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WHEN ECONOMY GETS TOUGH, PR GETS GOING

Guest post by: Thomas J. Madden

Article Overview: Getting a message out through PR is a lot more cost effective brand building than advertising, but sometimes it takes a recession to prove it. Today PR firms are out maneuvering, out-gunning ad agencies by doing more for less.

WHEN ECONOMY GETS TOUGH, PR GETS GOING

How tweet it is. While the economy looks like it's going to perk up, only to stumble again and again, the PR business keeps right on rumbling along, especially bi-lingual firms that have embraced social media.

"PR firms tend to do be recession proof as they typically get a bigger slice of the marketing pie when ad budgets are slashed during economic downturns," said Adrienne Mazzone, vice president of Madzone Marketing, a South Florida firm that combines the double punch of marketing and PR.

Lately Madzone has arranged for clients' products to appear on Ellen DeGeneres, The Today Show and Regis and Kelly, along with articles in LA Times, Fitness and Allure magazines, plus exposure in scores of high-ranked blogs and radio interviews, all delivering an impressive ROI for a relatively modest retainer fee.

Today the blogosphere has spun off thousands of new media outlets hitting hard to reach niche areas, motivating consumers and special interest groups. Many PR firms are routinely adding Facebook pages and Twitter to their publicity arsenals, tweeting away their clients' success stories, along with geo-targeted email campaigns.

Ad agencies that own PR firms or a have strong PR division are better off during a downturn because when the ad side reduces, the PR side gains, keeping the firm healthy, fit and balanced as it sails through a slowdown profitably, she said. Mazzone cited her firm's recent upsurge in business as proof that companies are turning more to PR while sales revenues dip, credit is tight and fear levels rise. Many firms also are reporting an influx of new clients who've ordered a variety of ambitious "publicity stimulus packages" of their own designed to boost sales that have been too long flat in a dull economy.

Another South Florida-based firm, TransMedia Group, recently signed as clients Florida's largest home builder, GL Homes, the state's largest property manager, The Continental Group, and the country's leading flood remediation expert, Stanley Steemer, the company's first venture into PR. And right away the PR firm arranged for GL Homes to make the national media rounds with an upbeat story of how it sold 900 homes in nine months, which TransMedia calls a harbinger of a turnaround in a key sector of Florida's economy.

Another successful Florida-based client, the calorie-burning beverage Celsius is expanding distribution dramatically across the country as its stock price rose from three cents to over five dollars, due mostly to a productive nationwide publicity campaign mixed with clever advertising.

"When businesses start to aggressively market again, and have an upbeat story to tell, you know they're seeing encouraging signs and want to start taking advantage of them. Publicity is perhaps the best barometer of a substantive change in commercial conditions and outlook," said TransMedia's president Glen Calder

Many PR firms also are being retained by foreign governments eager to help their most successful businesses expand into the U.S. market. One of Florida's multi-lingual PR firms was retained by the Government of Brazil to promote an expansion of Brazilian franchise companies into the U.S. The same firm sent a platoon of publicists out to Los Angeles to do publicity for America's Premier Rhythmic Gymnastics Event, LA Lights Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament of Champions, featuring Olympians from the 2004 Olympic Games and competitors from 14 countries. This lead to the firm securing Olympic Gold Medalist Dara Torres who talks on national TV about how Fitness Nutrition's Gold Medal Aminos have helped her recover from surgery enough to compete at age 45 as a swimmer in the 2012 Olympics.

It's helps to be multi-lingual and global in perspective," said Calder. "When the economy slacks off, you also want to be sure you're diversified as much as possible and that you can offer a broad range of services. When the dot.com bubble burst some years ago, those firms that had mostly high-tech clients crashed right along with their computer and Internet clients, he said.

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Article Tags: downturn, economy, email marketing, Facebook, media exposure, pr, publicity, recession, ROI, social media, Twitter



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Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - I love the honesty in this thread. There is so much power in that! It's reassuring to remember that entrepreneurship is TOUGH. But I find that very motivating. But to know that we all CAN do it, if we only stay the course. Sometimes I can compare myself with the worlds most famous whoever, and then feel discouraged. But that's not really realistic now is it? I've had a lot of ups and downs since I moved to Manhattan 3 years ago, and last year was no exception. I've been really surprised by some happy developments though -- just when you think everything is going to fail, something good happens! Last year, I'm most proud of being invited to speak at 3 different events, getting 6 new clients, and having a magazine article published about my coaching. A few years ago I never would have thought I could do any of that -- I had some really frustrating times where I was seeming to get nowhere. So for me, dealing w/ disappointment,frustration, and having realistic expectations has improved over the last 5 years, and now it's helped me to become a better coach for others going through the same thing. I really do understand what it's like to move to NYC alone w/ a suitcase, not have an apartment,and meanwhile try to start a business w/o support. It was sort of a right of passage for me. Side note story, but sort of represents some of the feelings I'm talking about here -- I used to make paintings. I'd sell them online. I made one called "idealism" which was basically showing how there is no place for idealism, art, or new ideas is a society of grids and stop lights and cubicles. It was an extremely low time for me, and I wanted to take all of my paintings to the dumpster -- I almost did! My mom called me and insisted that I not throw them out. Within a month, a stranger in NYC (I was still in AZ at the time), bought my idealism painting. This buyer must have felt the same way I did, and that alone proved to me that there WAS a place for what I had to offer in the world -- even if I couldn't see it at the time. I then moved to NYC where there was much more of a place for what I had to offer. Moments like that drive me forward, past whatever doesn't seem to be working.


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