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April 5, 2002 |
Reevaluate the Value of PRLet's establish one point right from the start. The best product does not always win in the market. Special Column of Lou Hoffman Among the factors that influence the success or failure of a given product, it's becoming increasingly clear that buyers of technology gravitate toward known companies that stand for something. Then how to improve the awareness of one company to win the customers? This is where public relations enters the picture. Public relations can shapes and elevates a company's image. Unfortunately, many start-up companies view public relations as an auxiliary function that can be put off until the company "gets bigger." Ignoring public relations does not prevent the marketplace from forming opinions about your company. They don't think, "Jeez, Company XYZ never distributes a news release, so I won't form a perception about the company." Instead, information about your company that leaks from colleagues, venture capitalists, employees and the like begins to influence how the market perceives you. In short, the process of shaping your company's image is going to happen with or without PR (and with or without your consent). That said, you should have some say in your company's image; do not leave it to the whims of fate. When is the right time to start a PR program? That's a little like asking when is the right time to start the product development process. Like developing a product, shaping the image of a company is a process. You can't simply push a button on a machine and retrieve an instant image in a can. Ideally, you should start thinking about PR and the shaping of your company's image immediately after hatching the first product idea on the proverbial cocktail napkin. And the official PR process - kicking off with a plan establishing objectives, key messages, tactics, and measurement - should commence parallel to the new venture starting in earnest. Before going further, it's worth zeroing in on the phrase, "shaping your company's image." On tactical error, which many companies - from Fortune 500 heavyweights to start-ups - make, is to embrace the view that they "control" their image. Such a view assumes that a company controls all the various forces that ultimately make up its image. Every time a customer, prospect, partner, potential employee, etc. "touches" your company, that person makes an assessment about your company based on the interaction. Needless to say, you can't control these interactions even if you practice Orwellian management. And your competitors and the rest of the high-tech industry will have a say in how the perceives you as well. That's why you should deploy public relations as a strategic tool to influence the factors that ARE within your grasp, and you will shape - not control - your image. Establish the desired image for your company. Agree on the emotional (cool, high energy, caring) and non-emotional (market position, product category, product differentiation) characteristics you want associated with your company. Develop primary messages for your company that reflect these characteristics. Then finally, create the strategies and tactical plan to catapult the messages, characteristics, and desired image to the marketplace. Earlier, I noted that buyers of technology gravitate toward known companies who stand for something. The shaping of an image covers the last part of the statement "stand for something," so let's zero in on the word "known." At the risk of stating the obvious, raising the profile of a typical start-up takes time. I use the word "typical" because there is always the exception to the rule. Once in a while, the stars align and the profile climbs fast and furiously at a 90-degree angle. But the vast majority
of start-ups need to build their profiles the old fashion way--
with focus, consistency and creativity. The way to rise above the
noise level is through focus, consistency, and creativity.
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