Are marketers Putting the cart before the horse?
April 3rd, 2009 // 12:05 pm @ admin
As I meet with startups the first thing I hear them say is, “I’ve already hired a PR firm and am very excited to start working with them… and now (since I’m done with that) I am starting to evaluate branding firms”.
To me, this is really putting the cart before the horse. First and foremost, companies need to take care of their brand which, of course, requires a lot of internal work and making sure that the founders and employees are all on the same page before starting to think about getting their message across to the public.
The branding exercise starts with the development of a brand message which is the core of the brand itself and determines what the company is planning to offer. From there, the exercise will determine who its going to be offered to and if there are any competitors, how the company sets themselves apart from them.
Hiring a PR firm before really having a brand and a means of communicating that brand is like going to “Putting the cart before the horse”.
I understand that hiring a PR firm is a much easier and enticing process. From a startups point of view, once their name gets out there, the crowd will come and they start gathering leads. From there, those leads turn into dollars.
The truth of the matter is that once the crowd comes if you don’t have your message together, if your don’t have the right image or if the crowd can not find what they want, there goes your one chance to capture those leads.
Category : corporate marketing
Miguel
1 year ago
Arman – wholeheartedly agree with your position. Some companies I’ve talked to are already going down the PR route before they even have figured out what makes them unique. This is OK for the rarest of products, so most companies need to figure out what makes them stand out from the crowd and makes people want to listen to their story.
Nicola Lockey
1 year ago
I agree. The most important place for marketers to start is by developing an effective positioning and messaging strategy. This absolutely needs to be developed through customer and competitive research, so that it is external-facing and proven to be relevant to their audiences. Without carefully researched and validated positioning and messaging, money spent on PR can easily be wasted, and messages will disappear into the general noise rather than making the company stand out and be heard.
bob weaving
1 year ago
Nice. This is a solid brand argument that quickly brings an all too common “cart before the horse” methodology to the forefront. PR always follows brand message. Always. If not, a company is at the mercy of a PR agency that (through not fault of their own} showcases attribute before message. Attribute should always support core messaging, thereby adding credibility to the claim/promise. A company known for its “speed” message can claim its newest, fastest product is the fastest in the industry and enjoy instant validity from its speed/brand equity. Lay the foundation before building the house. Thanks Arman.