Can a company manage its publicity?

Yesterday a story filled with praise for your company in a leading financial paper, but in today’s afternoon papers a barrage of criticism focused right at the Managing Directors own personal life and management blunders. How could this happen?

It is clear to see that the media can help to create a positive image of companies and make heroes of senior managers, however if journalists get wind of something suspicious or activities that should not be taking place within the business this image could be irreparably damaged.

So is it possible for a company and its executives to manage publicity? In our view, it is not only possible it is imperative and must be done. Within any business no matter what its size, there is a diverse network of stakeholders that have an interest in the business and can ultimately affect its performance. It is therefore important that senior management shall strive to manage the publicity of the company. But how can this be done successfully?

The basic starting point is to access the company from within to ensure that the everyday functions of the business are carried out ethically and with a sustainable focus. Only after undergoing this internal communications audit process is it worthwhile to start thinking and planning how it would be possible to start generating positive publicity focused on strengthening the reputation of the company within its chosen market. Pretty soon one will also be faced with the choice for a good communications partner or specialist. Here you need to ask the question ‘Which PR agency would I trust to manage the communication of my own company’s reputation?’

When choosing a PR agency and partner it is important to assess experience and the competency of its personnel. This should also include analysis of their relationships with the media and extent of their media contacts in addition to the processes and systems that are in place to make sure your investment in campaigns and activity is measured.

At Harkonsalo & Vesa’s we believe we are strong in all of these areas but you don’t have to take our word for it as we let our clients do the talking and according to an independent client satisfaction survey made by Taloustutkimus, we rate highly in all these areas.

Our levels of client satisfaction are excellent and this is why leading companies in their fields trust our competence in business-to-business as well as in business-to-consumer PR.

As an organisation we are proud to be a member of the MTL Finnish Association of Marketing Communications Agencies and a quality certified MTL PR agency. We are also an active member of the International Public Relations Network (IPRN), which allows us to offer our clients a competent PR agency partner in over 30 countries.