According to the adage, time equals money. But time is also often required if you want a high-quality result. So, is it fair to say that money equals quality? There’s an argument that you get what you pay for, but then again of course everyone loves to find a bargain so it’s probably not a straight yes / no answer. The key is understanding what the time is used for, and the inherent value in that investment.
There’s going to be a few quotes in this blog, so let’s get the first one out of the way. Bill Gates once said, “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations.” Mr Gates understood the value of public relations and therefore bought into it. Some business owners and decision makers do not, so it is often the first thing to get cut when budgets are tight.
Conversely, advertising is not always subject to the same cuts, and (another quote) Richard Branson once said “Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad.” So he clearly valued PR over advertising.
The problem is that PR is intangible – measuring its effectiveness and therefore its value has always been a hard task. Modern technology and AI can be harnessed to measure sentiment and perceptions much more accurately, but without the buy in of the board, no amount of statistics (or quotes) will sway the decision.
Instead, let’s look at PR and the often unseen process (the research) behind it in a different light. And with another couple of quotes. Research, understanding, and planning is a vital part of any public relations activity, and will ensure that the PR, when it lands, does so in the right place, at the right time, and with the right messages to resonate with an audience.
The impact of that planning and that reaction is an uplift in perception of a brand and an increase in the likelihood of that prospect becoming a customer. I have two quotes to support this – one from Abraham Lincoln, and another from Albert Einstein – along very similar lines. First up, the 16th President of the United States: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
The act of cutting down the tree is the issuing of the press release, the sharpening is the research, the planning, the strategy behind it and alongside that, the messaging that is used to position the brand or product.
The last quote, from one of the most prominent theoretical physicists that ever lived, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”
What message can we take from all of these quotes combined? It’s that public relations is one of the most powerful marketing tools in your arsenal, and you have to understand that, like a swan moving at pace through the water, the surface may appear still but the moving parts are all working hard behind the scenes (under the surface) to give the appearance of effortless success. However, without that powerhouse that you can’t see, the results are not going to arrive, so invest in the research.
Trust the process, give it time, and let the strategy, planning, preparation, and axe sharpening play their part and you will see the results. Bypass that, and you almost certainly will not.
At RDP, we value the art of research and planning. Strategic thinking underpins everything we do and we’re always careful to ensure tactics will target the right customers, in the right place, and in the most effective way.
