Importance Of Public Relations In Building Brands

With the emergence of digital media, the traditionally compartmentalized roles of firmly defined Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing and Communication departments have seen a shift to more fluid boundaries ,an increasingly evolving overlap that has ended the precise distinctions between these departments. Essentially, one can no longer separate Public Relations from other brand building services like advertising, communications etc.

Today, in a multi-brand world, thousands of brands come into existence each day and a consumer is left with myriads of questions about the authenticity of a brand. This becomes critical especially in a technology guided environment with most of the communication, positioning and branding behavior occurring on the social media platforms. Being presented with such an information overload, it is essential to help the target audience to connect with what you do and a paradigm of that is building effective Public Relations. Not only has the shift of mediums necessitated improved Public Relations but it has also been influenced by a perceived consumer sentiment of dissatisfaction arising out of delays caused by the delivery of these services.

Public Relations isn’t only limited to dealing with the audience now, but it has become more about building narratives and the story around your brand that connects them to your products and providing solutions instead of just products. Any brand,in order to sustain, has to build its Public Relations to become credible and authentic. The importance of Public Relations to brand can be judged from some of the following benefits it has to offer-

Value to the brand:

The basic idea behind creating any product or service is centered around offering value to the consumer. This value isn’t only limited to providing utility but it goes beyond to developing a long -term relationship with the consumer .And Public Relations is one step towards ensuring that the intended value has been imprinted on a consumer .

Supports advertising and marketing activities:

Any good Public Relations has a continuous presence on platforms where their target audience are present and the more proactive the Public Relations is, the better are the chances to be cashing on unpaid forms of marketing like Word of Mouth Marketing and Relationship Marketing.

Also, it saves the target audience from multitude of ads popping up on their pages and allows them to organically explore the brand without causing an antipathy with the same.

Increases Credibility of a brand:

We all have come across brands that have offered solutions instantly when hinted about the same. Some of these brands have gone beyond that and have reconnected with customers in multiple innovative ways to ensure a better experience. And that is what builds the credibility of a brand-the ability to accept and improve the user experience.

More the credibility of the brand, more will be the consumer trust and hence increased chances of consumers attending the call to action of the brand. Zomato cares and Swiggy cares constant engagement with customers on social media sites has increased the credibility of the two brands and has helped them grow over the years.

Increases the Visibility of a brand:

Any brand that has good Public Relations is sure to be visible to people through their activities and also through their presence on internet mediated platforms. This indirectly drives their Internet marketing activities. Unlike traditional media, any activity on the internet is there to stay and will show up anytime a consumer searches for the same. Thus visibility improves with every search, share and like that any Brand post gets.

The increased visibility is critical to new brands as any positive Word of Mouth will lead to increase in consumers attending their Call to Action.

Increases two-way communication:

For a brand establishing its presence in the market, it is essential to have a communication that constantly appraises them of the audience perception of the product. A company having good Public Relations is providing its consumers a space to connect and may be on the path of continuous reception of feedback .This can allow the company to improve their products and services to suit their audience preferences and the overall Brand image as well. The ice bucket challenge started by The ALS Association went viral and increased engagement with the audience while also creating awareness around the same, measured in terms of effect on searches, treatments and cures of ALS . The funds collected by this campaign also led to a 50% expansion in the association’s clinical expansions. This clearly reflects the impact of a good Public Relations campaign on establishing communication and generating measurables.

Helps in Earning Media Placements:

Companies having good Public Relations are bound to attract positive media attention and that can go a long way in improving the brand identity as it attaches an element of credibility and trust to the brand. This also attracts the industry attention for a company and may impact its long terms goals positively.

Although, a lot of factors associated with healthy Public Relations are guided by technical aspects but the importance of good relations with a touch of humanity can never be undone. In a world guided by uncertainty and changes that judder people’s trust too soon, be a constant in their lives. Let your Brand be a symbol of Transparency and Authenticity.

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