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Memo to Corporate America: Five Questions Every CEO Must Ask About PR in the WikiLeaks Era
by Rosanna Fiske, APR, Chair and CEO,
via www.compro.biz
The Public Relations Society of AmericaIn the course of running a local, regional, national or even multi-national business, today’s CEOs have a multitude of concerns and issues coming at them at ever-increasing speed. From the cost of health care to meeting quarterly figures to facing the new realities of corporate reputation management in the “WikiLeaks Era,” modern executives have rarely faced as many unique challenges.
That means CEOs, CMOs, IROs and other C-suite execs are increasingly turning to public relations and communications professionals to help them manage these issues, while simultaneously building trust with the public, engaging their audiences and enhancing their company’s reputations for long-term growth and success.
Before advising a CEO to revamp a company’s public relations campaign, or even engage in its first one, what are the basic components—the foundational principles—of successful PR every CEO should know?
While that question may sound simple, if the past year has taught us anything about global public relations and communications, it’s that nothing is quite that simple anymore. Advances in technology and the profession’s rapid and successful adoption of social media have transformed the public relations industry into something of a mature start-up: experienced and filled with insight, but bursting at the seams with innovative practices, techniques and new ideas.
This makes for a vibrant and successful industry. The downside, however, is that it leaves open the potential for confusion for executives seeking to understand more than just the basics about PR’s value.
With that in mind, I propose five essential questions every modern CEO needs to ask about public relations:
1. How do you accurately and efficiently measure public relations’ value? Public relations is only as good as its involvement in setting the strategic course of the organization itself. Thus, the communications measurement must stem directly from the organization’s objectives, not from media clips or media relations. The CEO must ask the communications or public relations department to create strategic measures that support the organization’s business objectives, with a focus on outcomes (results), rather than outputs (media clips).
2. What are some of the differences between consumer and B2B public relations? Public relations professionals must be ready and knowledgeable in building relationships with many and different audiences. In addressing consumers, the professional must understand audience dynamics, demographics, behavioristics and lifestyles. In addressing other businesses, the professional must understand those businesses’ goals and strategic initiatives. Regardless of which practice, the CEO of any corporation must be part of determining audience priorities in order to best represent his/her side.
3. What should CEOs look for when hiring their first chief communications officer (CCO)? In one word: guts. Yes, the individual should have knowledge and experience in a variety of communications related disciplines, but basing the hire on having background in the catch-all term of “marketing” is a huge mistake. People build relationships with other people; people make decisions on brands based on other people; people purchase products from people. CEOs need to hire a CCO who is particularly perceptive on human behavior and on building relationships; but more importantly, someone who is not afraid of being honest and sometimes going against the popular company point of view.
4. What should CEOs look for and what questions should they ask when beginning to work with external public relations agencies? Beyond knowledge, expertise and experience, there are three crucial elements that CEOs should look for when working with external public relations agencies: 1) Research/Data—How do the agency executives know what they say they know? 2) Accountability—How does the agency measure its outcomes? 3) Diversity—If everyone on the team looks, talks and thinks the same, the results might all be the same.
5. How can public relations build and enhance my company’s reputation and trust with the public, media and analysts? The first and most important aspect to building a company’s reputation and trust is ensuring the public relations and corporate communications leaders are part of the executive management team.
There’s a particular accountability that comes with being in the room when decisions are made, as opposed to being part of the team that simply implements those decisions. When that happens, public relations becomes one of the more indispensable strategies for any CEO looking to advance his/her company’s understanding in the marketplace. PR helps organizations (and in particular, CEOs) build credibility through open communication, gain confidence through frequent outreach and promote understanding through two-way conversations.
There is no other management discipline that can accomplish all of that.
Rosanna Fiske, APR, is chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America. She is also program director of the Florida International University Global Strategic Communications master’s program, and an associate professor of advertising and public relations.