Being A 'Proactive PR' Business

For the sceptics, the principle is absolutely fundamental: businesses only exist because people allow them to exist. If people did not want an organisation to exist, then it would cease to be. When Gerald Ratner uttered his famous phrase about his own store's goods being "absolute crap", people did not give his shops permission to exist any more. They voted with their feet and stayed away.

However, when Persil released a brand of washing powder that, it was later found, was destroying clothes, the brand had such a good reputation that people allowed it to continue to exist: they forgave them and wrote it off as a 'blip'. This is the power of stakeholders, and we are not just talking about customers. The media destroyed Ratner's reputation, but allowed Persil to get off relatively lightly. The message is that it is much better to work with your key players continually, to build up trust and a genuine understanding of their wants and desires.

To do this, first the business must identify its stakeholders. Then it needs to look at their expectations, their pains, concerns, and desires that can be regarded as leverage points that can be used to get them to hear the messages that need to be communicated in order to meet the firm's objectives.

Then the business needs to map them, which will identify which ones carry the most power and interest in what the business is trying to achieve.

Finally, the business must consider the messages that they need to send them, how they want them to respond, and when they need them to react.

This will effect the selection of which type of channels will be used through which to communicate to them. The business then needs to look at the costs of these channels, how feasible it is to manage these channels, and whether it is sustainable over time.

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