Communications and PR Services

Today’s digitized landscape gives you several channels for outreach, providing you with a variety of options when it comes to communications and PR services. You can develop a strategy to present your story through paid advertising. A plan for your websites, blogs, and social media platforms will give potential customers access to your story on demand. You can also tell your story by executing strategies for public relations and stakeholder management.     

Ask a team member or a client to define ‘public relations,' and you may hear something like ‘people who write press releases, sell stuff or plan events.' Others may say, “It’s another form of advertising.” One person we asked said, “We think public relations people write press releases as a form of ‘spray and pray’ communication.” Ouch! The PR industry needs better public relations efforts. 

Mis-perceptions also exist about stakeholders. At face value, the term describes someone who has an interest or concern about an issue or an organization and will be affected by decisions made about it. Break the word apart, and you may get an image of a dagger-wielding figure who threatens decision-makers. This darker version suggests a stakeholder has the power to destroy (or save) your future. 

We start our explanation of public relations and stakeholder management by contrasting it with the more readily understood medium of advertising. Think about advertising as a presentation that you pay to deliver. It’s a one-way form of communication with your audience. Ideally, your advertising messages will align with your audience's needs and communication style. But advertising is a monologue. 

In contrast, public relations efforts and stakeholder management are conversations. You have dialogues with people to explain your brand’s value, address questions, and encourage them to engage with you. You don’t pay for those conversations; if your content is compelling, people will share it with others because they believe your message and your brand are worthwhile.   

The CIPR Communications team examines the scope of public relations and offers guidance about how PR can be used to create connections. We also outline strategies for effectively collaborating with stakeholders who can help you build your brand’s value. From our perspective, public relations and stakeholder management are essential activities for fostering trust in your brand and ensuring its longevity. 

Building Stakeholder Relationships

A recent article from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business suggests successful companies are those who prioritize stakeholders such as employees and customers over shareholders. Author Bethany McLean posits that well-run organizations “provide a safe and remunerative work environment for your employees and provide products or services that are really offering value to the world.” She goes on to say that “shareholder returns should not be the primary driver; they should be a by-product of processes that provide value to customers and employees.”   

Stakeholders include more than your team and your customers. Any group who benefits from your brand or company value is a stakeholder. Identifying your stakeholders is the first step in partnering with them. Stakeholders who could be affected by your brand or your company are in the following areas: 

• Business and industry groups 
• Environmental organizations 
• Consumer advocacy groups 
• Government or regulatory organizations 
• Academic or medical institutions 

Our tongue-in-cheek reference to a dagger-wielding stake-holder carries some truth. The combined power of stakeholder voices can propel your brand and company forward, help it change for the better, or slow its growth. 

Within the Canadian mining industry, for example, a few companies have pivoted their business model after stakeholders raised strong concerns about the environmental impact of mining. Leading mining companies recognized the risk to their business if they chose operational efficiency over sustainability. After all, nothing kills profits faster than having to close a mine due to environmental hazards. Partnering with stakeholders helps a mine keep its license. 

Uber recently felt the influence of stakeholders after a pedestrian was killed in the U.S. by a self-driving car: 

• State officials and advocacy groups asked Congress to move slowly in passing a bill to regulate autonomous vehicles.   
• In contrast, sponsors of the bill asked for a faster response to ensure safety requirements became law.   
• Tempe, Arizona police who responded to the tragedy investigated to determine if Uber was at fault.   
• A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also assessed the accident.   

Despite Uber’s assurances that they had additional safety mechanisms in place nine months after the accident, most Americans surveyed said they wouldn’t ride in a driverless car. Some industry experts remain sceptical about the viability of the technology. Uber has not yet established the stakeholder partnerships it needs to ensure the success of this initiative. 

Building stakeholder relationships takes time. You wouldn’t ask for a reference from your manager after only 2 weeks at a new job. Instead, you’d begin earning trust – practical and emotional trust. 

• Practical trust evolves when you show that you're competent and reliable. From a brand perspective, you earn practical trust when you deliver your brand promise.   
• Emotional trust is more complex. It occurs when people believe you’re on their side. They trust that you’ll treat them with respect and will listen to their point of view. Public relations and stakeholder management are essential for earning emotional trust in your brand or company.      

You need both types of trust to create brand value and a stakeholder communication plan that will help you develop positive relationships.   

Strong stakeholder partnerships can improve your brand’s credibility. From the stakeholder’s perspective, however, a relationship with your brand or your company is only worthwhile if it provides value to them. You can gain insight into your value by answering these questions about each of your internal and external stakeholder groups: 

• Which stakeholders are important to your brand or company? How much power do they have to affect your decisions? 
• What do they expect from you? 
• What would trigger a change in their expectations? 
• Why are they stakeholders in your brand? What value do they want from the relationship? 
• How supportive or receptive are they about your brand’s value and current message? 
• What level of support would you like from them? 
• If you discover a wide gap between a stakeholder’s current support and your desired support, your team will need to increase interaction with that individual or group.   

Your stakeholder analysis will help you identify your brand advocates and those who might be disruptive to your plan. Your communication strategies should build on positive perceptions and mitigate or change negative ones.   

Your stakeholders can be characterized by their influence on your organization: 

• Enabling . These stakeholders have some authority over your decisions and include groups such as regulators or boards of directors. When you have positive relationships with these stakeholders, they’ll help you get resources. Conversely, they can withdraw support and hamper your organization if relationships break.   
• Functional . Your immediate team members and your vendor partners are functional stakeholders who create your brand. Customers or distributors who purchase your brand are also functional stakeholders. Transforming these stakeholders into advocates can have a significant effect on your brand's value.   
• Communal . Industry or professional associations (and competitors) that have values, goals, and problems like you, fall into this stakeholder group. While these stakeholders may seem more apathetic than other groups, it’s important to keep them ‘in the loop’ with your organization to secure collaboration and endorsements.   
• Occasional . Since these stakeholders only engage with you after you make certain decisions, they’re tough to identify. Activists, special interest groups, and some media outlets can be occasional stakeholders.   

Regardless of stakeholder influence, engagements across all groups are effective when they are: 

• Transparent . This concept is more than another buzzword, and it's about more than honesty. Open communication is fact-based and easy to understand. No legalese, no 38-word sentences, and no obfuscation. Tell stakeholders what's going on, what you plan to do, what you expect from them, and how they may be affected. 
• Aligned with the Audience . Communicate with stakeholders through their preferred channel. Do they want a phone call or prefer an e-mail? Are they primarily using social media to connect and if so, on which platform(s)? Give them options to reach you, too. 
• Non-Judgmental . Establishing trust means you’ll remain open to feedback. Explore why stakeholders value (or don’t value) what you’re doing. In fact, you’ll want input from stakeholders who can become resources for you if you need help finding new ideas or solutions to problems.   
• Two-Way . Let stakeholders know you’ve heard them and tell them how you’ve resolved their questions or challenges. Report on the promises you’ve made and gather additional feedback about your decisions. 
• Documented . Documentation helps you maintain transparency with stakeholders. Keep a record of communications including questions, answers, and commitments. Share records with stakeholders to demonstrate your openness and willingness to trust.

Brand Trust

Establishing trust in your brand is essential to its survival. Why? Because even the most valued brand has competition, and your customers have an increasing number of choices. Deciding whether to drink Coke or Pepsi now includes Mountain Dew, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, and Fanta. The beverage decision has expanded with the emerging flavored water category and brands like Bubly, LaCroix, and Canada Dry. How do consumers choose? They’ll gravitate toward brands they know and trust.   

Your customers and stakeholders have high expectations, too, and little patience for missteps. The speed of digital communications bombards us with ratings, opinions and often, misinformation. When people believe that your brand will keep its promise – every time – you remove uncertainty from their decision to engage with you. You make it easier for them to see your value and to choose your brand again and again.