Public Relations is a very attractive area for any business and you can hardly imagine a company that achieved success in modern times without these magical two words. This eBook describes how to gain the most positive features of PR wave and try to avoid PR tsunami.

1. HOW TO CATCH PR WAVE AND NOT
TO GO DOWN
By Anton Davidenko
Creator of PRFrame
Co-founder of BeFrame company
www.prframe.com
www.beframe.org

2. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Public Relations is a very attractive area for any business and
you can hardly imagine a company that achieved success in modern
times without these magical two words. It’s like an ocean of
different opportunities that helps to bring attention of the audience
to the brand or product. But when this ocean is full of billions of
data and information as well as rival-sharks which are hunting for
the same treasure as you –
customer’s attention, what should
you do? Of course, catch the wave
and become higher and unreachable
for competitors. But it’s not so
simple. It can be easier if you are
Apple, Google, GM or BMW and
have an army of journalists
desperately trying to make an exclusive shot of your new gadget or
newly announced model of the car and post it in advance of the
colleagues from different media. But if you are not… it’s also
possible to catch PR wave.
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3. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
On the other hand, ask anybody what does successful PR
campaign mean and the answer will be like: to appear at the front
pages of famous newspapers and magazines, to be interviewed by
Larry King or invited to the Oprah’s studio and nowadays almost
guaranteed you’ll hear about social networks and being a king of
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The question is if this is always
true or maybe being in a shadow of the wave sometimes also can
be useful. Ask Toyota and BP, I think from their experience the
answer would be the most valuable. The problem is that within the
open and calm water any wave is seen from far far away. That’s
why it’s very important to remember that surfing the PR wave is
always better than climbing on the very top of it. PR waves can be
very contradictious with its pros and cons and therefore let’s talk
about how to gain the most positive features of it and try to avoid
PR tsunami.
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4. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Learn
Learning is the first and the most important part of any issue.
The good thing is that it is also the calmest period of the whole PR
process and that is why usage of its comfort conditions to build the
most solid basis for future activities has crucial significance. As you
know even the most experienced
surfers started their successful career
on the ground learning the moves
from the scratch and balancing the
board on the sand. The same in PR –
never dive into the PR ocean without
preparation and fully understanding of
what you want to achieve and how.
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5. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
So if you decided to go into DIY PR then you should
understand, from this moment you need to master one more
profession – PR manager as the results of the whole campaign will
be depended on how good you’ll cope with the different PR moves
and balance on the edge editors’ signature. PR ocean has its own
rules and laws and following them is a key for survival in its waters.
But there is good news – you’ve got an option to hire PR
professional or agency which will help you with all this stuff and
you’ll be free from doing some extra studies.
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6. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
From the agency’s point of view learning is also very important.
PR agency needs to grasp a lot about client, market insights and
media trends, practices, rivals activities, and everything that can
allow becoming a part of this ocean. Agency while working with the
particular client should learn which journalists to contact exactly for
pitching the stories and how to make the news valuable for them in
the proper period of time. Agency must understand which PR tools
are the most efficient for particular clients and which should be
avoided. Learning will continue trough the other stages of
catching the PR wave. Only hard learning catchers
will be rewarded and underestimation of this
stage can be very harmful for the results of all
activities. So learn and never stop learning and
it will help you to make first step from the
dangerous ocean in the direction of PR wave.
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7. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Try
First steps into the water, we do not know exactly how deep,
warm or cold it is. The only way to find out is to try. The best
method of PR mistakes avoiding is do nothing. But the best way to
make fewer mistakes is the usage of the reliable and proven
approaches and practices. Do not disdain to
create informational ideas, develop press-
releases, contact journalists, organise press-
conferences and different business as well
as entertaining events, establish news and
press rooms, enter Social Media
environment - everything you’ve learned
before. Do not try to invent a bicycle, at least not at this stage.
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8. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
There are going to be errors and some waste attempts but you
need to use it rather than ignore or try to forget it as a nightmare.
The best suit that company may try on at this stage is flexibility and
open mind. Do not pretend that you are in demand of media like
Google if you are not. And do not expect that after your first press
release all the world will turn attention on your company and start
discussions on every corner if it is not an iPad.
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9. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Even the best PR agency in the world will never guaranty you
the fame within the short period if you do not have any
breakthrough technology or invention. In most cases PR
professional have to deal with highly competitive environment with
similar products. That’s why Public Relations is a long road that
demands patience and hard work. The trying will bring the
experience that is so needed for the company to take its place in PR
ocean and it will open new and more exciting opportunities for
innovation and catching PR wave. So just catch your breath for now
and keep trying.
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10. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Control
How to control uncontrollable? How to keep balance when there
is no foothold? PR environment is very unpredictable and one wrong
move can cause devastating tsunami. In comparison with
Advertising where you know exactly the time and
length of your advert that appears on TV or magazine,
Public Relation will never provide you the same.
There are so many factors that can influence the
results of all your efforts and cancel out expectations.
The road to a plain surfing the PR wave is full of
obstacles and difficulties. But there are some options
that may help at least to find the balance and not to go
down.
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11. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Monitoring and Response – two things that will become your life
buoy in the PR ocean and keep the wave under your control. The
famous phrase: “Who owns the information he owns the world” we
could paraphrase: The one owns the world who owns information
and can use it in time. Monitoring serves the company to learn up-
to-date informational environment around the brand or products but
response influences this environment and helps to gain benefits
even in the most unpleasant situation.
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12. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Let’s take couple examples. In the beginning of this year
Toyota company faced with the PR nightmare connected with
multiple recalls of their cars. At that period only the lazy one didn’t
criticize the automakers for slow response and incapability to react
properly. But what is good about the Japanese they like and can
learn on their own mistakes. On April 13, 2010
on blog of Consumer Reports magazine was
published an article “Don't Buy: Safety Risk--
2010 Lexus GX 460” criticizing Toyota’s
luxury brand Lexus car and rising concern over
Vehicle Stability Control. It was just one article
on one blog and that’s it but…
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13. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
On April 19, 2010 as response on this article “Lexus announced
a voluntary safety recall on approximately 9,400 2010 Model Year
Lexus GX 460 sport utility vehicles to update software in the
vehicle's Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system” adding in their
official press release: “When Consumer Reports announced on April
13 that the 2010 GX 460 did not pass their 'Throttle Lift-Off' test,
we immediately stopped selling the vehicle and commenced a
vigorous investigation”. Nobody expected such
kind of solution from slow reacted company and
afterwards they receive a lot of positive media
publications on this move. Good monitoring,
excellent response. We can’t say that everything
is perfect with Toyota’s PR but at least we see
their efforts to catch and surf PR wave.
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14. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Another example is Apple with their new iPhone
4’ reception problems. On Jun 25, 2010 just couple
days after official launch of the product some
complaints appeared in Internet about signal loss.
These several complaints led to a huge media
discussion that forced Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs to
announce official press-conference on this issue.
Everybody was guessing on what his was going to tell but the
majority agreed that it’s going to be a massive recall – painful but
at the same time move that only great brand and company can
allow itself.
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15. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
On July 16, 2010 Steve Jobs said on press conference that they
offer free bumper case to fix antenna reception and update of OS
for iPhone that had to solve this problem. He said: "We're not
perfect, phones aren't perfect. But we want to make all our users
happy". I do not know about users but journalists and bloggers
weren’t happy at all. Till the moment of the event there were a lot
of critical publications and not only about antenna signal (read
article “Presenting 8 Problems with iPhone 4” ). Everybody waited
for a quick and unordinary reaction from the company but not this
time.
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16. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
As a result, that weakness was widely used by Apple rivals
including Nokia, Samsung and even dying away Motorola during the
launch of Droid X placed its advert in New York Times with slogan
“No Jacket Required” and led to a number of publications on this
issue. We also can’t say that everything is bad with Apple PR but
not quick enough reaction that took almost a month from the first
signs and not relevant response made its work and add a blot on
the landscape. Of course mistakes like that would not cause such
media reaction in case of much smaller and popular company but
still it demonstrates the importance of keeping the balance and not
to go down from the PR wave which can lead to PR tsunami.
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17. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
Innovate
The best way to be higher from others and control everything is
to be the first in something and create your own moves and
elements that help you to get there. It’s not enough just to catch
the wave for surfing, you need to keep on it and try impressing
everybody else by something new and never done before.
The same in PR when you have sustainable media
coverage, pool of loyal journalists and even number of
your followers and fans on Twitter and Facebook it is not
enough to be different and not enough to be mentioned
from the crowd.
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18. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
We never know what is going to happen in future and the best
way to avoid PR problems in it is to create future by our hands. The
very best thing about PR is the place where its border with
Advertising disappears – creativity, the place where we create new
approaches of building relations with public and raise it on the next
level. Instead of somebody will find our weaknesses lets innovate to
create advantages. Do not wait, it’s time to act. The great examples
of such innovation are “The Best Job in The World” which
completely shook the world in 2009 and “The Old Spice Man” in
2010 (you can read more in the article “5 PR lessons from Old Spice
Man”).
So let’s innovate, let’s create unpredictable and exciting PR
future and let’s ride our PR waves!
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19. Anton Davidenko - How to catch PR wave and not to go down
About the Author
Anton Davidenko is a creator of free
toolbar for PR professionals PRFrame and co-
founder of the venture company BeFrame.
For Over 7 years' marketing and PR
experience in a range of sectors including IT,
Telecom, Finance, FMCG, Auto, non for
profit, Anton created and executed complex
communication strategies and projects for
Panasonic, BMW, VMware, Budweiser
Budvar, MTT. From 2005 to 2008 he headed the leading
professional organization in the area of Marketing Communications
in Russia – Russian Association of Communication Agencies.
To contact the author you can write to: anton@prframe.com
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