Credibility: start building it sooner than later
By: Trish Riley
The controversy surrounding Mandoza's recent car accident has been further fuelled by the subsequent announcement that the singer has appointed a PR company to handle all dealings with the media. While this move comes as no real surprise to the industry, personalities and companies would do well to adopt a PR strategy and thereby build credibility sooner rather than later.
Mandoza's recent car accident has yet again raised questions about the safety of South African roads and the dangers of driving under the influence. It has also served to highlight the real power of PR in this type of crisis situation.
Ensure transmissionBy hiring a professional to strategise and address the media on your behalf, you ensure your clear, consistent, well-thought-through message is transmitted to relevant and interested parties. You thus create a direct means of communicating with your public – whether they be clients, customers or, in the case of Mandoza, your fans.
While PR is definitely powerful in a crisis, it's even more powerful if your crisis communications are an extension of your current PR strategy. This is because, unlike publicity or marketing, PR is a credible means of engaging with your public – creating an honest, open conversation with them. It thus builds a very personal relationship with your clients.
Credibility is thus key to any PR campaign. As is communication. It is the stuff perceptions are made of.
Because you don't pay to receive coverage (instead paying your PR agent to ensure this!) and this is at the journalist's discretion, people perceive this information about you to be unbiased, honest and objective and, as a result, tend to believe it.
Needless to say, having a well-established credible foundation already in place in consumers and fans' minds when a Mandoza-type crisis occurs, can prove invaluable. It will take more than a controversial car accident to shake their allegiance and belief in you. Even if you're found to be guilty – something Bill Clinton proved to us all.
Make PR first on listWhen it comes to drawing up your budget for the year then, make the first item on your list PR. Start building your credibility in the market today. That way, no matter what crisis hits tomorrow – nor the outcome thereof – you'll have a chance of emerging from the incident with reputation intact.
Who knows, if you manage to employ an exceptional PR company, you might just find yourself better known, loved and respected post aftermath than ever before?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trish Riley is the MD of Letsema Communications (www.letsemacom.co.za) and has more than 20 years in the communications industry, both in-house and as a director of her own company. Her passions include strategic planning, corporate social investment programme development, reputation and change management, and events planning. She is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and the Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA). Contact Trish on +27 (0)11 300 6400 or at trish@letsemacom.co.za.
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