One of the things I enjoyed most about my September seminar, ‘Brands As Stories’, for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, was just what a receptive and positive crowd PR people are.
This could have been different. After all, I commenced my talk with an apology. As an advertising agency strategy person back in the day, I have hijacked many a communications budget in the service of paid media, posters, radio and TV.
Why is it, I asked, that PR and/or social rarely seem to act as lead media for brand campaigns? And on a related note, how can the PR industry be more ‘strategic’ when it must frequently prioritise reacting to events?
Nobody threw a drink over me for raising these points.
Instead, we bonded over agreement that, compared to a lot of today’s intrusive and even downright dishonest advertising content, PR has scope to step up and become the ‘best medium’.
Two reasons for that. Firstly, it is possible with PR to build brand distinctiveness and messaging via news or informative content, in a more one-to-one and personal basis than with advertising. (Even if that advertising ISN’T actually a bunch of lies on Facebook…)
Secondly. Customers aren’t thick – they know how PR coverage is prompted by brands. But, still, the reality is earned media carries more trust, and owned media can feel more of a conscious partnership with its viewer, than paid.
However I suggest PR and especially social needs a solid strategy if it is to create interesting but constant content. ‘Innovation that excites’ might prompt Nissan’s TV advertising just fine, but it’s a little thin and narrow for our purposes.
Equally, as we agreed, letting client briefing dictate what we do can feel a little too random.
Instead I recommended clients be encouraged to think of their brands as stories.
What do good stories have? Well, quite a few elements really.
Conflict, for one thing. Customers have issues or needs. Something that’s not as they wish, or a desire they want to resolve.
Next, stories have heroes. To sell the client brand strongly, it needs to look like just that. The hero.
Lastly, stories have actions, things that the heroes do or make happen, to save the day.
Now, when was the last time you got a briefing that made you feel this way, about what needed promoting?
Not often, in the case of PR. Ad agencies are used to getting big, involved briefings laying out precisely why a particular angle has been chosen, for them to work on creatively.
But PR can’t work all year off the same One Big Theme briefing.
So the theory I delivered was basically this.
Firstly, resolve that you will spend at least a majority of the monthly fee, over each whole year, putting out content that comes from a central brand story.
Secondly, sell that plan to the client! It will help avoid a ‘Pancake Day and parachute jumps’ scenario, whereby a PR calendar can quickly fill up with client-requested clutter. ‘News’, that’s arguably secondary to communicating something really useful.
Next, craft your brand story. Spend time together really thinking about your client and their customers in tandem. Get beyond the obvious in search of the interesting.
I showed a template for such a story in Birmingham. There are quite a few such. Here’s a ‘fairy story’ version.
- “Once upon a time there was a…” (customer, basically. But not a bland description; give your story something to work with.) Maybe she is ‘a harassed office manager with a demanding boss’. The description must never be ‘a JOB TITLE in OUR TARGET MARKET’. Or, in B2C, ‘an aspiring 45 year old homeowner’.
- “And they…” (what? What did they need, or think? What’s the conflict or issue? What sets up a need for that which our client provides?) Again, dig deeper than just ‘they needed a high quality logistics solution’. No individual customer thinks that way. Ask what they are really thinking, or even worrying about. Read the research.
- “Along came YOUR CLIENT BRAND, which was ….” (what? Describe the client organisation or service compellingly, in a way that relates to 1 & 2.)
- “And CLIENT BRAND..” (…did something cool that resolved the conflict. Once again, look for the most interesting way you can to describe this.)
- “Because ….” (Now explain why they were particularly suitable for doing this, or just how they did it really well.)
Done well, your final narrative will feature not 1 but 3 or 4 linked elements that can prompt social, survey, PR & event content. You can still be distinctive and build memorability as long as you stay disciplined within this.
Put the narrative up on the office wall and use it as a reference. When a brief or an urgent call comes in, try to pull in one or more story elements to your response. When you’re putting forward a plan for the next period, ‘brief yourselves’ with the story.
Worried? The fact that your client currently hasn’t got such a brand story formally written down doesn’t mean there isn’t one just waiting.
Recently, Kirsty Nicholls from Drayton Manor theme park spoke at a seminar. To me, watching, their customer strategy was crystal-clear, logical and lends itself perfectly to the template above. Here’s how I’d write it.
Once upon a time there was a family with 3 lively kids aged 3-8
And they were frustrated because so many ‘family’ attractions had age or height rules. Some kids got left out.
Along came Drayton Manor, a big, centrally located theme park
And they saved the day, letting the family enjoy themselves together, all day long
Because Drayton Manor make sure all their rides are suitable for all ages.
Now, I suggest it would be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, if I spelt out to a CIPR audience the numerous prompts for activity, in the text above.
You get the idea though. A good story can turn itself into tactical briefs all year long, with ne’er a spurious ‘25 year meaningless anniversary’ or ‘uninspiring product launch’ in sight.
At the Birmingham seminar, the sheer creativity and ability to work at speed of PR people was evident. Given a TNT Same-day brand story, from an old case study, it took 10 minutes for the room to provide a year’s worth of excellent, on-brand coverage ideas.
So that’s my humble suggestion. If you’re in PR, don’t wait for your clients to spuff your monthly hours on some randomness the CEO has just thought of.
If you’re a client, write your own story. Take control.
Get strategic. Get storytelling.
