How well should your PR professional understand your business and industry?

My perspective is that to do a truly good job we must understand a business and not just repeat information to media and other target audiences.

As PR consultants we have to be able to understand our client’s business well enough to come up with regular story ideas and be able to identify where they fit into the news cycle. Additionally, we need to understand where communications opportunities lie for the organization with the groups they are targeting. This can’t be done well without a solid understanding of the business and the industry in which the company operates.

Over the years I have learned that when I finally feel I truly understand my client’s organization, I should ask, “what don’t I know?” There is always a little more to learn. One test to see if you really understand the business and the industry in which it operates is the quality of story ideas that you come up with. If you think these ideas are interesting and the media does not, more homework is needed.

With this said, PR consultants – even if we are specialized – will inevitably encounter something we may not have heard of or fully understand. This is normal. What is important in a vital or time-sensitive situation is our PR ability and training. Whether for retail, environmental or financial services industry, the process is the same: identify the problem, figure out how this affects all stakeholders, and develop a strategy which will answer this problem as quickly and accurately as possible while safeguarding the reputation of your client. These are the skills that show true leadership in times when clients are most vulnerable and ultimately why we are retained.

It still surprises me how many people aren’t aware of Second Life (www.secondlife.com), an online world that is blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s pretend. And, more importantly, the power of this pretend world to impact the real one.

Players assume a make-believe “avatar” (your SL identity) that interacts in real time with other avatars in everything from nightclubs to retail stores. Within my first five minutes my character (and I) was speaking with two other avatars (whose real identities were from Mexico and Japan).

What is of interest to me as a PR professional is the ability for real organizations to test ideas and promote messages and products to the real people behind these fabricated identities.
Here are some examples of businesses already doing this: In the Reebok store you can buy a basic shoe template and customize it for your avatar. At American Apparel, in-store posters and clothing on display can be clicked on and you are directly linked to the AA website to order real clothing for yourself. The Telus store has a Motorola Q-a cell phone specifically designed for avatars. (Read more in Marketing Magazine at http://www.marketingmag.ca/magazine/current/opinion/article.jsp?content=20070212_68559_68559)

If I haven’t convinced you that this is a glimpse of what the not-so-distant marketing campaigns will look like, here is another fact: users spend almost US$1 million every day in the in-world currency, Linden dollars, which they buy using real U.S. greenbacks (US$1 = L$266). And they generate most of the content, designing then selling or trading their creations—anything from furniture to high fashion. What's more, they own the intellectual property rights, according to Canadian Business. http://www.canadianbusiness.com/entrepreneur/sales_marketing/article.jsp?content=20070212_142819_4792

Just when the marketing profession thought this world was covered we found another to conquer!