PR does that no other marketing can do: That is, build your client’s credibility, making it easy to gain the trust of their target audience. If you’re grabbing the attention of the media and find that your client is being used as an expert source in articles, being interviewed on radio shows, etc., then you’re doing your job. It’s simple: If the media is interested in your client, then the public is too. The sales will come; everyone just needs to be patient and keep doing what they’re doing.
On the other hand, if the media isn’t interested in your client and you find yourself frustrated for the lack of response, whatever you do, don’t give up. It takes time to land those placements. The main thrust of the PR campaign should be building and sustaining relationships with the media. And just like any healthy relationship, it’s going to take some time to get there.

It’s really important to go over your pitches and your client’s message. Are they simple, clear and concise? If not, make some tweaks and get back out there. Deliver your message in a way that an 8-year-old would get it. And I always suggest tying pitches to current events and breaking news when you can. The media climate is always changing so you have to stay on top of the news and adjust your pitches accordingly. The key to building quality relationships with the media is to give them what they want in an easy, accessible way. Make sure your pitches do that.

Are you sending out multiple pitches for your client — making the necessary adjustments to land your client the media coverage they deserve? Cover all the bases and communicate with your client as much as you need. Remember, you’re not working for your client; you’re working with them. Make them take an active part in the campaign! If you have an idea or want to tweak your client’s branding or message, by all means communicate your desire to do so.

Discussing budgets with your prospective clients.

For the short time I have been in Advertising and PR, one question continues to perplex me and that is how do I approach the topic of budget with prospective clients? When to ask, how to ask, and how not to sound greedy while asking?

Many colleagues have told me that you should never approach budget within the first few meetings. Asking too early about an assigned budget is almost guaranteed to make you look money hungry and only interested in your bottom line. But, as someone who is trying to start off small, I don’t have a lot of man hours to put into researching and developing a proposal for a business that has not allocated sufficient monies towards their marketing campaign.

According to Lilian Nganda an Account Director at Silver Bullet PR, Proper understanding of your scope of work will give you an edge to justify the costs confidently to client. One must also be flexible to reduce costs during cost justification meetings especially if client is ready to close a deal instantly.

Some say that we need to educate our prospective clients on what they “should” be spending on their marketing campaign. While I am all for education, this way of doing things seems a bit backwards to me. I mean would you ever call a lawyer and ask them how much you should be paying them to get you out of your legal debacle?

“It’s really hard to quantify a service like PR and what most companies evaluate is the time the task will take to be realized. The most important thing when putting together costs is to understand the scope of work involved to achieve the deliverables. One also needs to consider the team involved and resources like transport, communication”. Supposed Miss Nganda.

Once the potential client becomes an actual client, the issues with budgets do not always go away. Recently I was nearly reprimanded for having the audacity to ask the client if they had decided on a budget for the second phase of a huge community relations campaign they hired us to execute.

While many of us love what we do, the reality is that we walk a fine line between being deemed greedy and maintaining a profitable business.

Our services and the various elements of our proposed strategies cost money. As the saying goes, “it takes money to make money!” As marketers (yes am a marketer I market stories to the media), we know this to be true. But the age old question remains… how do we get potential clients to understand that having a discussion about budget early on is less about being greedy and more about being smart?

Trappng the Kenyan consumer

Today I have decided to visit the advertising world and after hobnobbing with one of the youngest Creative Director in Kenya, we have come up with the twelve commandments of locking in the Kenyan consumer

Security-We all have a need to feel secure. We buy a home for security. We put money into a savings account, contribute to pension funds and buy insurance for security.

Possessions-Kenyans like to buy and own things. Some people might consider possessions as a measure of personal worth regardless of the means of acquisition.

Copy cats and Me too’s.-We buy many things just because we see others buying them. We don’t like to be different – it’s one of the strongest appeals.

Good health-We spend alot of money on products and services to satisfy a desire for good health.

Sexual and romantic drives-Many personal grooming products, how-to books and services are sold with these appeals in mind.

Curiosity-We’re attracted to new products and unusual imagery. “New!” is a frequent appeal in advertisements. We are naturally interested in things outside the ordinary. This motivator may not necessarily sell something, but it does get attention.

Love of beauty-Tastes in “beauty” may vary between cultures and generations, but a desire for beauty – in music, art, literature, personal appearance, etc. – burns deep in us all.

Play and relaxation-.We take trips, buy toys, join clubs and much more in order to satisfy this desire.
Feel important-People will often buy all sorts of products and services because ownership makes them feel important.

Physical pleasure and comfort.-We like comfortable beds, warm homes, bubble bath, lounge chairs; personal products and such that give us pleasure and make us comfortable.

Love of others-We buy many products for the people and pets we love.

Avoid discomforts-Often we spend a lot of money to avoid both real and imagined discomforts and inconveniences: e.g., insect repellants, service agreements, and household products.

Up to you now… what will make an ad tick for you?

Pictures can do more in PR

“Can you guys do something that is more than just having dummy cheque for pictorials”? Yesterday I had a candid conversation with my client and that’s how the story of using photography in PR came up.

It has been proven that human beings process visuals 66,000* times faster than text, this underlines the need for the public relations industry to bolster its already strong written and verbal skill with more visual communication techniques and ‘visual thinking’.

Together with the explosion of social media (and an ever-growing selection of visual channels, as well as the greater accessibility to technology that helps capture, create and share images (plus measure their success), the prospects for visual communication are greater than ever.

Without realizing it, visual communication and visual thinking is ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives.

And we don’t seem to give it much thought in the local PR scene instead we have adopted a dummy cheque and handshake presentation that is always plasted in our dailies on Mondays.

Traditionally, in PR and communications the trusted form of written communication has dominated, reports, press releases and presentations to name but a few. Yet studies show that 65 per cent of us are visual learners. Additionally, when words, images and colour are used together correctly, they can be a very persuasive mix.

Research indicates that:

• Pictures interact with text to produce levels of comprehension and memory that can exceed what is produced by text alone
• using visual aids during a presentation was found to be 43 per cent more persuasive than not using visual aids
• Besides improving readership by 40 per cent, colour also accelerates learning from 55 to 78 percent and comprehension by 73 per cent. Which leads me redefine visual thinking for PR practitioners

According to Robert Ng'ang'a one of the most in-depth creatives I have met, visual thinking is the innate ability to use our eyes and our mind’s eye to discover, develop and share ideas . From a communication perspective, visual thinking is the process of using pictures to help you solve problems (read clients), think about complex issues and communicate effectively.

So do you think PR practitioners need to embrace visual thinking?

My top Ten PR quotes

This week, I transversed the world of PR and collected a few quotes that should make us appreciate our beloved jobs. Welcome to my top ten PR quotes for the week.

"Don't believe your own publicity. You can't; you'll start thinking that you're better than you are."
Leif Garrett
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"There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary."
Brendan Behan
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"A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was."
Joseph Hall
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"The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity."
George Carlin
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"I'm all in favour of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with computers in the newsrooms."
Anonymous
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"It isn't what they say about you, it's what they whisper."
Errol Flynn
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"The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all."
Mark Twain
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"Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know."
Jim Rohn, American businessman
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"Publicity is the life of this culture - in so far as without publicity capitalism could not survive - and at the same time publicity is its dream."
John Berger, Ways of Seeing, 1980.
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"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain."
Lily Tomlin
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Which one would you choose for the number one slot?

Why former journalists thrive in PR

A few years ago, before I transitioned into the corporate communications world that would be my career for the rest of my life, I was a newspaper reporter. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything other than writing hard news and in-depth analyses for a newspaper. The transition to corporate communications wasn’t easy. It took a while to understand that I was no longer a watchdog, but rather I was working to further my employer’s business goals. True, I continued to use many of the skills I’d acquired as a journalist; I still use those skills today.. But while the skills apply it is not all about journalism.
Nevertheless, the other day i happened to meet one of the top CEO's in the country and he stated strongly that he would never hire a former journalist to do employee communications because reporters know only how to report; they are reactive.
In my day to day work I always meet former news reporters in the PR industry,whose responsibilities go beyond media relations and other externally-focused communications. But one story that we always share is that,those doing media relations need to do more than put themselves in a reporter’s shoes; they need to have worn those shoes…I’m not saying that only former journalists can be great at media relations. What I am saying is that the likelihood of a former journalist making some of the basic media relations mistakes is slim.
It would be easy to make analogies here suggesting that anybody who deals with a particular audience needs to have once worked in that audience’s field (e.g., to be an effective crime reporter, you need to have pursued law). But that response skirts the issue, which is that public relations practitioners need to be trained to understand their audiences. The problem with agencies sending lame press releases to reporters whose beats are far afield of the releases’ subject matter aren’t making this mistake because they’ve never been reporters. They’re making the mistake because they haven’t been taught what will offend a reporter or piss him off. Pollard suggests “PR neophytes without journalism experience can learn media relations via baptism by fire.” No such baptism is required if their schooling includes an understanding of what reporters want and don’t want.
Looking for journalism backgrounds, though, could actually hinder public relations efforts that are getting far more conversational and much less one-way, top-down (for instance, the ability to participate in a blogospheric conversation). And strategic public relations isn’t necessarily about media relations, which, while it will never go away as an element of PR, is certainly diminishing in overall importance.
One of the benefits of hiring a journalist is that you’ll get a communicator who can write. I’m routinely shocked to hear about another PR graduate who went through an entire four-year degree program without having to take a single writing class. But any entry-level PR job candidate should be subjected to a writing test, and there are plenty of communicators without journalism backgrounds who can write the socks off of many journalists.
Obviously, I have nothing against the many former journalists in the PR industry, since I used to be one myself. But I do resist the notion that it should be a prerequisite to a PR job

Defining the big idea in your brand

Brands are about you not me.

Brands are about people not products.

Brands are about customers not companies.

A great brand is one you want to live your life by, one you trust and hang on to whilst everything around you is changing, one that articulates the type of person you are or want to be, one that enables you to do what you couldn't otherwise achieve.

Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership. However today it is what they do for people that matters much more, how they reflect and engage them, how they define their aspiration and enable them to do more. Powerful brands can drive success in competitive and financial markets, and indeed become the organisation’s most valuable assets.

Yet there are few great brands around.

Most brands are still labels, relying too strongly on brand names and logos, and focused too heavily on the companies and products that they help identify. They are articulated through superficial strap lines, and delivered through generic service. They make promises that the organisation struggles to deliver, often failing to even attract attention, and rarely gaining the trust of skeptical customers.

Powerful brands have the ability to cut-through the noise and competitiveness of markets, and to engage and retain the best customers in a way that delivers superior financial results in both the short and long-term.

A powerful brand is one that:

· Defines a compelling purpose, a big idea that stands out from the crowd; that goes beyond the product or industry, and really matters to people.

· Reflects the customer, builds an image and reputation in the mind of the customer that has personal relevance, even if it alienates others.

· Engages customers in achieving the big idea, delivered in a style through which people say "this is my kind of company".

· Enables customers to do more, reinforcing the benefits, and supporting their application, but also enabling physically or emotionally to do even more.

· Anchors customers around something familiar and important, whilst all else in the market, or in their personal world, continues to change.

· Evolves as markets and customers evolve, with the portability to move easily into new markets, and glue to connect diverse activities.

· Attracts the target customers, building preference, driving purchase behaviour and sustaining a price premium.

· Retains the best customers, building their loyalty, introducing new services, and encouraging advocacy.

· Drives shareholder value, not only through profits, but also by improving investor confidence, credit ratings and reducing cost of capital.

A powerful brand does all of this. However a brand that attracts great attention because of its impressive ads, and that is perceived to be cool and desirable, and drives huge demand, is still not "powerful" unless it can also convert this demand into sustained profitability.

What is in a name?

On a recent road trip, I decided to check out different signboards and shop identities along the highway. One thing was evident, every single business entity had a unique name with different brand attributes, ranging from a small tea kiosk in Mai Mahiu rather optimistically called “Panari Hotel” to a matatu was christened “Airforce One”.

It wasn’t clear if the kiosk's quality of service could rival that of the real Panari or even if the matatu had the security details of the real Airforce One, but what I concluded from this and other many instances is that a brand has to have unique attributes – even if borrowed from other sources – to stand above its competitors in its local operating environment.

A brand is a baby that is born, bred and nurtured to become a household name representing several attributes.

Even before a 'brand' is launched in the market, the father, the mother, and the entire family of the brand, spend considerable time thinking and planning for its conception, launch, growth, nourishment, management, and marketing.

I believe a brand is not just an intangible entity but a concept, indeed a phenomenon!

So, let me describe a brand as a planned phenomenon, spread over various phases, which enables a consumer to form tangible or intangible associations with a company or its product to effectively differentiate them from similar commodities.

Ideally, a brand should have the most representative name and the right kind of associations. This is to ensure the right positioning, or sometimes, owed to the right positioning! Even so, ironically, some of the most successful brands are born with the most misleading and deceptive names.

Some make it difficult for us to form an association or connection with the brand, like Apple, which deals in technology not fruits. Kiwi, which is a shoe polish brand not a collective of birds, and Bata, which is a shoe outlet not the Swahili name for a duck.

Locally we have Zap, YU, Geisha, Enkarasha and Bumba. I will not debating the success or failure of these names, since a number of factors go into making a brand a successful!

After the brand is born and named, it is pushed to the public. This is where Advertising, BTL (Below the Line) promotions, and Public Relations become crucial for promotion and top-of-the mind recall of a brand.

However, I am just trying to question the relevancy, the association and the connection of such names - and figure out if it's a safe marketing tactic!

There is no dearth of such misleading and mis-associated names. 'Zap' to me sounds like a fast moving machine; probably the idea was to position the m-commerce service as fast solution to your cash problems.

Similarly, 'Bumba is the title for some local music; could they have wanted to relate the brand with the youthful? On the contrary, one of the most apt names locally is 'Safaricom, how significant? Safari-stands for travel while Com is for communication...and it is evident the brand has been a success.

How do you explain the phenomenon of successful brands that originate from people's names, Guinness, Toyota which was adopted from Toyoda, Colgate, Ford, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz, Ogilvy and Mather. Locally, Ngenye Kariuki Stock brokers, Ronalo Foods and Gina Din Communications.

All the same in my opinion, a brand name usually rests upon one of these premises,

1) A quality or an attribute, often intended to be associated, with the brand, e.g. Rhino Match sticks -Strength

2) A benefit derived, or promised to be derived, from the brand, e.g. Energizer

3) Association with the parent-brand, e.g. Sarova Stanley's or Sarova White Sands

4) Association with the product-line of the brand, eg. Auto Assured

5) Association with the industry-segment of product, e.g. Ebrahims Electronics.

6) Association with the founder, et al, e.g. Ronalo foods

With thousands and thousands of brands in the closet we live in, I am sure there must be many more interesting names, worthy of a mention! So, do share some with me if you have an interesting take on any.

Become the brand you fancy

For the better part of late last year and again this year, I have been talking to my friends about their 2010 plans. To my amazement, about seventy percent of my young corporate friends keep talking about their personal branding plan for this year.

This made me think about how you build a personal brand. I stand to be corrected but a few years ago when former East African Cables CEO Mugo Kibati announced that he was leaving, we observed ripple effects on the company’s value at the stock market. A personal brand that was driving the corporate brand had moved on.

Just the other day Tiger Woods was one of the few unique sportsmen that every brand wanted to associate itself with. But now, with the scandal around his morality on everybody’s lips, the ‘Tiger brand’ has been torn into pieces. Only time will tell if the brand will ever resurrect.

These examples show the importance of being conversant with the dynamics of sustaining a brand. There are some critical steps that one should go through to emerge as a brand. These steps are not that complicated; just that we make it harder for ourselves to become brands.

But how do you become a brand?

There is need to focus and be clear on your specialty. You cannot be all things to all people. You must be clear about the one thing you can do to serve and help people. You can’t be known as a master of ten different things. When you think about psychiatry in the Kenyan market for instance who comes to mind? To the masses Dr Frank Njenga does. He has successful singled out his specialisation.

A lot of people can’t really tell you the one thing they do well, because they don’t want to miss an opportunity by being too narrowly defined. I do not disagree with lawyer Paul Muite’s quest to ensure equitable distribution of resources though out the country, but in reality what does the former MP specialise in? He is neither a constitutional lawyer nor property lawyer.

One should polish his/her ability to clearly articulate what they are talking about. If you cannot clearly articulate what your specialty or skill is, your personal brand will be muddled and confusing.

You have to make it clear

Recently I had a chance to have a chat with Mr Peter Nduati, the Resolution Health CEO. One thing that strikes you, the moment you start talking with this self assured CEO, is the passion he has for medical insurance. He is slightly short of a Doctor despite his marketing background. He reminds me of another factor in self branding – have the right words when explaining or talking about yourself. You have to make it easy to understand. And if you have to explain in detail what you do, you’ve already lost.

The two concepts above are not rocket science.

So what’s the hard part? Being disciplined enough to execute on these points over time. If you can do that, you will be on the right path…and your personal brand will be one that resonates and helps you go-to-market with strength and clarity.

Smart brands should identify and capitalize on unmet expectations. People who understand where the strongest expectations exist will be the brands that survive, and prosper, this year. If you believe you are a good strategist, get down to strategies. If you can implement them, specialise in implementing.

For me, my resolution is to adopt and devour the latest technologies and innovations, and hunger for more.

So ask yourself, “Am I really keen on becoming a brand?” Be honest and good luck in year 2010.