How PR has become a strong tool for building brand trust

Public Relations has evolved in the last 15 years and is now playing a much larger role in building brands. The romance between the brands will grow stronger as brands are seriously viewing PR as a very important and powerful communication tool to push and build their brands as PR helps them in bringing alot of credibility. However, there is thin boundary line between Marketing and PR as to what will work better for the brand and there would be endless arguments as to what is the role of PR and when PR should enter in the overall communication strategy. Today and especially after the pandemic, we have seen a major shift in consumer behaviours and that has triggered brands to judiciously plan their marketing and communication strategy with PR to maintain their online reputation as the dynamics of social media has become far more volatile and vulnerable as news travels today at lightning speed.

In the beginning of the 90’s, when our economy opened up, the need to connect and reach a large mass became paramount. Many companies like Unilever (Hindustan Lever at that time) had their budgets divided between advertising and PR, somewhere in the ration of 70:30, according to industry reports. This today has changed and the doors for discussion on a focused PR campaign have opened up and PR is no longer considered has a 360-degree communication tool by paying some lip service. What’s more, even the industry perception about the profession has matured in the last two decades and that is also helping brands to repose faith in PR. Also, over the last 15 years many global PR companies have aligned with the local agencies in India and they too have raised the bar and thinking by picking useful learnings and some best practices followed by global brands in their respective nations which could be then applied in India.

We have now entered the era of brand safety and brand authenticity. Brand trust is a precious commodity and consumers should enjoy total trust when they purchase a brand. While financial brands are marketed with a huge trust factor but today every other brand across categories wants to build trust with their brand where PR plays a pivotal role. With the advent of social media and with various powerful listening tools available brands can engage in a better manner and can constantly keep monitoring the conversation with the most appropriate content to keep the brand alive and kicking with a positive frame of mind. There are many great PR campaigns which has helped build brands in India like Infosys, TATA Nano and the Cadbury’s crisis communication, but it is the collaboration and parallel thinking between marketing and PR is what will help build brand credibility.

With the rise of social media, erosion of brand equity can happen rapidly. While high decibel mass media campaign and promotions will create quick awareness, but brands will not be able sustain the same continuously with rising media cost and working on very tight margins on their business. This is where the power of PR both offline and online will add value and bring balance to the brand. PR is a slightly slow and long process as a long-term investment on the brand, but if planned well with the right strategy, it will pay rich dividends. The secret sauce here is that brands should have great belief and conviction while working on a PR campaign. A well thought out PR strategy will deliver results, but what is more important here for brands is to have a focussed objective and must have the patience to witness the results.

“I don’t think we can and should make distinctions like these anymore,” remarked Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, BCW India Group. According to her, the lines between the various marketing disciplines, of which public relations is one, are blurring. Public relations has evolved beyond traditional earned media relations to integrated communications, which includes data analytics, digital, creative content, influencer management, public affairs, advocacy, crisis communications, employee communications and a lot more. “Today, you rarely have a programme that doesn’t have at least two or three of these. At BCW, we call this the Earned-Plus offer – earned media plus paid media, creative technology, data, AI and an expanding suite of innovative capabilities,” Dharmaraj added.

Emphasising further, she said that public relations is also the only marketing discipline that touches all stakeholders of a company. From consumers to employees, key opinion leaders to government, partners to community, a public relations programme can engage with all of them. That makes it the right discipline to ensure consistency of messaging and impact. It also helps you launch campaigns or programmes with a multi-stakeholder approach.

So, marketing and public relations is not an either-or choice. They can work together to build a wider as well as deeper impact for a brand or organisation.

It is indisputable that marketing provides a brand with an immediate push that reflects in sales and visibility. Rashmi Soni, VP & Head of Corporate Communications, Vistara, noted, “If the goal is to build long-lasting brand reputation, PR plays a very crucial role. PR shapes public perception, transforms behaviours and mitigates issues and crises. A message crafted to market a product or service essentially communicates all the reasons why a potential customer should invest in it. A PR message, on the other hand, reaches out to a broader audience and conveys why one should connect with the brand.”

Having said that, the PR, Communications and Marketing landscapes have been forever evolving. With the uninterrupted and strong shift towards digital, and the changes brought in by the pandemic, the distinction between PR and Marketing has significantly blurred. Today, an amalgamation of both is imperative to harness the power of online and offline channels to attract more consumers, expand businesses and build a compelling narrative that brings out a brand’s persona and purpose. “One recent example of this is Vistara’s 360 degrees campaign, #TheSoundtrackOfTravel, where the marketing and PR teams worked together and engaged various stakeholder groups to promote the campaign with an aim to rekindle the joy of travel amongst its customers,” Soni added.

Brand building requires consistency and continuous efforts to communicate with the prospects. Krishnarao Buddha, Senior Category Head, Parle Products, remarked, “Generally, building brand imagery and equity is a long-term process though in this digital age we have seen brands being built in a very short span of time. All marketing efforts can surely help sell a brand, but building brand trust is extremely critical to build a consumer franchise. PR is an extremely powerful tool to build brand trust and lends immense credibility. For instance, Apple built its brand persona and thereby, brand trust using PR as a tool. It created immense hype and excitement amongst the prospects wanting to lay their hands on their newest product.”

Sharing his views Atul Sharma, Managing Director, Ruder Finn India, said, “Public Relations today has become a gatekeeper for brands entailed by marketing playing a crucial role. However, in essence, they remain distinct verticals. Most brand managers use PR to ensure that their end-user feels connected to the brand through active storytelling. A brand’s intangible assets like its identity and industry equity are backed up by a good Public Relations programme, further resulting in enhancing the brand leadership and overall business goals, especially in a hyper competitive market.”

Right from traversing a brand through a crisis to building credibility, a genuine Public Relations campaign determines the pathway to enhancing the brand’s reputation and strengthening trust relationship with its users. While we function in a digitally connected world, Public Relations again plays an integral role in building digital presence and direct connections with users. “In the Web 3.0 world that we are all getting geared up for, honest and transparent connections are what users are looking for and I am certain that integrated Public Relations will continue to help direct that direct access for brands,” Sharma added.

Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live (a part of the MullenLowe Lintas group), believed that smart and effective PR could also sell products by creating awareness, building salience and most importantly, talkability. Having shared that, brand trust is critical and brands and organisations have recognised the importance of ensuring that their PR agency partners or internal communication teams are tasked to manage reputation and build trust. “Trust is like the provident fund of an organisation; you contribute and build it over a period of time. Take the example of Tata, an iconic brand we all trust, even though there was a crisis, the brand remains insulated against any long-term erosion of trust,” Ismail added.

He further said, “We live in a hyper-connected world, which has a dynamic environment of LIVE conversations and sharing of opinions on social media. All this gives a brand vast opportunity and also can pose a huge risk. Agencies have realised the importance of social listening and monitoring news and conversations. This is the starting point of helping clients navigate this complex ecosystem. To build trust for brands and organisations, we have seen the emergence of many themes over the years gain traction and get integrated into brand strategy weather it is brand purpose, diversity and inclusion (D&I) or environment, social and governance (ESG) to name a few. For trust to be built, transparency and authenticity should be the core values that are practiced.”

Suhas Tadas, Associate Vice President, The PRactice, pointed out, “Public Relations has been vying for a greater role in brand building and marketing communications mix since the turn of the millennium. Public Relations professionals had been waiting for Public Relations to truly find its place in the boardroom, where the glitz of advertising has always overshadowed the chisel of Public Relations. All that changed with Covid-19 and its astounding impact on the global order of life. Suddenly, relationship building with different stakeholder constituencies became imperative – which is a forte of us Public Relations professionals.” He further said that the function of marketing is being executed through the principles of Public Relations – reputation and trust building. With tangible results, this shift towards Public Relations-led IMC will continue to drive greater acceptance of Public Relations as an essential tool in brand building. Interestingly, and importantly, the Boardroom has begun to see Public Relations beyond just Media Relations.

In times to come, we will see Public Relations going more mainstream within the marketing mix. Audiences are getting smarter at spotting asymmetric communications and resent it. The only way forward is to engage them on equal footing – something that Public Relations is very adept at. 

Marketing
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