Use it to your advantage: Power of true PR

BETH Roswell

When bad press hits your favorite brands, where do they go to for help?

When issues keep coming back how should they react? Should they give “No comment” for an answer or face the music? How should they talk to critics to keep more mudslingings at bay?

Marketers don’t live in a perfect world. Everyone is bound to experience the unexpected—unfortunate circumstances that are man-made or reasons beyond their control.

On Bloomberg and other business news agencies, we are often witnesses to PR nightmares. Consumer brands recalling their products back to the factory. And others hit by overzealous attacks, complaint surges and innuendoes that give them negative image by association.

PR to the rescue

Some brands are better prepared because their crisis plans are in place. Long before negative things happen, their PR communication arsenal has been built to buttress negative impact. Those who are not and caught in the melee suffer the big blow.

FleishmanHillard Philippines prides itself as part of the world’s most complete communications firm, armed with battle-ready professionals to lend the network’s “The Power of True” discipline—to build not only relationships, but also provide long-term reputation solutions.

As an important part of the 85-strong FH offices worldwide, it seamlessly supports a wide range of organizations, from blue-chip multinationals looking for regional expansion – to local companies seeking targeted growth.

In Manila recently was its Southeast Asia managing director Beth Boswell, who shared how the dynamic PR agency can help companies in the Philippines re-define their traditional public relations thinking.

Boswell zeroed in on FH’s six market drivers: Globalization, convergence of communication disciplines, data and analytics, social media to social business, rise of reputation in the branding mix and continuous innovation – all strategic imperatives to deliver results in the Philippines, social media.

Boswell has written five crisis communications manuals for Asia-based clients and conducted crisis trainings for a number of companies.

COSETTE Romero

“We are known by the quality of our work. We act quickly, have clear vision of what we are doing and ability to adapt locally,” Boswell said when asked on FH’s strength.

To know more of its business in the Philippines, BusinessFriday interviews Cosette Romero, general manager, senior vice president and partner of FleishmanHillard Philippines to shed light into the agency’s “The Power of True” mantra and how the global network is helping bring forth effective PR management to local clients:

BF: What is PR with substance to begin with?

CR: A great PR campaign is one that delivers the desired results based on the communications objectives and remains true.

BF: How can PR add mileage to branding?

CR: PR helps to grow the brand by protecting its reputation. While advertising helps sell the brand, PR helps create and build positive relationships around it.

BF: Why should PR be a part of an integrated campaign?

CR: PR builds credibility for the company or brand. While advertising is the company saying good things about the brand, PR builds credibility and confidence in the brand, as it is other people saying good things about your company or brand.

BF: What makes FH different from other PR agencies?

CR: Led by our president, Dave Senay, we rebranded in May this year as part of our strategy to go beyond. We are evolving as a complete communications company with “The Power of True” as slogan.

We believe our clients need a transformative business partner that can combine unshakeable commitment to client service, with the ability to align reputation and brand by tapping a more powerful set of capabilities, enabling them to take on the challenges of a world in constant flux.

While others in our industry promise “breakthrough” or “engagement,” we offer a commitment, philosophy and a strategy that leverages the power of true.

Among our competitors, this brand promise is unique. We are guided by a world’s view that seeks out and delivers to our clients what is true, allowing them to navigate through complexity toward the true outcomes they desire.

BF: Tools Fleishman has that others don’t.

CR: We have a variety of tools that we work with.  For example, I am just one of some 70 certified crisis counselors in our global network.

Allow me to share what Brian West, our global lead for crisis management says:

Critical Considerations in Today’s Reputation Management Challenges:

The first is that the stronger your reputation today, the higher expectations are for visible corporate leadership in responding to crises. In other words, the pressure on reputable companies is higher than to lesser reputable companies.

The second is that news no longer breaks, it tweets. We know from experience the market makes its decision about whether a company is a winner or loser in the first 7-10 days after a crisis event, to which the first 48 hours are critical.

Third, every crisis moves like an arc. As do the stories that drive a crisis. FH crisis counselors around the world understand this new paradigm and are the first responders to a crisis. It is our job to manage that tipping point.

Other FH’s proprietary tools are A.R.C. (Assess, Resolve, Control) FH2020, a collection of detection, monitoring, insights and reporting tools that stay on top of the flow of social and traditional media, a training and certification process for all practice members that ensures clients will be partnered with counselors who understand complex communications and operational issues.

On digital campaigns, we have established defined frameworks and best practices around this space that clients can easily understand, navigate and apply to their operations.

BF: Can a good PR improve a bad product/image?

CR: At FleishmanHillard, we firmly believe in the power of True. We do not work with companies or brands that we do not believe in.

BF: What are the most common challenges in doing PR in the Philippines?

CR: One challenge we share with other multinational companies is that we need to compete in a local environment, which is very price-conscious.

We have come across situations where we are invited to pitch for a campaign only to find out later on that the company opted to work with a “cheaper” agency or a publicity agent. Some companies still prefer to work on their PR needs on an ad hoc basis.

Other companies still do not realize that reputations and images are not built overnight. Some do not seem to appreciate strategy and instead prefer to work with someone who will just execute tactics. As we know, you often get what you pay for.

BF: How do you PR your own agency?

CR: When I was tapped to run the Manila office of FleishmanHillard some 12 years ago, some marketing involved sending out letters to targets, making the rounds of past clients and our sister agencies that belong to the Omnicom group.

What really worked for us was doing good work and being active in industry groups like the International Association of Business Communicators or IABC. Nothing beats good work as word of mouth really gets around. In fact, we have a couple of clients, one in the pharma industry and another in the auditing industry who continue to work with FH throughout the years.

Then around four years ago, a design team in our head office in St. Louis, Missouri worked with our team here and designed our local website, www.fleishman.com.ph.

Currently, FH Manila is also active in social media. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Since then, new business inquiries and even career inquiries continue to come in regularly.

BF: How armed is Fleishman when doing a big PR campaign?

CR: Our advantage: we are a global company with resources of over 80 offices in 29 countries with 42 affiliates and some 3,000 employees around the world. In Asia Pacific, we now have 19 wholly owned offices and maintain affiliates in many other Asian cities.

We are backed by a terrific international network supported by modern technology, so you can imagine the wealth of experience and knowledge that we can muster with a phone call or just a few taps on the keyboard.

We also provide work beyond traditional publicity and provide an integrated approach using different and new communication touch points in developing and managing campaigns.