Working In PR & Communications

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PR & Communications in action

A good way to find out about what communications people do is to look at case studies of major PR projects of the past and what they involved. Here’s some to look at.

By Emily Morrison

Pharmaceutical PR

This is a controversial sector. Although they manufacture products which save lives they can get a bad press if their products fail or if their ethics on testing and the likes are in doubt.

Case study: Botox, marketed as a cosmetic injection to reduce wrinkles

Brief:

  1. Redefine the Botox image.
  2. Minimise safety concerns.
  3. Cultivate relationship with potential users.
  4. Address perceptions on side effects.

How to go about the change:

  1. Build bridge between the therapeutic and the cosmetic.
  2. Demystify Botox.
  3. Implement PR campaign to educate consumers and medical professionals.
  4. Target key media channels.
  5. Find top physicians to provide talks on the subject.

Results:

  1. More than 743m positive media impressions for the Botox brand.
  2. Sales increased by $90.3m in first nine months of 2002.

Celebrity PR

Celebrity’s images are constantly changing in the public eye, one minute they are up, and then they are down. They often need help in re-launching themselves as being fresh and innovative and being ‘in touch’ with the general public.

Case Study: Simon Cowell, music industry executive

Brief:

  1. To raise his profile from being relatively successful to being a global superstar.

What they did:

  1. With protection and publicity they helped control his image and cement his place as one of the most successful music moguls.

Outcome:

  1. Simon is a global icon, predominantly through the TV shows ‘X Factor’ and ‘American Idol’.

Crisis Communications

PR can be used to defend an individual, company or organisation that is facing a ‘crisis’.

Case Study: Formula 1, McLaren was accused by Ferrari of using stolen documents to gain advantage over them

Brief:

  1. To convey the message that there was no competitive advantage gained from the leaked materials.

How they went about it:

  1. The team briefed journalists on the background and the allegations.
  1. Held a press conference in Paris for Ron Dennis (CEO of McLaren) to make his company’s case.

Results:

  1. Drew global interest from journalists.
  2. Lead story in BBC News, ITN and Sky.

Case Study: “Doing a Ratner”

Ratner ran his family business jewellery business until a speech in 1991 cost him his career and left him with nothing.

What happened?
He referred to Ratners’ £4.95 sherry decanters as “total crap” and said the firm’s 99p earrings were “cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably won’t last as long”. The press got hold of the story at a time when there was a lot of negativity over company bosses, and a lot of damage was done to the Ratner brand.

How did he make his comeback?
He turned his notoriety into a positive and set up ‘Geraldonline,’ an online jewellery business. As an established name in that industry, he was able to create a lot of PR opportunities. Max Clifford, the PR guru, was behind the site launch which received 3m hits within a month of going live and sales of £3m.

Source: www.businesszone.co.uk

This article is part of the unicornjobs.com guide to Working In PR & Communications. Click here to go to the guide index.

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