What Sticks? The Marketing Mix

In Response to "What Sticks", posted by Loyalist PR on September 11, 2007.

Myself, having a fairly broad knowledge of the Marketing Mix, have to agree with Loyalist PR and the direction of their blog to an extent.

I agree that PR is what sticks, and it is what consumers/publics/target audiences (T.A.) care about. PR should be used before any traditional advertising, simply because the T.A. needs a solid, honest, and proven connection to the product/ service/ organization. They (T.A.) need to become familiar with what is being pushed, and familiarity comes from trust. Trust is earned through the efforts of diligent PR practitioners and backing from endorsements by opinion leaders.

I also truly believe that there is a place for traditional advertising in the marketing mix, and that place will never be fully diminished. Traditional advertising takes over where PR starts, and should be used in conjunction with PR. Once the T.A. has a fully established relationship with the product/ service/ organization advertising is a relatively cost effective way to reach them, thus keeping top of mind recall. When advertising is used effectively with PR a constantly growing and believing consumer base can be established and reached.

I truly believe that PR is the very first step any company should take when launching a product in a virgin market, or if they are trying to re-invent the product to existing consumers. PR is the tool that warms even the most cynical T.A. to a product, which then allows traditional advertising to take hold. Again, there is a place in this world for both PR and traditional advertising, and when used together, they achieve a synergy, meaning that they sum off all parts are greater than the parts on their own.

But hey, I could be wrong.


Cheers for now.
Lucy

Exposure

I've learned a little about the PR and Community Relations profession in the few short months tht I;ve been practicing my trade. The most interesting though, relates to media/press releases and the use of them in local media. I have sent nearly 30 press/media releases in my three months on the job and nearly every single one has been used. What is more interesting than that though, is that most have been used verbatim. It leeds me to think that perhaps I have a good writing style that is appealing to the market, but to be honest, that couldn't be further from the truth. I think the real reason that our releases are used is because of the orginization that I work for and our reputation in the community, as well as the size of the community.

The city I live in is what could be considered a mid-sized, Eastern Ontario town and is a long way from a busstling Mecca for news. That being said reporters for the local media outlets are very much busy and need some help from time to time. Truth be told, our community members also like a little good news, and what is better than hearing successes from the Local Community College?

I really enjoy what I have been doing lately, not to the extent that I could continue doing it for a career, but it is a nice break. I also like seeing my by-line in the paper from time to time as well...

Cheers!
Lucy

Class of '08

It's been a long, long while since I posted last, so I figured that I'd get back into it.

I'm proud to say that I, along with 24 other top notch PR practitioners are ready to enter the work force, if we haven't done so already. I know that we will take the industry by storm if we so choose, but more than that, I know that we will all stay in touch and look out for one another. I know that our group is destined for great things in life and in our careers, but I can't help but think that we all connected on a very large scale. We were able to find common ground with each other, we played to our strengths and networked well. Our class of 25 strangers closed out the year as a close-knit, and almost family like unit.

I'm proud to say that our class was the tightest of any I've been a part of. I look forward to many years of on going communication and partnership with everyone from the PR class of '08.