Polishing your image – for a business, non-profit, school (or campaigning for public office) – should be an ongoing effort. Even #1 Coca Cola never stops self-promotion.
Some business owners mistakenly believe the reputation of their products or services will remain strong even if there’s negative publicity. But while the owner lives and breathes the business 24/7, that doesn’t mean anyone else is thinking about you. You need to be “top of mind” so when someone needs your product, earlier positive marketing planted seeds and impacts their decision. Is your marketing budget close to the nationwide average of 5% -15% of operating costs?
Public relations and marketing increases brand credibility and sales, changes perceptions about your company/product, improves online presence, and builds employee pride and morale. An excellent reputation insulates you so even if something bad happens, the damage will be short-lived, even inconsequential. Your regular flow of positive messaging–“good news stories”–should appear in print and broadcast media, newsletters, blogs/social media, web posts, email and direct mail.
If you don’t have time to develop your image, a marketing pro can strategize, plan and implement a game plan. Not big enough to do this in-house? Retain a pro for a set number of hours per week/days per month to continuously come up with compelling and exciting ideas to differentiate your product/service from others. With a strong image, it’s easier to bounce back from negative news.
Example: You’ve seen upbeat commercials and colorful ads proclaiming how BP is a leading innovator with solar, wind, biofuels, and with cleaner resource exploration and safer pipelines. After its founding in 1909, British Petroleum (which acquired ARCO and Amoco) built a positive worldwide image. They adopted a cooler name (BP) and operate in 80 countries with 18,000 service stations. Its image was badly tarnished after major environmental and safety incidents: Oil spills in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska’s North Slope, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, the largest accidental release of oil in history. In 2015, BP announced an $18.7 billion settlement for Clean Water Act penalties and claims. Ultimate costs have totaled $61 billion.
Note that BP started serious image-enhancing/rebranding in 2001 long before these catastrophes – realizing the importance of having the right public perception in case of negative news. Besides changing the name, they replaced the antiquated green shield logo with a fun, lively green and yellow sunflower. They introduced a new corporate slogan and invested $200 million in advertising. Then, following many mishaps, lack of transparency, and poor PR/crisis communications, in 2010 they continued rebranding with a new tagline and promoted stories about employees – unveiling a $500 million rebranding campaign.
No matter the size or type of your business, maintaining a quality image helps attract customers, boost sales, and can lessen the impact of bad news and negative publicity. A proven PR pro will create a vital stream of positive buzz to keep you “top of mind.” Great PR doesn’t happen by itself.
Stanley Hurwitz is principal of Creative Communications, Plymouth, Mass.
