The R Word

The R word… no not Recession but Reputation is the word on everybody’s lips. Think about it, we are going into the toughest economic year many of us have ever experienced and what is going to keep that business coming through the door other than your reputation.

A good reputation will go a long way; you only have to look at the hundreds of big companies who throw thousands of pounds into their CSR policies, employing agencies to handle crisis management to ensure that their reputation goes undamaged.

Moving into what is clearly going to be a tough economic year; many companies are recognising the importance of maintaining and developing their reputation to set themselves apart from the competition.

If you are confident that as a business you can forge a good reputation it is more important than ever that you let everyone know just how good you are. Attracting new business by publicising the good work you do has never made more sense.

All of the large blue chip organisations we know and love have developed their reputation from a few small stunts, take a well known fast food chain for example who last year began a campaign that publicised their use of quality meat which was responsibly sourced and good for you. Upon this organic train has everyone jumped, allowing said fast food chain to be the leaders of the pack- forging their reputation and maintaining a strong market share.

There is nothing to prove that they were the first fast food chain to use organic and free range products but their reputation has changed.

Reputation is key, and is often created by publicising what you do before your competitor beats you to it.

Digital Phenomenon

As has been the case for the past few years, ask any industry expert what the ‘hot’ topic will be the following year and the unanimous cry of “Digital PR” is all we hear.

Digital PR is a huge blanket statement that refers to everything from blogging and the use of social networking sites, to squidoos and webinars (online seminars) – and this list is far, far from complete! Given the small budgets that many companies have left to dedicate to PR, producing interactive web sites and online forums is highly unrealistic and unlikely.

This year is no different with PR publications already making their über predictable predications regarding the huge role that digital / online PR will play for our clients throughout ‘09. I am not disputing this; on the contrary I fully agree, but what I struggle to see is the way in which these experts see Digital PR working for the SME’s who don’t have huge budgets with which to create a stir around their blog / message site.

There are lots of opportunities for smaller companies in this Digital PR age, it’s merely that they seem to be overlooked in the discussion. We are expressing to our clients the need to harness the power of the Web whether this is in the form of blogging or e-letters or simply ensuring that their website is informative and will keep peoples attention. These things do not cost the earth and will help to ensure a continued and strong web presence.

Digital PR is a concept that is rapidly evolving, with new terms and three letter acronyms appearing daily. In my view it’s important that we don’t become bogged down with the technical jargon and realise the importance of simple methods in this new digital age.