When a child, before returning to school, thinks and plans how he is going to tell his classmates what they are going through on vacation and details each moment, while transmitting his emotions, joys, and learning to his friends, he is devising a fantastic relationship strategy audiences, where what he seeks is to spread his enthusiasm, so that they live what he has already experienced or that they can at least imagine through his stories.
How a brand connects with its audience
There are some words that are inherent to the exercise of public relations: brand equity (brand value), reputation, experience, notoriety, recognition, storytelling vs storydoing ; audience, relationship and so I could continue listing many more.
When we talk about reputation, we refer to that idea that others have about a brand. And although it seems obvious, one of the first questions I always ask my clients is: how do you want to make yourself known? What are we going to highlight? What differentiates you from the way your competition acts? and under this exercise, I check if what they want to communicate and how they want to ‘be seen’ is effectively reflected in the market. Many times we come across fantastic brands in the agency, who are producing tremendous initiatives, but who fail to successfully convey their message, either because they do not communicate it or because they do it in the wrong way.
Consulting companies are often heard saying that if something is not communicated, it simply does not exist and in a hyperdigital world this phrase becomes even more relevant, since, if it is not reported correctly, creating that ‘ knowledge ‘ or recognition in your audience, it is unlikely to have a positive impact on choosing a brand or endorsing it.
Let’s imagine a specific case, the company that we will call ‘A’, is an application that aims to help young people from all over the world to find their first job. The platform is free and supported by large technology organizations. To achieve their goal they have to link at least two million people, in a certain region.
Company ‘A’ has a history, it also has a purpose, the product has a spectacular development, it is created for the right audience…, they just lacked something: a public relations strategy that places them at the center of the conversation and that this strengthens your reputation and credibility, the value of your brand and notorious events. So that? so that those first two million human beings who want to write to, trust the brand and decide to link. If they don’t know who you are or what you do, why would they follow you? Why would they buy from you?
My advice for brands of any size is that this long-awaited ‘brand equity’ (brand value) should always be worked on. And that from our exercise as public relations professionals we can help build strategies and tactics so that through coordinated actions companies tell a story, that they have the correct notoriety, thus impacting their recognition and reaching the appropriate audience, connecting with empathy. For what?, so that they choose us, so that they are linked and so that what we do with what we are is made visible in a consistent way.