After working as a journalist for 20 years, I have developed an eye for a story.
When speaking with clients, I am consistently fascinated at the stories that have never been told. Often, the best stories are hidden behind years of hard work, challenge and slog.
Having been dealing with customers and investors, some people have simply forgotten the core reason why they established their business, and how those values have contributed to their success. Some have even convinced themselves that “sure everyone knows that already”.
PR Drift
The biggest threat to building a company’s wider reputation is what I refer to as “PR drift”.
This is where telling the story to a wider audience is put on the long finger, often justified by excuses such as “we are too busy” or “we are not ready yet”. Then, months later, the same people wonder why people are talking about their competitors and not them.
The story is always there, the business has just chosen not to tell it.
They will most likely have engaged in an expensive marketing campaign. No doubt that spend will have helped sales, but it will have done little to build their reputation. My clients are fed up of hearing the same line from me – marketing is simply you telling everyone how great you are; PR is getting an external source to validate your message.
What We Do
One of the first things we do with every client is sit down with three or four members of the team and ask a simply question – in a single sentence, what do you do? That simple question stumps even the best, and I have yet to encounter a group of managers or owners who will produce the same answer.
As companies develop, the perception of what they do can vary from people who are fully invested in the day-to-day running of the business. However, that means that the same senior management team can end up telling different stories to the same client.
Using the skills that the Healy Communications team have as former journalists, we help write a unifying message that encapsulates a company’s values and vision, while setting goals and stating ambition. This forms the basis of the PR schedule that we then role out for that client over the weeks that follow.
And Remember…
Never assume people already understand what you do.
And remember – there is no point in sitting on a good story.
If you would like to help your company, get in touch.
Jonathan Healy, Managing Partner 086 1743947
