Discussions on LinkedIn (Q&A)
These are questions that have frequently been asked and communication professionals are still scratching their heads trying to figure out best answers and solutions. Have additional thoughts? Pitch in with your comments.
Question: With the recession hitting the global economy,which mode of advertising and communication budgets – Online or Offline, will be targeted for cut-downs?
Thanks Arun for Nominating my reply as the Best Answer:
What I believe in…..”Recession is a natural part of the economic cycle. The markets, the consumers and the products will still be around once the economy has corrected itself. “Do not cut the tools that could help keep your head above water; instead make them more accountable”. Is what I believe is the mantra to be followed especially in the next few months. Using online or traditional media is not only the virtue of going digital or against it. It is also a nature of the market that you are in. One needs to understand consumer behavior before taking a decision. In India, like in many other countries, I would assume a larger chunk of the lower to upper middle income bracket would still prefer the traditional medium especially for consumer brands that are not too heavy on the pocket. For the other more substantial purchases like a laptop, a high-end phone or a car, one goes a little beyond and tries to see the best players in the market…which is also largely determined by the impression that people carry and off course user experiences. Using online tools and conversational marketing in this case could surely give these companies a leverage over competition. Therefore, depending on the nature of the product and keeping in mind the end user profile the corporates should ideally be taking a stance on where to go next. A balanced campaign cannot overrule one medium from another completely and as I earlier said…the markets, the consumers and the products will still be around when the economy corrects itself. ”
My Thoughts…. “As Public Relations Professionals, we are in the business of Managing Reputation and influencing perceptions amongst our existing and potential stake holders. Since most of the stakeholder groups have access to the existing media tools (Print, Television, radio, online), we club a large chunk of the activities into media relations. And this is where press releases, profiles, interviews, conferences etc play a part. I guess this is the easiest and most of the time a ‘no brainer’ exercise (if you know the market and the resources well). At the end of it, what influences perceptions is not how big the article is but what is written about it. This is also the reason why many people confuse Public Relations with Press Releases i.e only media relations. The next chunk of activities revolve around CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and NGO relations. Public Affairs or government relations, investor relations are other things and programs that organizations undertake. So, whatever program you use, the objective of public relations should be to reach out to the targeted audience with the objective of sharing a message from the company. A message that will finally help build a positive reputation of the company/brand amongst the stakeholders.”