It’s all about survival of the fittest in today’s economic climate. If you don’t have it, you better get it. Designer PR is about, dare I use the cliché phase, “thinking outside the box”. It is what gives you the competitive edge over other PR practitioners out there. The market is tough out there; your client wants to know what you can offer that goes above and beyond what others are offering.
Designer PR is about offering tailor made services that help the organisation or your clients to meet their organisational goals. It’s not just about sending a press release out to all the newspapers; it’s about knowing their market and directing that information to specific publications in that industry too. More and more you see agencies broadening their services – media relations, events management, internal and external communication, crisis management and corporate identity etc. No longer can a business rely on one service to offer their clients.
I had the task of organising a four day event for the 50 year anniversary of Harley Davidson Africa and Asia event two years back. I tackled the event with the concept of having the guests and journalists experience the life of a Harley Davidson rider...just their two wheels and the long road to freedom. I wanted the guests to experience the event with all five of their senses – smell, taste, see, feel and touch. The event consisted of costal drives, informative talks on Harley Davidson and their new release ‘Rocker’ motorbike. Guests got to see how a Harley motorbike got customised over the 4 days with original Harley parts. Guests experienced lunches and dinners at typical bikers restaurants/pubs. The grand finale of the event was dinner and a burnout (locking the back wheel and spinning till the tyre burnt) in a rough- manly setting at the Harbour. We had men in the background grinding a ship with sparks flying. Everything about the event reiterated the brand of Harley Davidson. The event proved more effective that just calling a press conference and announcing their anniversary and that the new release of the ‘Rocker’ to the motorbike family. We got word of mouth which is at times the most effective PR you can get.
Designer PR is what all PRP should strive for so to have maximum impact in the industry. You either on the bandwagon or you left behind.
I had a flicker of excitement about our industry on reading your blog, well done.
ReplyDeleteDon't you also think that this makes our job as PR practioners so much more interesting?
Well done for you Harley Davidson event, its sounds really spectacular.
I do agree that we should strive to design and not being left behind, keeping up with the winds of change.
The four day event sounds amazing, well done, definitely an event which allowed you to "think out of the box" & you did a good job. I agree that PRP's need to strive towards designer PR, making an impact & ensuring that we do not get left behind.
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