The Hindu Business Line : Kick-start your new business

Business the Richard Branson way: Outdoor advertising always works, except in a few cases such as Virgin Mobile, which has a back-up in effective PR by none other than its own CEO.

K. Srikrishna

A little over three weeks ago, Google launched a new Web browser called Chrome. The product announcement was “accidentally” made a day before the actual release. A comic book that introduced Chrome and its features spread rapidly, virus-like across the Internet. So, even without a press conference or any launch hoopla, the whole world was talking about an unreleased product and how it might change computing. And this was a product that was entering a market dom inated by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox . It was also being open-sourced by Google; in other words, it would not make money for the company directly.

Was the incredible media coverage simply the power of the Google brand or was there something more at play? Absolutely; while the brand power of Google had something to do with it, the understated Chrome launch demonstrated one of the most powerful ways of building and sustaining a brand — through good public relations (PR). There is a lesson in this story for every start-up on how to leverage PR to build, shape and grow your brand.

Large billboards greet you whenever you land in any new city and drive out of the airport. Such advertising is the most visible of brand building activities. Such billboards are dominated by large, established brands and require deep pockets and perseverance. Every day, we see AirTel asking us to “call home” and Virgin Mobile asking us to “think hatke”. Billboards and TV ads are not only prohibitive for most start-ups, but often ineffective and inappropriate. Online ads, though affordable on a per-click basis and potentially useful for generating sales, do not help brand building.

PR, executed well, is a very reasonable way for even the tiniest of start-ups to begin building its brand. PR conventionally referred to the print media — particularly newspapers, wire services and the trade press. Speaking at conferences or industry events, awards, employees and investor communications are other activities deemed as PR. The rise of the Internet and social media including blogs, micro-blogs and networking sites has expanded the definition of PR. They have made things more democratic by enabling even the smallest companies to reach out to a large audience at very little cost.

So, how should you go about running an effective PR campaign? Should such campaigns be event-based (around product launches, trade shows) or done on an ongoing basis? How do you know your PR efforts are working? When do you stop doing PR?

Build Relationships

“I had better lose some weight soon if I want to look good in my bridal gown,” is an all too common refrain we hear. Not unlike “One of these days I should do something about a retirement savings plan.” When it comes to PR, most companies act like the soon-to-be-bride or retiree — not planning ahead and wishing for a miracle. Usually, start-ups think of PR right around the time they want some coverage for a product launch or a key company milestone.

The power of PR stems from the credibility of third parties such as analysts, bloggers or reporters who are viewed as unbiased industry observers. These analysts or bloggers act as information gatekeepers and hence become trusted sources of information for their readers. They are constantly deluged with a whole lot of information from newswires, professional PR firms, marketing communications departments of large companies and other start-ups. The only way to be heard above the noise is to have built relationships with some of these information gatekeepers. Or at the very least with professional PR firms who already have such relationships.

As a start-up with a finite budget, it is prudent to build a few key media relationships directly. This will also be more effective as many media folks prefer hearing from you, the entrepreneur, directly rather than from a professional PR person. This requires planning. You will then be able to identify the media thought-leaders for your business, get introduced to them and get them acquainted with your business well before you need them to write about it. Even if this sounds like a lot of work, it really isn’t and the rewards are well worth your effort.

Be genuine

Media folks have as much a need to build relationships with people in business as entrepreneurs do. This mutual need can be leveraged to achieve your PR goals. There are two critical requirements — credibility and a measure of magnanimity for you to build a successful relationship. Credibility comes from being genuine at all times and magnanimity when you are prepared to address a reporter’s requirements even when there is no obvious benefit to you. Often, this takes the form of educating a reporter or pointing them to information that may be of interest to them.

Writing a blog in a distinctive voice is one of the best ways to communicate what your company is about. Commenting on other people’s blogs and soliciting comments and inputs from customers and partners on your own blog are ways to engage in an ongoing dialogue. Such dialogue helps your company and you, as its spokesperson, to build credibility and position yourself uniquely. Newsletters and white papers done consistently will reinforce your company as a good source of useful information.

Be interesting

“Is it truly newsworthy?” ask yourself this before springing a press release on the media. As users of DTH and digital cable are discovering, having 200 channels of programming does not mean there is anything really interesting on. Similarly, your excitement alone does not make something newsworthy. Entrepreneurs thrive on adrenalin and optimism, so inevitably you’d be excited about your great new product or customer win. But the world may not give two hoots! It is important to frame your news in context. How is it likely to impact the reader personally and the world at large? Ask yourself: “Why should anyone else care?” Answering this succinctly is the best way to ensure that people will write about it. Visualise the headlines that your story would appear under. Put yourself in the shoes of a reporter or blogger and see how they would interpret this.

Be consistent

PR is not a task or a project, it’s an ongoing process. The intensity of your PR effort may vary, but it is not something you stop and start for an event. And you have to measure everything about it — the number of people you reach out to; the number of times you interact with them; the impact on your Web site - unique visitors, comments, downloads; media coverage; and new inquiries. This way you know what is working and more importantly what is not!

(The writer was founder and CEO of Impulsesoft Pvt Ltd, which grew from a boot-strapped organisation of two people to a global leader in Bluetooth wireless stereo music prior to being acquired by SiRF Technology Inc in 2006. He blogs at http://designofbusiness.blogspot.com)

Readers may mail us their feedback, queries and suggestions to thenewmanager@thehindu.co.in

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